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“I flew them out to L.A. and I kind of surprised them,” Holman said. “I wasn’t supposed to know they were moving, but I did. I went up to New York from Vero Beach to the Eastern gate at LaGuardia to pick up Mr. O’Malley and all the directors and everybody. Of course, my Dad went from Vero. The day before I went up there, I got a sign painter to come out and we painted out ‘Brooklyn’ and put ‘Los Angeles’ on the Convair. When we arrived in L.A., those who greeted us were surprised, too, because here was the airplane that already said, ‘Los Angeles.’ They really hadn’t made the official announcement. My Dad had told me. That was my idea (when they landed in L.A. it said “Los Angeles Dodgers”).
“Of all days we decided to go to L.A., we had terrible head winds and we stopped in Oklahoma City for fuel. By the time we got to L.A. some of the bands and others had left. We were about two hours late. In the plane, everybody seemed to be jovial. As I remember, it was a fun flight.”
Several thousand cheering fans and officials were still on hand, despite the delay, to greet the arrival of the Dodger airplane.
However, Holman did not receive the plaudits of O’Malley or his father for the still wet paint on the side of the plane when it landed in Los Angeles, the Dodgers’ new home.
“My Dad and Walter were a little bit mad at me about putting that ‘Los Angeles’ on the side,” said Holman. “I think they hadn’t really signed any contracts at that time.”
Even an Associated Press story that night noted: “A smiling O’Malley stepped out of the door first. He was immediately recognized by the crowd and a great roar greeted him. The plane bore in giant letters: “Los Angeles Dodgers.”1
While the Dodgers did relocate in Los Angeles in time for the 1958 season, they scrambled for a playing field, finally agreeing to lease the football-friendly L.A. Memorial Coliseum as their temporary home. The Dodgers, adjusting to a new city and the vast Coliseum’s makeshift baseball dimensions (including a short 251 feet to left field with a 42-foot high screen), stumbled to the finish line in seventh place.
An oil leak caused quite a stir during a Dodger flight from Houston to Austin, Texas on April 8, 1958, as smoke started pouring out of a faulty engine. The concerned Dodger players did have some fun at the expense of pitcher Don Newcombe, who was already in hypnotic treatment for his fear of flying. Fellow pitcher Ed Roebuck asked Newcombe, “What did your hypnotist tell you to do when an engine starts smoking?” An apprehensive “Big Newk” replied, “He told me to just grin and bear it.” That is exactly what he and all 29 players aboard had to do until Capt. Holman landed the Convair without further incident. The club had to make alternate plans for their next exhibition game against Milwaukee by chartering a four-engine plane to fly to Dallas.2
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The Dodgers wrote a check to Convair for the delivery of the Convair 440 Metropolitan airplane for $734,908.96. The Dodgers became the first major league baseball team to own its own plane. At the time, the check was the largest one drawn on the Indian River Citrus Bank in Vero Beach, Florida according to the Vero Beach Press Journal. |
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Capt. Bump Holman shows off the Los Angeles Dodgers Convair 440 Metropolitan airplane in October 1957, just after the name was changed to reflect the club’s new home city. He had it painted in Vero Beach, Florida before piloting team executives and select players on their inaugural flight to Los Angeles on October 23, 1957. In 1959 alone, Holman made 295 flights in the Convair in which he transported the Dodgers and three of the minor league teams to their road trip destinations. Dodger President Walter O’Malley once said that “owning their own plane helped the Dodgers to win the 1959 pennant.” |
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The Dodger Convair 440 arrives in Los Angeles for the first time on October 23, 1957 carrying club executives and select players as the welcoming committee and fans are ready to greet the Dodgers to their new home. Bump Holman had “Los Angeles” painted on the plane in Vero Beach, Florida prior to traveling to New York to pick up the traveling contingent and flying to Los Angeles. The Dodgers arrived more than two hours late for the festivities due to strong headwinds which necessitated a fuel stop by Capt. Holman, but it did not put a damper on the celebration as the bands played and the big crowd properly welcomed the traveling party. |
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Dodger President Walter O’Malley makes an historic journey down the steps of the Convair 440 Metropolitan twin-engine plane on the evening of October 23, 1957 at Los Angeles International Airport. He is now President of the “Los Angeles” Dodgers. |
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