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April 11, 1949
Paul S. Kerr, Treasurer of the National Baseball Hall of Fame (who later became its President in 1960) and Walter O’Malley meet with National League President Ford C. Frick in Frick’s New York office.
April 11, 1953
Ninety orphans from the fire-destroyed St. Joseph’s Institute at Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey are guests of Walter O’Malley for the Dodger exhibition game against the New York Yankees at Ebbets Field.
April 11, 1956
Carl Lundquist writes for The Sporting News that Dodger President Walter O’Malley was not at all upset about a recent comment by star center fielder Duke Snider saying in effect that Spring Training was for the birds. O’Malley even laughed about it saying, “It sounds as if we’re just about where we were last year at this time. I think it is a good sign when the veterans on the ball club begin griping a bit...Could it be that Duke is getting ready to get us off to another great start by sounding off about things? Go back ten years and you always will find that somebody was complaining. They didn’t like night games, riding on buses, the weather, the food, not enough days off, and various other things. Some fellows complained they weren’t being played enough. Others insisted they were being played too much. But you can take those ten years and look at the record of the Brooklyn ball club. It is the best in the National League. In that time we won five pennants and a World Championship. In two other years we lost out in post-season playoffs. We were always in the first division; in fact, only once as low as third place. So with all the griping and complaints we still managed to bring a pretty strong and healthy ball club into the race each year.”1
April 11, 1960
On the eve of the Dodgers’ season opener, Walter O’Malley tells 1,200 attendees of the 1960 Los Angeles Baseball Writers’ Dinner and a local television audience that “he hoped to put pennants back-to-back on the (Los Angeles Memorial) Coliseum flag pole.” The Dodgers made a stellar turnaround in the standings to win the 1959 World Championship over the Chicago White Sox after finishing seventh the previous year. Jerry Lewis serves as master of ceremonies for the event held in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Entertainment is provided by Vic Damone, Sue Raney, Phil Harris and Joe E. Brown. At the last minute, Dinah Shore was forced to cancel her appearance because of laryngitis. Despite not attending the dinner, the singer-actress-variety show host sent a long-stemmed red rose to each Dodger player.2
April 11, 1961
Prior to playing their first official game in Baltimore, Los Angeles Angels’ Chairman of the Board Gene Autry receives this telegram from Dodger President Walter O’Malley, “Ride ’em cowboy. All good wishes. Walter F. O’Malley.” The American League expansion Angels won their first game at Memorial Stadium, 7-2.
April 11, 1961
Cartoonist Karl Hubenthal of the Los Angeles Examiner depicts a smiling Walter O’Malley receiving the plaudits of the L.A. Orphanage Guild. O’Malley actively participated in numerous charitable causes, including providing Dodger tickets to area orphans.
April 11, 1962
Walter O’Malley watches the Dodgers win their first game in Dodger Stadium, 6-2. Tony Martin gets the festivities started with his rendition of the national anthem. Martin starred in a number of 20th Century Fox musicals and cut 25 records in 1946 and 1947 for Mercury Records. His “To Each His Own” record became a million seller. In 1948, he married actress Cyd Charisse. Also in pregame ceremonies, the Dodgers salute neighboring Chinatown.
April 11, 1962
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner distinguished cartoonist Karl Hubenthal features the first game at Dodger Stadium in his “I Draw One to O’Malley’s Full House on Opening Day” cartoon. Hubenthal depicts the colorful Dodger Stadium seating areas stating, “The stands are a veritable rainbow — with each level painted a different color (blue, green, orange, yellow).” He shows Walter O’Malley seated in Box A, Seat No. 1 — directly behind home plate in the dugout box seats. Hubenthal notes, “Dugout boxes stretch between the first and third base team dugouts...puts the field at eye-level (O’Malley got the inspiration in Japan).” He also shows well-dressed fans looking at artwork on the ends of Dodger Stadium and explains, “What is it? Why, sheet metal abstraction by sculptor George Nocito — depicting crowds converging on the stadium...”3
April 11, 1962
According to columnist Melvin Durslag of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, on inspection of new Dodger Stadium, Walter O’Malley was horrified to learn that a painter had put an apostrophe in the wrong spot for the women’s restroom sign, spelling it “womens’.” After making a note of it, he also discovered another sign “louge” instead of “loge” and field spelled as “feild.” A couple of the turnstiles were installed backwards, meaning the attendance count started off with a minus. Durslag writes, “One elated visitor taking in the sights of the stadium somehow wandered into O’Malley’s office and asked, ‘Mind if I use your phone?’ He proceeded to make his call. The disturbing thought now occurs to Walter that the guy might have called Boston or Tallahassee. ‘This has been almost like open house at the White House,’ says O’Malley. ‘The only thing missing is (First Lady) Jackie Kennedy to lead the tour.’”4
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