Walter O’Malley Honors...

2024 – August 10, joined fellow Hall of Fame players and broadcasters on the Ring of Honor at the ballpark he built, Dodger Stadium. Ceremonies were held pregame and his son Peter represented the O’Malley family and accepted the honor on behalf of his father. Walter O’Malley became the 15th member of the Ring of Honor alongside the retired numbers of players Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Jim Gilliam, Don Sutton, Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, and Don Drysdale, Managers Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda, and broadcasters Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrin. Dodger President Stan Kasten said, “Walter O’Malley was a pioneer, whom we can thank for expanding baseball into a truly national game – and also, through his goodwill exchanges with Japan, an international one. He loved baseball, and he loved the Dodgers, illustrated by the longtime brilliance of Dodger Stadium, a ballpark for the ages.” 

2019 – February 26, former MLB General Manager Dean Taylor  generously established the “Walter O’Malley Scholarship Fund” at Ohio University. The fund is designated specifically for “full-time graduate students enrolled in the College of Business’ Master of Business Administration/Master of Sports Administration dual degree program, or the Master of Sports Administration Program, with preference given to students pursuing careers in the baseball industry.” Taylor was a 1975 graduate of Ohio’s Sports Administration Program, which was started by Dr. James Mason and inspired by Dodger owner O’Malley. As early as 1957, O’Malley and Dr. Mason discussed the need for such an education and the seed was sown for an academic program built around sports administration. Dr. Mason developed the initial program at Ohio University and the Center for Sports Administration was founded. 

2013 – April 20, a plaque to honor Walter O’Malley is installed at the Fordham University baseball field. O’Malley’s plaque reads, “A 1930 Fordham University School of Law graduate, Walter O’Malley was the influential owner of the Dodgers, presiding over four World Championships. He expanded Major League Baseball westward, privately built Dodger Stadium, and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.” 

2009 – July 6, inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame located at Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant, New York. Walter’s son Peter accepted the honor. Founded in 2008, the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame preserves the accomplishments of those who have distinguished themselves in the game of baseball, while maintaining or establishing a connection to Ireland and/or the global Irish community. Also included in the 2009 class were longtime Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully and Dodger great first baseman Steve Garvey, along with umpire Jim Joyce, Yankees star Paul O’Neill and New York journalist Ed Lucas. 

2008 – July 27, visionary owner of the Dodgers, who set the gold standard for baseball franchises of the 20th Century, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in ceremonies held in Cooperstown, New York. Walter F. O’Malley established a legacy for expanding Major League Baseball westward, bringing the Dodgers to Los Angeles for the 1958 season and making baseball truly national. At that time, no major league team played west of Kansas City. Since 1998, 10 major league teams, or one-third, now play west of Kansas City. In addition, O’Malley’s crowning achievement was building, privately financing and participated in the design of Dodger Stadium, which opened in Los Angeles on April 10, 1962. He also built, privately financed and was influential in the design of Holman Stadium, opened in 1953 at Dodgertown, Vero Beach, Florida. Both Dodger Stadium and Holman Stadium are active today. O’Malley modernized Dodgertown, which many baseball experts considered to be the premier Spring Training site. On December 3, 2007, O’Malley was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee as part of the “Class of 2008.” At the time, of the 286 members enshrined in the Hall of Fame, there were 26 in the category “Pioneers/Executives,” including O’Malley, who was born in the Bronx, New York on October 9, 1903 and passed away on August 9, 1979. 

2008 – July 9, a bronze plaque commemorating the achievements of Walter F. O’Malley, one of sports’ top visionaries and influential owner of the Dodgers, was unveiled in the prestigious “Coliseum Court of Honor” by the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission. The O’Malley bronze plaque is only the 55th one that the Coliseum Commission has awarded. Located at the Coliseum’s peristyle end, the recognition is designed to “commemorate outstanding persons or events, athletic or otherwise, that have had a definite impact upon the history, glory and growth of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.” The City Council of Los Angeles also declared July 9, 2008 as “Walter O’Malley Day” in the City of Los Angeles and presented the O’Malley family with a proclamation.

Speakers for the bronze plaque ceremonies, emceed by former Dodger broadcaster Ross Porter, included Dodger Hall of Fame broadcasters Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrin; former L.A. City Councilmember Roz Wyman (1953-65); former Dodger Manager and Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda; Dodger star first baseman/outfielder Ron Fairly (1958-69); Terry O’Malley Seidler, daughter of Walter O’Malley; and Peter O’Malley, son of Walter O’Malley and former President, Los Angeles Dodgers from 1970-98.

1999 – December, The Sporting News named Walter O’Malley 11th in its list of the 100 Most Powerful People in sports for the 20th century. Also, ABC Sports ranked O’Malley eighth on its list of the Top Ten Most Influential People “off the field” in sports history as voted by the Sports Century panel.

1996 – June 11, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) presented the Pacific Pioneer Award to Walter O’Malley and Peter O’Malley for “decades of contributions to U.S.-Japan friendship through baseball, at the Major League, exhibition and Little League levels” at a dinner held at the center. Instituted in 1965, the Pacific Pioneer Award is presented to Japanese, American and Japanese American persons/organizations “who have contributed significantly toward increasing understanding between the U.S. and Japan, as well as excellence in business and community.” U.S. President Bill Clinton wrote a June 7, 1996 letter in recognition of the achievements of the award winners including Peter O’Malley and his late father, Walter. 

1994 – May 21, Culver Military Academy posthumously honored alumnus Walter O’Malley in its Athletic Hall of Fame. O’Malley, class of 1922, played baseball at Culver before a ball bounced off his nose breaking it and he was then named the team manager, helping his former teammates. A medallion from Culver was presented to commemorate his induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

1980 – November 9, the Little League baseball scoreboard in Guayaquil, Ecuador was named for Walter O’Malley and inaugurated in the Miraflores League. The Guayaquil Norte Rotary Club participated in the honor. Dodger President Peter O’Malley became friends with bank president Alberto Bustamante of Guayaquil. Through that friendship, Bustamante wanted to recognize Walter. On November 18, 1980, Bustamante wrote to Peter O’Malley, “I think this is the least that the Little Leagues could do in honor and memory of one of the greatest figures of the American Base-Ball.”

1979 – August, following the passing of Dodger Chairman of the Board Walter O’Malley on August 9, the National League sent a memorial resolution signed by Chub Feeney, President, and its 12 member owners to the O’Malley family. The resolution notes that O’Malley “provided the League with outstanding leadership for over thirty years.” Also, “his personal qualities of warmth, charm, and loyalty caused us to regard him with the greatest affection.” 

1979 – July 3, Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn sends a letter to Walter O’Malley informing him that under separate cover he will receive a trophy from the MLB’s Executive Council with the inscription “To A Special Man For Unparalleled Service To Baseball, The Executive Council”. Kuhn ends his letter, “That says it all as far as I am concerned.” 

1978 – August 15, was the first recipient of the equivalent of the Most Valuable Player award for baseball as he was named winner of the August A. Busch, Jr. Award for “meritorious service to baseball” as voted by a committee from baseball, the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals’ board of directors and a member of the Busch family. Busch himself was owner of the Cardinals and established the honor in 1978 to be awarded to “an individual involved with baseball in a non-playing capacity, and has the stature, on the front office level, the Most Valuable Player award has on the playing field.” The handsome gold trophy was designed by Tiffany and Co. and was presented at Grant’s Farm in St. Louis to a grateful O’Malley. On December 6, 1978, O’Malley wrote Gussie Busch about the trophy, “I am becoming more impressed with it as the days go by.”

1974 – March 20, the State of Florida recognized Dodger Chairman Walter F. O’Malley “for his outstanding contributions to baseball in Florida” with a plaque from Governor Reubin O’Donovan Askew presented at the 28th Annual Governor’s Baseball Dinner and the Florida Council of 100.  

1973, January 13, the Chicago Chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America presents the J. Louis Comiskey Memorial Award to Walter O’Malley for his “Long and Meritorious Service” at its annual Diamond Dinner. Comiskey inherited the Chicago White Sox in 1931 from his father Charles. He owned the team from 1931 until his passing in 1939 at age 53.

1972 – June 4, City of Hope hospital holds its tribute dinner honoring Walter O’Malley and presented him with the “Spirit of Life” award in recognition of “his deep concern for the dignity and welfare of his fellow man which symbolizing the aims and aspirations of the City of Hope.” Headlining the Century Plaza hotel affair were celebrities, sports stars and civic leaders, including Red Buttons, Rosalind Russell, Jack Warner, Lou Rawls, Stan Musial, Casey Stengel, Chuck Connors, Bowie Kuhn, Walter Alston, Don Sutton, Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella, Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin and Vin Scully. Art Linkletter, the dinner’s witty emcee, commented upon the praise O’Malley received for his charitable activities to the City of Hope patient care, rehabilitation and research hospital, “all that still remains to be done is to name a disease after you, Walter.” Russell spoke of O’Malley as “controversial as well as great, which makes him an exciting human being, both sweet and wonderful, much more than a generous person.” U.S. President Richard M. Nixon sent a May 18, 1972 letter writing “O’Malley is synonymous with the very best of America.”   

1971 – December 9, Walter O’Malley is one of four Southern California business leaders honored at a “Los Angeles Says Thanks” luncheon. Along with Edward W. Carter, Dorothy Buffum “Buffy” Chandler and Neil Petree, O’Malley was one of a quartet “whose names are linked indelibly with four major cultural and recreational centers that ‘helped make our town a city.’ A crowd of 1,500 civic and community leaders watched as O’Malley was saluted for privately financing and building Dodger Stadium; Carter for his involvement in the County Museum of Art; Chandler for her leading role in The Music Center; and Petree for developing the Los Angeles Convention Center. Mayor Sam Yorty said the four honorees “symbolize the tremendous number of people who are interested in the community and who have done so very much to help change it from a town to a city.” President Richard M. Nixon sent a congratulatory telegram to the honorees. Television’s Ralph Edwards presented each recipient with a sterling silver tray, engraved with a sketch of the respective honoree’s accomplishment.

1968 – February 6, the City of Vero Beach, Florida confers on Walter O’Malley the commission of a Vero Beach “Ambassador of Good Will” as presented by Mayor J. Noble Richards. O’Malley also received a replica key to the City of Vero Beach. The Dodgers held Spring Training at Dodgertown, Vero Beach for 60 years.

1967 – February 17, the National Negro Foundation of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles honors Walter O’Malley with its Humanitarian Award “for his consistent efforts in furthering the cause of human rights and the dignity of man, regardless of race, color or creed.” 

1966 – November 15, Emperor Hirohito of Japan confers Walter O’Malley the Third Class “Order of the Sacred Treasure Gold Rays With Neck Ribbon” during the 1966 Dodgers Goodwill Tour to Japan. O’Malley received the award for his contribution to the U.S.-Japanese friendship through baseball. The remarks of Director-General Kiyosi Mori of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato’s Office: “Mr. O’Malley: You have visited Japan twice in 1956 and this year, as the President of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball club, and displayed the spirit of American baseball through the United States — Japan goodwill baseball games which were held at various places in Japan. Further, whenever managers, coaches, players or officials of Japan professional baseball teams visited the United States for the purpose of training, observing, and studying of technique, you kindly extended great help and assistance to them, and actively contributed, through baseball, to the promotion of friendly relations between the United States and Japan. His Majesty the Emperor confers the Third Class Order of Sacred Treasure on you in recognition of your distinguished services. Here I deliver the decoration.”

1966 – June 1, was named “Grandfather of the Year” along with actor Dick Van Dyke as “Father of the Year” by the California Father’s Day Council. They were feted at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles before civic and business leaders.

1966 – January 27, presented with The Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America. The award on the Boy Scouts is for “exceptional character and distinguished service.”

1963 – September 4, the Board of Directors at City of Hope named him recipient of the Torch of Hope award for his “great humanitarian service” and a special “City of Hope” night at Dodger Stadium.   

1962 – April 1, receives the “Civic Award” from the Los Angeles chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) during its 5th Annual banquet attended by 1,000 in the international ballroom of the Beverly Hilton. The Sporting News reported on April 11, 1962, “O’Malley, for his successful completion of baseball’s showcase in Chavez Ravine, received a loud ovation as he was handed the coveted “Civic Award”.

1962 – January 28, the Dodger President was recognized as Beverly Hills B’nai B’rith “1961 Man of the Year” by an all-star cast of celebrities, headed by “honorary manager” and O’Malley’s good friend Mervyn LeRoy. Among the dinner’s many “honorary coaches” were Milton Berle, Nat King Cole, Tony Curtis, Gene Autry, Kirk Douglas, Dean Martin, Rosalind Russell, Dinah Shore, Edward G. Robinson, Jimmy Stewart, Casey Stengel, Jack L. Warner, Leo Durocher, George Burns, Joe E. Brown, Jack Benny and Danny Kaye. Academy Award-winning lyricist Sammy Cahn was one of the entertainment chairmen. The fund-raising dinner for various charities featured entertainment by singer Tony Martin and comedians Danny Thomas, Joey Foreman and Bill Dana. Dodger players Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax and Willie Davis were big hits by singing a parody written by Sammy Cahn of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” which included the line “Who cares about winning, we get paid by the inning, diamonds are a man’s best friend.” B’nai B’rith, a Jewish fraternal and charitable organization, presented a scholarship to Loyola University in honor of O’Malley, a Fordham Law School graduate and University of Pennsylvania undergraduate.

1960 – March 12, at a Vero Beach, Florida Citizens “Fiesta of Sports Banquet” held at the Elks Club, Walter O’Malley receives a special award naming him “Grandfather of the Year.” Kay and Walter O’Malley’s first grandchild, John Seidler, was born the previous August. According to The Sporting News (March 23, 1960), the banquet’s guest speaker was Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I flying ace and Eastern Airlines President, who mentioned that when he travels he frequently hears of Vero Beach and the Dodgers. “This is a fact you should always keep in mind,” said Rickenbacker. “It is publicity you just can’t buy.” The City of Vero Beach and its Chamber of Commerce Dodgers committee arranged the banquet which was attended by special guest Florida state Senator Merrill Barber. Hall of Fame Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully introduced the Dodger players and their wives before a crowd of 400, including the Vero Beach High School football team.

1959 – December 10, won the National Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians & Jews at the 10th Annual Apparel and Textile Division awards dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The award presented by movie producer and director Mervyn LeRoy was for “distinguished service in advancing brotherhood among all men.” Comedian Dick Shawn emceed the dinner attended by nearly 400 business leaders in greater Los Angeles.

1959 – November 3, receives the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute Supreme Award of Merit from Mallie Robinson, the mother of Jackie Robinson, and University of Southern California President Rufus B. von KleinSmid. The award was presented to O’Malley “for his outstanding contribution to sports, better race relations and human welfare.” 

1958 – April 28, appeared on the cover of TIME magazine in a rendering by famed news artist Boris Chaliapin with the headline “The Dodgers’ Walter O’Malley”. O’Malley was the first principal Major League Baseball owner to have appeared on the cover of TIME since Jacob Ruppert of the New York Yankees was featured on September 19, 1932.   

1957 – December 31, receives the National Sports Award for “outstanding contribution to baseball” at the Los Angeles Times’ 15th Annual Sports Award Dinner, from comedian Bob Hope. O’Malley was in Los Angeles to attend the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena while continuing his plans on where the Dodgers were to play in the spring of 1958.

1956 – January 4, recognized as The Sporting News Major League Executive of the Year upon the Dodgers’ 1955 World Championship, a seven-game victory over the New York Yankees.

1952 – January 17, was named “Brooklyn’s Catholic Man of the Year” by the Cathedral Club at its 52^nd Annual Dinner in Brooklyn, New York at the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel St. George. The Brooklyn Eagle reported the next day that New York Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri said at the dinner, “Time and time again, when the people of New York call on its citizens to donate work for the good of the community Walter (O’Malley) is on hand.” Baseball Commissioner Ford C. Frick said at the dinner, “You certainly picked the right man as the first sportsman to honor in this fashion.”   

1945 – The United States Coast Guard honors Walter O’Malley with a plaque for the use of a boat named “Peterry”, a combination of the names of his daughter Terry and son Peter, for valuable service to the Coast Guard during World War II.

1943 – August 28, received a certificate for his involvement during World War II with Kingsbury Ordnance Plant’s achievement in producing war equipment. O’Malley earned the Army-Navy Production Award Star for the La Porte, Indiana-based plant maintained by Todd & Brown, Inc., where he served as a member of its Board of Directors.    

1926 – March 10, recognized in his senior year as the “outstanding overall student” at the University of Pennsylvania, Walter O’Malley, 22, was named recipient of the prestigious “Spoon Man” award and presented with a large wooden spoon. According to a Penn press release, “The position of Spoon Man originated in the early eighteen sixties, when the lowest ranking freshman in the scholastic honor group was given a wooden spoon, appropriately engraved, as a consolation prize for being so far from the head of the class. Since that time, the position has evolved to that of the highest in the category of senior honors.” O’Malley was also President of his class for the second consecutive year; a captain in the university battalion of ROTC; chairman of the Undergraduate Council; a member of the Council on Welfare and Student Activities; and baseball representative for the Council on Athletics.