This Day in Walter O’Malley History:
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This date is a significant one in the history of baseball, the Dodgers, the State of Florida, Indian River County and its City of Vero Beach, FL. But, most importantly it is a red-letter day for its impact in advancing American civil rights. On this March afternoon two Black players – Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella – played in an exhibition game for the Dodgers against their top farm team, the Montreal Royals. The game commemorated newly-opened Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida, the Dodgers’ spring training base where players (including 26 minor league teams), coaches, managers, executives, medical and broadcasting personnel all stayed and dined together. In 1948 Florida, where Jim Crow laws were very much in effect, playing and staying at Dodgertown meant that the Dodgers were MLB’s first fully-integrated spring training site in the South. The first game was held at what was dubbed “Ebbets Field No. 2”, a field located near the Vero Beach Airport, across the road from the current Jackie Robinson Training Complex. Press reports indicate that about 6,000 fans were in attendance, nearly 1,000 of them Black fans who were segregated and sat behind the left field area and towards center field. The population in Vero was only about 5,000 at the time. Friends of Jackie Robinson, who made history playing in his first Dodger game at Dodgertown, Vero Beach, Florida, took out an ad in the program to salute the first baseman who had been named 1947 Rookie of the Year. Robinson didn’t disappoint. As the lead-off hitter in the bottom of the first inning, he hit a home run to left field delighting his fans. The Dodgers beat Montreal, 5-4. Playing in the game were six future Baseball Hall of Famers: Pee Wee Reese, Arky Vaughan, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. Additional future Hall of Famers in attendance were Branch Rickey, Walter O’Malley, who was Rickey’s ownership partner and Dodger Vice President and General Counsel, Baseball Commissioner A.B. “Happy“ Chandler, Dodger Manager Leo Durocher who was with his wife, film star Laraine Day, and Dodger scout and coach George Sisler. Dodger broadcasters Red Barber and Ernie Harwell, later winners of the Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award, were with the team in 1948.
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In an effort to mitigate congestion at various exits for Ebbets Field, Walter O’Malley and John Vogt, club engineer, and Jim Thompson, superintendent of Ebbets Field, work with the city’s Department of Housing and Buildings on staffing and access issues. One of the recommendations approved by O’Malley was to “allow people to exit on field and use Bedford Avenue gate after games on Saturdays, Sundays and nights, and all games with attendance exceeding 10,000.” O’Malley did inform the city that “our experience shows that it will take longer to permit a small crowd of 10,000 people to wander across the field to the Bedford Avenue exit and gate and to finally leave the premises than under our normal operation which calls for the use of other exits.”
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Evangelist Dr. Billy Graham speaks at a Good Friday service to a large gathering during his Florida Crusades at Holman Stadium at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. A Crusades choir of nearly 400 locals participates in the rally.
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ABC-TV tapes a telecast, utilizing seven cameras, of the Dodgers and World Champion St. Louis Cardinals at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida as a “dry run” for the upcoming season. Working the game as a TV commentator is Hall of Fame Dodger Jackie Robinson. Bob Hunter, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, March 31, 1965
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John Cleary, Executive Producer of the television game show “Alumni Fun,” writes a thank you letter to Walter O’Malley for his participation as a member of the University of Pennsylvania team. Cleary says, “Knowing the demands on your daily schedule, we very much appreciate the time you gave us to participate on the show. We feel sure that the University of Pennsylvania alumni all over the country were proud of their team’s performance.”
