This Day in Walter O’Malley History:
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Developing the many uses of Dodgertown, Walter O’Malley writes a letter to Bob Curzon of the Vero Beach Press-Journal in which he states, “Our preliminary (school) for the amateur managers, coaches and umpires of sandlot baseball should be quite interesting and it will help to stretch our stay in Vero Beach another two weeks. We will bring a sizeable group of men from all parts of the country to this unique experiment. We are also giving some thought to the possibility of operating a boy’s camp at Dodgertown during July and August. We feel that if we can put 500 boys and staff in Vero Beach during the summer months it should be a great thing for the community. This camp will be aimed at boys who would like special instruction in the various high school and college sports. It will not primarily be a baseball camp although considerable attention, of course, will be given to that sport.”
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In his explanation to a Brooklyn Dodger fan who expressed disappointment in Manager Walter Alston’s game strategy during the 1954 season, Walter O’Malley writes, “The (Roy) Campanella and (Johnny) Podres operations were really the difference. I differ with you on the manager. I believe you will come to like him and respect his ability. Remember we must rebuild gradually with younger players and these younger players were schooled under Alston at St. Paul, Montreal and Vero Beach.”
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Walter O’Malley pointed with pride to the number of hot dogs eaten by Dodger fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum in the team’s initial 1958 season. In the 1950’s there was a running debate as to whether Los Angeles or Chicago was the second largest city in the nation. O’Malley said hot dog sales were better in Los Angeles because the Dodgers averaged 26,365 fans per home game while the Cubs had an average home crowd of 14,477 and “I’ll bet we sold more than twice as many (hot dogs) here as they did in the meat-packing center of the country.” Washington Post, December 29, 1958
