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Even as O’Malley and the Dodgers struggled with a temporary place to play in Los Angeles when the team first came west, “Proposition B” might have derailed all of his plans. However, as the city representative for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, Wyman again stepped forward and was most influential as one of the prime leaders for the City of Los Angeles in resolving that issue. While the Dodgers briefly explored the possibility of playing at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and rejected Wrigley Field because of its limited seating capacity (22,000) and even more inadequate parking, only the massive Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum remained as a viable solution. But the Coliseum did not come to the Dodgers without major modifications and an initial cost to them of $300,000, plus $600,000 for rent in the first two years, for laying out a baseball field in a stadium designed for football and track and field. With the Dodger rental fees, the Coliseum redid its seating, adding backs for the first time. Also, the first outside escalator was added, among other improvements.
Wyman and Mayor Poulson assisted in designing a plan to use this alternative site, which for baseball held more than 90,000 fans, while the hurdles mounted in efforts to begin construction of Dodger Stadium. Legal challenges kept popping up, even as O’Malley and his broad-based band of supporters were able to face each one head-on. A five-hour “Dodgerthon” television program on KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles was aired on June 1, 1958 to explain to the public the benefits of voting for “Proposition B.” Wyman was one of the spokespersons who talked about the societal importance of bringing the Dodgers to Los Angeles and why voters should pass “Prop B.” A crucial 1-0 Dodger victory in Chicago’s Wrigley Field prior to that evening’s Dodgerthon helped to build momentum for the “Yes” side.
Two days later, the public favored the City’s and Dodgers’ position passing “Proposition B” by 25,785 votes in the largest non-Presidential election turnout in Los Angeles history, as 62.3 percent of the city’s 1,105,427 registered voters cast ballots.
Still, a series of legal challenges faced the Dodgers and the city, while O’Malley was forced to delay plans to begin construction of Dodger Stadium. In one case, the California State Supreme Court unanimously (7-0) overruled a lower court decision and sided with O’Malley and the City of Los Angeles. The decision stated that the city could “hold harmless” the “public purpose” clause of the Housing Authority agreement deed restrictions (referring to the failed public housing project in the early 1950s slated for the land). On February 11, 1959, the California State Supreme Court reaffirmed its earlier decision in a refusal to reconsider. More challenges were made in April 1959 before an appeal was made to the United States Supreme Court. The appeal request was not heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and was dismissed on October 19, 1959. Meanwhile, on September 17, 1959, O’Malley decided to proceed with groundbreaking ceremonies for Dodger Stadium.
With that obstacle cleared and the start of construction on O’Malley’s dream stadium for the Dodgers underway, Wyman helped focus the members of City Council, four of whom had voted against the contract, on the issues presented by the city’s planning director and zoning administrator. Additional roadblocks by those individuals, which would have delayed the construction process for another six months in fall 1959, were resolved by Wyman, who identified a solution to impose a “conditional use restriction” on the Dodger Stadium land. This significantly expedited the planning and zoning problems and permitted O’Malley to immediately secure financing.
In the meantime, Wyman spoke to the Downtown Business and Professional Women’s Luncheon Club on October 22, 1959, stating the fight for the Dodgers was “the battle of the century” and that they were “good for the city.” Wyman also expressed her support for all of the arts and urged City Council approval for The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles as an example of another good business proposition and a place for another kind of entertainment.1
She was also the driving force behind the Minneapolis Lakers move to Los Angeles in 1960, as a member of the L.A. Coliseum Commission, because of her friendship with Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey. He informed her that Lakers owner Bob Short was ill and searching for a new home (the Lakers split time in two Minneapolis arenas) because of sagging attendance. Short recognized the early success of the Dodgers on the West Coast.
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The “3 a.m. Plan” emerges from Walter O’Malley’s lack of sleep as he
wrestles with options for where the Los Angeles Dodgers would play in the
1958 season. The plan enabled the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to be used
with minimal disruption for the other tenants. The baseball diamond was to
be shoehorned in the closed end of the Coliseum, giving home plate a
north-east orientation. The plan called for a short 251-foot fence in left
field, but with a 42-foot high screen to prevent an onslaught of home runs. |
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Members of the Los Angeles City Council in discussions with the Dodgers: (L-R) John Holland, Harold Henry, Patrick McGee, Karl Rundberg, Ernest Debs, Jim Corman, Ransom Callicott, Gordon Hahn, Everett Burkhalter, along with Dodger Counsel Henry J. Walsh, and Councilwoman Roz Wyman. 
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