Testimonials

No other place on earth holds as many memories for me as Dodgertown.

I remember the last time I walked off the field at Dodgertown, knowing that I would probably never return. I thought of the 60 years of going there for spring training. It’s the greatest spring training complex in the United States. I’ll never love anything the way I loved going to Dodgertown.

Spring training at Dodgertown was something very special to me because of its rich history and the people who experienced Dodgertown. It was a wonderful time. We were isolated there and players spent a lot of time together and we grew very close. When I got there, I had the opportunity to meet and play with so many great players—Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, Carl Furillo and on and on. These were all the folks I rooted for in Brooklyn. I have so many great memories. Dodgertown is truly a historic place.

When I think of Dodgertown, the first thing that comes to mind is the nine fields and that we had to run to every one of them. And I loved the great food. Seriously, I’ll always treasure the opportunity I had to get to know guys from different parts of the country and to develop a great camaraderie with them. I was young when I was there and I had to learn about a lot of things, so the opportunity to absorb all that information was something I loved.

My time at Dodgertown was priceless. Doing what you love in a place where everything is first class. Thanks to the O’Malley family!!!

I get very emotional when I think about Dodgertown and my first spring training. It was great for a rookie who just wanted to play baseball. It has everything you could possibly want to get ready for the season. You can eat, sleep and train there and never have to go anywhere else. It brings back a lot of good memories for me.

I first went to Dodgertown shortly after I turned 18. I had grown up in the projects in Washington, D.C. and didn’t know anything about the world and had no clue about life. My growth as a man started at Dodgertown. I got to live my passion for baseball and it all started when I got to go to Dodgertown.

With Dodgertown, the O’Malley family created the ultimate environment from which to cultivate, develop, and nurture their ideal of what a professional baseball franchise should be.

Dodgertown was ahead of its time as a baseball training complex. Dodgertown was Vero Beach. It was like a town. It had everything. You never had to leave the grounds.

I always looked forward to going to Dodgertown for spring training. It was a wonderful atmosphere and put you in a great frame of mind to start a new baseball season and give you the confidence you needed to try to win a championship.

Dodgertown was the ideal spring training facility for us. It gave us a great comfort level with everything that was going on. Everything you needed to succeed at baseball was at your fingertips and you didn’t have to worry about anything else, other than preparing for the season and hopefully winning a championship.

I had images of Dodgertown from listening to and watching games being broadcast from there when I was a kid growing up in Santa Monica. When I was traded to the Dodgers, I got a chance to visit this magical place. Dodgertown was the Disneyland of baseball. With its fields, living quarters, dining room, lounge and hallways filled with the history of the Dodgers, it had great facilities to get you ready for the championship season. I fell so in love with it, I now make my home in Vero Beach.

Dodgertown is a very, very special place. Just hearing the word `Dodgertown’ brings back a lot of great memories. I cherish the time I got to spend there with Walter O’Malley and the entire O’Malley family. I have great respect and admiration for the O’Malley family. A few years ago I asked my wife where she wanted to go on vacation and she said `Dodgertown.’

Having the opportunity to train at Dodgertown matured me as a player and as an individual. It taught me a lot about what baseball is really about. Being around Peter O’Malley and his family brought a great closeness, and getting to meet the players I played with and those from the past and sharing stories with them was an unbelievable experience.

I grew up in a household where my dad was a huge Brooklyn Dodgers fan as a kid and I heard about Dodgertown and had seen pictures of it, but as a player that’s where you really understood the history of the Dodgers. You realized you were a part of more than just the ballclub you were playing on at that particular time. As a player at Dodgertown, the thing I remember most is the interaction with the fans and the accessibility the fans had, unlike any other spring training site. It made for a very intimate environment. It was very peaceful, very calming. It was baseball in its purest sense.

To start the spring at Dodgertown was a huge perk for me before those long seasons. Everyone there treated me like a part of the family. It was the best and I’ll never forget those years.