This Day in Walter O’Malley History:

  • The Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees play in Game 1 of the 1955 World Series, tying the record for the earliest date of the World Series. The Yankees would win 6-5, despite a straight steal of home by Jackie Robinson, but the Dodgers would go on to capture their first World Championship in seven games. Also, on this date, Walter O’Malley is the feature of a full page article in The Sporting News. The Sporting News, September 28, 1955

  • John Roseboro homers in the sixth inning in Milwaukee to break a 2-2 tie and Larry Sherry pitches 7 2/3 scoreless innings to give the Dodgers a Game 1 win in a best two-of-three playoff with the Milwaukee Braves.

  • Walter O’Malley has lunch with Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty.

  • Tommy Davis finishes the season with a .326 batting average to win his second consecutive National League batting title. Davis won the NL batting average race in 1962 with a .346 average. At the age of 24, he is the youngest player in major league history to win consecutive batting crowns.

  • Lou Johnson’s home run at midnight in the 12th inning off the Reds’ Joey Jay gives the Dodgers a 2-1 win and puts them in first place by one game ahead of San Francisco. The win was the 11th straight in a 13-game winning streak that saw the Dodgers be 4 ½ games behind with 15 games to play to one ahead with five games remaining.

  • A rare Dodger Stadium downpour causes a 52-minute delay with one out in the ninth inning, but the Dodgers prevail when the field is made ready for play, 3-0 on a shutout by left-hander Claude Osteen. Taking it all in from his President’s Box is Walter O’Malley, whose guests are Astronauts Col. James McDivitt, Col. Dave Scott and Major Joe Engle. Bob Hunter, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, September 29, 1967 US Air Force Brigadier General McDivitt was the Commander on Gemini 4, the first American spacewalk, as well as the Commander on Apollo 9. Scott was the seventh person to walk on the surface of the Moon, when he commanded Apollo 15. He was on the Moon for three days, the longest time ever for an astronaut. Scott piloted Gemini 8 with Neil Armstrong and he had to work hard to keep the spacecraft under control when it began to spin very quickly. He was also Command Module Pilot of Apollo 9, with McDivitt in control. Engle flew the North American X-15 spaceplane and also was the Commander on two Space Shuttle missions.   

  • Orel Hershiser pitches 10 scoreless innings over the San Diego Padres in San Diego to set a Major League record of 59 scoreless innings. The record Hershiser breaks is that of Don Drysdale, now a Dodger broadcaster, who announces the record setting inning.