Reference Biography
Introduction
The Sporting News list of 100 Most Powerful People in Sports for the 20th Century, December 1999
- Pete Rozelle
- Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
- Roone Arledge
- Branch Rickey
- Marvin Miller
- David Stern
- Rupert Murdoch
- Avery Brundage
- Ban Johnson
- Muhammad Ali
- Walter O’Malley
- Steve Borstein
- Phil Knight
- George Halas
- Babe Ruth
- Walter Byers
- Lamar Hunt
- Ted Turner
- Paul Brown
- Michael Jordan
- Jackie Robinson
- Pierre De Coubertin
- Juan Antonio Samaranch
- Donald Fehr
- Tex Rickard
- Roy Hofheinz
- Horst Dassler
- Red Auerbach
- Bill France Sr.
- Arnold Palmer
- Al Davis
- Birch Bayh
- Billie Jean King
- Paul Tagliabue
- Charlie Finley
- Clarence Campbell
- George Steinbrenner
- Peter Ueberroth
- Bert Bell
- Jacob Ruppert
- Dick Ebersol
- Mark McCormack
- Al Neuharth
- Tex Schramm
- Bill Veeck
- Arthur Ashe
- Howard Cosell
- Fathers Theodore Hesburgh and William Beauchamp
- Don King
- Connie Mack
- David Falk
- John Wooden
- Andre Laguerre
- August Busch Jr.
- Peter Seitz
- Roger Penske
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Jack Nicklaus
- Bill France Jr.
- Bowie Kuhn
- George Preston Marshall
- Ed Barrow
- Abe Saperstein
- John McGraw
- Larry MacPhail
- Dick Schultz
- Gary Bettman
- Adolph Rupp
- Walter Brown
- Jesse Owens
- Deane Beman
- Phog Allen
- Wellington Mara
- Charles Comiskey
- Eddie Robinson
- Knute Rockne
- Arch Ward
- Jerry Jones
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
- Bobby Orr
- Art Rooney
- Alan Eagleson
- Pele
- Bud Selig
- Tommie Smith and John Carlos
- Pat Summit
- Laurence Tisch
- Bobby Jones
- Tiger Woods
- Leigh Steinberg
- Henry Iba
- Bill Bowerman
- Anatoli Tarasov
- Albert “Happy” Chandler
- “The Voices of Baseball” — Mel Allen, Red Barber, Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Ernie Harwell,Bob Prince, Etc.
- Sonny Werblin
- Ed and Steve Sabol
- J.G. Taylor Spink and C.C. Johnson Spink
- Wayne Gretzky
- The Famous Chicken
ABC Sports ranks the Top Ten Most Influential People "off the field" in sports history as voted by the Sports Century panel in December, 1999
- Branch Rickey
- Pete Rozelle
- Roone Arledge
- Marvin Miller
- Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
- David Stern
- Avery Brundage
- Walter O’Malley
- George Halas
- Mark McCormack
Attendance 1953-1957 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Braves

By Brent Shyer
The grandeur of Dodger Stadium, the site of some of baseball’s most memorable and exciting moments through the years.Barry Howe Photography Copyright © 1992
Ebbets Field provided a cozy atmosphere for Dodger fans in Brooklyn, but the stadium’s limited seating and parking capacities prompted Walter O’Malley’s quest for a new ballpark.
Opening Day at Ebbets Field in 1952 with (l-r) Giants Manager Leo Durocher, Dodger Vice President and General Manager Buzzie Bavasi, President Walter O’Malley and Manager Charlie Dressen.
Walter O’Malley inspects a geodesic domed stadium model with architect R. Buckminster Fuller at Princeton University in November 1955.Photo by Wil Blanche. Copyright © 1955. All Rights Reserved.
An artist’s rendition of the Club Level at the new Dodger Stadium. Patrons on this level also enjoyed the Stadium Club restaurant, which overlooked right field.
The City of New York’s Planning Commission outlined its Master Plan of the Brooklyn Civic and Downtown Area. Walter O’Malley engaged in a steady dialogue with the Commission in hopes of acquiring property for a privately financed ballpark.
Brooklyn, New York — Circa 1952Brooklyn Public Library - Brooklyn Collection
Among the many plans for a ballpark, this blueprint outlined a proposed “Flatbush stadium.”
On June 4, 1957, Walter O’Malley appears at a press conference along with New York Mayor Robert Wagner, Giants President Horace Stoneham and Brooklyn Borough President John Cashmore.AP Photo
The Brooklyn Dodgers traveled in the early 1950s in their own plane, a Douglas DC-3.
Dwindling attendance figures at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field underlined Walter O’Malley’s search for a new ballpark. Another factor was the emergence of the Milwaukee Braves, who moved from Boston in 1953 and enjoyed record attendance figures at Milwaukee County Stadium.AP Photo