This Day in Walter O’Malley History: June 5

Dodger Director Bud Holman, the individual most responsible for the Dodgers setting up Spring Training camp at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida, writes a letter to Walter O’Malley stating the debate between the City Council and the Dodgers as to installation of lights at Field #3 should not deter O’Malley from proceeding with his plans to build a new stadium. The City wanted a rebate of funds if the lights were not installed, whereas O’Malley in making plans to privately design and build a 4,200-seat ballpark at Dodgertown in 1953, wanted to change Paragraph 8 of the Dodger lease with the city to move a June 15 deadline to July 30, effectively putting lights at the stadium not on Field #3. “The majority of the business people in Vero Beach have heard about the stadium and the argument about the lights and are all for the stadium and to have the lights put on it and to forget about the lights for the local ball club until the stadium is built and the lights put on it,” writes Holman. Vero Beach Mayor Lou Burger sends a telegram to O’Malley stating, “The City of Vero Beach is entirely in accord with your plan and your request and hereby extends the time for installing the lights, as you requested, to July 30.”

Congratulatory telegrams pour in to Walter O’Malley on the “Proposition B” victory, an approval by Los Angeles voters to confirm the existing contract between the Dodgers and the City of Los Angeles. Warner Brothers studio chief Jack Warner writes, “Just as it should have been without all this trouble. Good luck and happiness. An ardent fan.” New York Yankees General Manager George Weiss writes, “Congratulations. I believe your success a great victory for baseball.” Little League Baseball President Pete McGovern writes, “Those close games are best satisfaction when you pull them out.” Renowned producer and director Mervyn LeRoy writes, “I don’t know what to say but I couldn’t be happier if I owned the Dodgers myself. You are a wonderful man, you have a wonderful family, you are a great showman, a great sportsman, and you deserve everything.”

Hank Hollingworth, Executive Sports Editor of the Long Beach Press-Telegram writes that all is not roses ahead for Walter O’Malley, despite the “Proposition B” victory. “Three law suits of private citizens are pending to prevent the Dodgers from taking over Chavez Ravine. (Indeed, L.A. City Attorney Roger Arnebergh said a week ago that the courts, NOT the voters, would make a final decision on the Ravine).” Hollingworth also notes O’Malley was “obviously close to the breaking point, sank into a chair in the Statler Hotel, and sighed in an almost imperceptible voice: ‘I sincerely hope this is it. If anyone, even the Good Lord himself, had told me nine months ago of what the Dodgers would go through in this move to California, I would not have believed it. I still can’t believe I’m not dreaming. This is the most confusing move West since someone opened the Oregon Trail. I hope this is the end and we can settle down to accomplish what we came for — to play baseball.’” Also Hollingworth suggests that Long Beach was standing in the wings if Los Angeles failed to approve the referendum on land owned by the Dominguez Water Corporation. He writes, “The Dodgers were high for Dominguez because (1) it is the center of a tremendous population area, (2) it soon will become a freeway hub and (3) it is privately-owned land.” Hank Hollingworth, “Sports Merry-Go-Round,” Long Beach Press-Telegram, June 5, 1958

Walter O’Malley departs Los Angeles for Denmark to embark on an arctic safari party with family and friends. One of the highlights of the trip is cruising on the expedition ship “Kvitoy” the Polar Sea and coming within a few hundred miles of the North Pole.

Walter Alston, who managed the Dodgers for 23 seasons (1954-76) all on one-year contracts, has his uniform number (#24) retired at Dodger Stadium. In 1983, Alston with his 2,040 victories and four World Series titles (1955, 1959, 1963 and 1965) is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In his letter to Sparky Anderson, Walter O’Malley thanks the Cincinnati Reds Manager for a copy of his new book. “You were the thoughtful one to send me “The Main Spark” which arrived after I left for hospitalization at Mayo Clinic. I wish I had received it earlier as it would have made good reading while in the hospital. You know I have always had a very high opinion of you and I do congratulate you on a great career, remembering of course, that it all started with the Dodgers. George “Sparky” Anderson played in the Dodger minor leagues (Los Angeles Angels in 1957) to launch his career in baseball. In 2000, Anderson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his managerial skills in compiling 2,194 victories, third all-time behind Connie Mack and John McGraw. He is the only skipper in baseball history to win a World Series in both the National (Cincinnati Reds) and American (Detroit Tigers) Leagues.