This Day in Walter O’Malley History:

  • Sportswriter Roscoe McGowen tells a story in The Sporting News of a joke that Walter O’Malley played on Dodger first baseman Gil Hodges. The father of a Dodger employee told Walter O’Malley he had trouble remembering the first names of Gil Hodges, Dodger first baseman and Russ Hodges, New York Giants radio announcer. The father of the employee said the way he kept them straight was by calling Gil Hodges, “Gus.” When O’Malley was told of this he decided to have some fun. Sitting near the Dodger dugout one game, O’Malley called out to his first baseman, “Come on, Gus!” After the game, Hodges said to someone, “How long do you suppose I’ll have to work for that man before he knows my name?” The Sporting News, August 18, 1954

  • The Dodgers refuse permission to have their games with the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati televised in New York. WOR-TV in New York City had hoped to televise the three games between the two pennant contenders but the Dodgers decided not to have games televised outside the Los Angeles territory. The New York Times, August 18, 1961

  • Popular Los Angeles cartoonist Virgil Partch does a series of cartoons on life in Los Angeles. One cartoon has two tourists standing at the bottom of Mt. Rushmore and cartoonist Partch has added a fifth face, that of Walter O’Malley. One cartoon character says to the other “I don’t know about the others, but the one on the far right is Walter O’Malley”. Virgil Partch, Los Angeles Times, August 18, 1963

  • Walter O’Malley appears at Paramount Studios for the taping of the episode “Bar Sinister” of the western-themed television show “Branded.” O’Malley appears on the show as a favor to a former employee, Kevin Connors, a ballplayer, who then went into acting and became Chuck Connors. O’Malley tapes the episode as “Dr. Woods” as he bandages up the wrist of Connors. The “Dr. Woods” character is an inside joke as the Dodger team doctor at that time is Dr. Robert Woods.

  • The Screen Actors Guild notifies Walter O’Malley they are holding a residual check for Walter O’Malley for his appearance in a television episode of “Branded.”

  • Walter O’Malley writes Eddie Merrins, golf pro at the Bel Air Country Club and thanks Merrins for playing with O’Malley’s foursome on a recent date. “You were very generous to play with us the other afternoon,” wrote O’Malley. “I liked it—your game always impresses me, sorry I cannot say vice versa.”