This Day in Walter O’Malley History:

  • Walter O’Malley and Dodger Vice President Buzzie Bavasi are featured on the cover of The Sporting News for making a trade with the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Andy Pafko. Baseball insiders thought that Pafko would help lead the Dodgers to the 1951 National League Pennant, but it was Pafko who could only watch as Bobby Thomson’s home run sailed over his head to give the New York Giants a playoff victory and the N.L. Pennant.

  • When UPI asked about his more than decade-long struggle to build his dream stadium, Walter O’Malley responded, “I don’t think I would do it again. I didn’t realize the hardships that were involved, the things that would be said about us and the problems we would have to face. And we didn’t build the stadium to make money. We are confronted with a $15 million loan that we will be paying interest on for close to 20 years. But there is a satisfaction in having met the challenge and having erected a stadium that not only is pleasing to the public, but also is serving as a model for future structures. The oddly-built baseball parks of the past were the result more of the stadia being located in congested areas. The trend in construction now is to locate ballparks where they can be surrounded by ample parking facilities and that permits more symmetrical parks. I hope the next one will be better than this and the next one after that will be still better.”

  • Former Dodger star pitcher Don Drysdale and singer and actor Vic Damone are guests in the Chairman’s Box at Dodger Stadium.

  • In his congratulatory letter to Reginald H. Jones, who had just been named Chairman and CEO of General Electric Company, Walter O’Malley writes, “Today’s newspaper announcement is one that pleases me tremendously. Congratulations to GE Company and good wishes to you with your increased responsibilities. Be sure to save enough time from your busy schedule to attend the next University of Pennsylvania Trustees meetings.” Like O’Malley, Jones was a graduate of Penn. Jones ran GE from 1972-81.

  • Jerry Reuss throws a no-hitter when he faces only 28 batters in an 8-0 win over the San Francisco Giants in Candlestick Park.