This Day in Walter O’Malley History:

  • Thomas Francis O’Malley, Walter’s paternal grandfather, the son of John O’Malley and Margaret Collins, is born. John and Margaret O’Malley were married in County Mayo, Ireland.

  • In his personal appointment book, Walter O’Malley writes “No afternoon dates. Ball Game.” The Brooklyn Dodgers hosted the New York Giants at Ebbets Field for the season opener. The Giants won, 6-4.

  • The social impact of Jackie Robinson’s inclusion into Major League Baseball in 1947 resonates as one of the civil rights movement’s most significant triumphs. Uniquely qualified, Robinson became the first Black player in Major League Baseball and it was with the Brooklyn Dodgers. On April 15, 1947, Robinson played as first baseman for the Dodgers in his debut against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn. He scored a run as the Dodgers won 5-3 before 26,623 fans. Breaking barriers that previously had precluded the participation of Black players, the Dodgers are recognized as the organization that took leadership in integrating the game at the major league level. Robinson was hand-selected by President Branch Rickey with approval from the Dodger Board of Directors and fellow owners which included Vice President and General Counsel Walter O’Malley, John L. Smith and James Mulvey, on behalf of his wife Dearie McKeever Mulvey. Robinson promised Rickey that he would not fight back, other than with his bat and glove, despite what teammates, competitors, fans, umpires, writers, broadcasters and hotel managers might have said or how they tried to bait him into reacting. When Robinson crossed the white lines at the ballpark, Robinson tried to relax and focus on the game, not the constant catcalls. Off the field, the former UCLA four-sport star would also deal with Southern bigotry; anonymous death threats; racial slurs; sitting in the back of the bus; “no colored” served or housed here signs; and opponents who were out to injure him. Robinson, however, was bound and determined that he would perform to the highest level. That he did. In his debut season, he was named Rookie of the Year, an award which today bears his name. On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired his uniform number 42. Major League Baseball retired his uniform number 25 years later on April 15, 1997. All of MLB celebrates “Jackie Robinson Day” every April 15 and all players, managers and coaches wear number 42 for one day.

  • ABC Radio Network producer Howard Cosell sends Walter O’Malley a letter of gratitude for the assistance that the Dodger organization has provided to him. Cosell writes, “May I, on behalf of the American Broadcasting Company and myself, express our deep appreciation to you and the entire Brooklyn baseball organization for the wonderful cooperation and assistance you have given us during the past year in connection with our weekly network public service radio broadcast, ‘All League Clubhouse.’ In our opinion, the Dodgers are not only first in the National League, they are first in the public relations league.”

  • Columnist Melvin Durslag writes in the Los Angeles Examiner about the 1959 Los Angeles Baseball Writers’ Dinner that launched the new season, after the 1958 Dodgers finished in seventh place. He quotes Walter O’Malley as saying, “We’re embarrassed by the egg we laid last year. You’re not a seventh place city. You’re entitled to the best, and that’s what our front office aims to give you.” More than a year after his career-ending automobile accident which left him paralyzed, former Dodger catcher Roy Campanella said to the audience, “I know I’m crying right now, but you can understand that...I don’t want you to pity me. I’m doing great. Sometimes I pity myself, but I know I can take what happened to me...I played baseball since I was 15 and people have been wonderful to me. I haven’t been cheated a bit.” Melvin Durslag, Los Angeles Examiner, April 15, 1959  Campanella was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.