What about O’Malley’s involvement in the community?

“When the O’Malley’s moved here, they really embraced Los Angeles. They came here to live. They came to put roots down. They became a part of the community and he became well known. Hollywood really embraced the Dodgers in a big way. We had the Hollywood Stars game in those days and they were Hollywood Stars. You would have Milton Berle, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra all involved with the annual event, which the fans just loved. It was big. The stars loved the Dodgers and they loved Walter. Walter would have numbers of them in the box...Milton, Danny Kaye, Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Lauritz Melchior. In other words, Hollywood became a part of the Dodgers and Walter, not that he ever was considered “Hollywood,” was fun for them.

“Walter was a storyteller, he was a great host. Walter loved that (president’s) box. He loved to have people for dinner and he schmoozed with them, talked with them. But, I must say sometimes at the game, it was very serious. We had to win this game. But, he had the philosophy, ‘Roz, that’s one game. There are 80 some more. We cannot die over each one.’ I would die over every one. He’d say, ‘There’s another day.’ And he was the best sport, and always optimistic, as was Peter, if the Dodgers lost, I must say. It was really quite incredible. Those who knew him and those who spent time with him would say I had the best time with Walter. He was a person’s person. He loved people. It just showed. It came out all over him. I was with him hundreds of times. I always had a good time.”

“Because of the Dodgers, it made Walter a big part of the community. But, I know that Peter O’Malley has had a much more active community participation. Peter helped enrich the Dodger (Community) Foundation, Jackie Robinson Foundation, Little League Baseball, both locally and nationally, and his activities with The Music Center of Los Angeles. Also, I believe we would have had a NFL team here if we would have followed the plan Peter had for L.A.”

When did you go to Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida?

“My first trip to Vero Beach (in 1959) with Walter was something. Stanley Mosk (California State Attorney General and later a justice of the California State Supreme Court) and I were there. It was the first time Roy Campanella had been to Vero Beach since his automobile accident (which left him paralyzed from the neck down). When he was taken from the airplane, there was utter silence because people realized that one of the greatest ballplayers of all time would play no more. I’m sure it reflected by those baseball people around him that careers are so fragile that you just don’t know what life will bring. As it turned out, Roy Campanella was an inspiration the rest of his life for people who saw him or had the privilege to know him.

“We had barracks (to sleep in) in those days. O’Malley said, ‘Oh, you’ll love it here Roz.’ The first night I said I’m frozen. He said, ‘Roz you have got to go out and get fresh orange juice. We have a machine here. He was so proud. ‘We have this machine that makes it, you get it fresh.’ So, I go outside and it’s frozen! Frozen! I go back in and said Walter it’s frozen. He says, ‘Oh. We’ll get the thing (working right).’ There was no heat in the barracks. I’d say Walter I’m freezing. He’d say, ‘Here, here’s a sweater. This makes men out of them.’ But, I’d say, but I’m not a man! Walter I’m freezing down here. There is a picture of me with Don (Drysdale). I called my husband Gene and said I just hit a pitch that Don Drysdale pitched to me. He said, ‘You are making up a story.’ I said I have a piece of film and I’m bringing it home to show you that I hit a pitch that Don Drysdale threw. Now, I get home and set the camera up and Don pitched like this (she shows a slow underhand motion and laughs!)...I hit the ball. I hit the ball. I was so excited!”