 |
|
| January |
|
| February |
|
|
| March |
|
| April |
|
| May |
|
| June |
|
| July |
|
| August |
|
| September |
|
| October |
|
| November |
|
| December |
|
|
  |
|
February 29, 1952
A smiling Walter O’Malley signs the official contract to lease Dodgertown with City of Vero Beach lawyers. According to reports, “two full pages of fine print were devoted to what would happen if the Brooks failed to pay the rent...‘Tell you what I’ll do,’ said O’Malley. ‘I’ll pay the rent for 21 years in advance and then we can unload all this legal junk.’ He then handed $21 in cash ($1 per year rent) to City of Vero Beach authorities. O’Malley’s annual maintenance of Dodgertown was estimated to be $75,000.
February 29, 1956
Walter O’Malley assists Roy Campanella by writing to Dr. George Avery of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden about plants to be grown on the star catcher’s Long Island property. O’Malley writes Dr. Avery for a copy of an article he wrote on the topic. “Roy Campanella has just asked me the $64,000 question. He wants to know where he can get a list of flowers and shrubs that will do well on the Long Island shore where they will be subject to salt spray. Would you be good enough to send me a copy if I am right in remembering that such a one was published?”
February 29, 1956
Writing in the Miami Herald, sports editor Jimmy Burns tells of Walter O’Malley’s concern for pitcher Johnny Podres before the seventh game of the 1955 World Series. “The night before the seventh World Series game, I knew Podres was going to pitch,” said O’Malley. “I thought the boy would be nervous, so I went by his hotel to comfort him. While I was waiting for an elevator Johnny walked up, tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘You’re up pretty late boss.’ Podres knew the final game was an important one. He was going to get a good night’s sleep, and advised me to do the same.”
February 29, 1960
Walter O’Malley quickly corrects an article in Sports Illustrated which claims the Dodgers earned $3.3 million in 1959. O’Malley said the story was “an example of inaccurate reporting”1 and that some of the expenses listed “were 100 percent off.” O’Malley offered that the actual earnings were $746,114.19 and not the erroneous $3.3 million reported. At the time, the Dodgers were also paying baseball’s highest rent for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, their temporary home until Dodger Stadium could be privately built.
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
