Dodgertown

Spring’s Eternal at Dodgertown

The Sporting News list of 100 Most Powerful People in Sports for the 20th Century, December 1999

  1. Pete Rozelle
  2. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
  3. Roone Arledge
  4. Branch Rickey
  5. Marvin Miller
  6. David Stern
  7. Rupert Murdoch
  8. Avery Brundage
  9. Ban Johnson
  10. Muhammad Ali
  11. Walter O’Malley
  12. Steve Borstein
  13. Phil Knight
  14. George Halas
  15. Babe Ruth
  16. Walter Byers
  17. Lamar Hunt
  18. Ted Turner
  19. Paul Brown
  20. Michael Jordan
  21. Jackie Robinson
  22. Pierre De Coubertin
  23. Juan Antonio Samaranch
  24. Donald Fehr
  25. Tex Rickard
  26. Roy Hofheinz
  27. Horst Dassler
  28. Red Auerbach
  29. Bill France Sr.
  30. Arnold Palmer
  31. Al Davis
  32. Birch Bayh
  33. Billie Jean King
  34. Paul Tagliabue
  35. Charlie Finley
  36. Clarence Campbell
  37. George Steinbrenner
  38. Peter Ueberroth
  39. Bert Bell
  40. Jacob Ruppert
  41. Dick Ebersol
  42. Mark McCormack
  43. Al Neuharth
  44. Tex Schramm
  45. Bill Veeck
  46. Arthur Ashe
  47. Howard Cosell
  48. Fathers Theodore Hesburgh and William Beauchamp
  49. Don King
  50. Connie Mack
  1. David Falk
  2. John Wooden
  3. Andre Laguerre
  4. August Busch Jr.
  5. Peter Seitz
  6. Roger Penske
  7. Wilt Chamberlain
  8. Jack Nicklaus
  9. Bill France Jr.
  10. Bowie Kuhn
  11. George Preston Marshall
  12. Ed Barrow
  13. Abe Saperstein
  14. John McGraw
  15. Larry MacPhail
  16. Dick Schultz
  17. Gary Bettman
  18. Adolph Rupp
  19. Walter Brown
  20. Jesse Owens
  21. Deane Beman
  22. Phog Allen
  23. Wellington Mara
  24. Charles Comiskey
  25. Eddie Robinson
  26. Knute Rockne
  27. Arch Ward
  28. Jerry Jones
  29. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
  30. Bobby Orr
  31. Art Rooney
  32. Alan Eagleson
  33. Pele
  34. Bud Selig
  35. Tommie Smith and John Carlos
  36. Pat Summit
  37. Laurence Tisch
  38. Bobby Jones
  39. Tiger Woods
  40. Leigh Steinberg
  41. Henry Iba
  42. Bill Bowerman
  43. Anatoli Tarasov
  44. Albert “Happy” Chandler
  45. “The Voices of Baseball” — Mel Allen, Red Barber, Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Ernie Harwell,Bob Prince, Etc.
  46. Sonny Werblin
  47. Ed and Steve Sabol
  48. J.G. Taylor Spink and C.C. Johnson Spink
  49. Wayne Gretzky
  50. The Famous Chicken
×

ABC Sports ranks the Top Ten Most Influential People "off the field" in sports history as voted by the Sports Century panel in December, 1999

  1. Branch Rickey
  2. Pete Rozelle
  3. Roone Arledge
  4. Marvin Miller
  5. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
  6. David Stern
  7. Avery Brundage
  8. Walter O’Malley
  9. George Halas
  10. Mark McCormack
×

Attendance 1953-1957 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Braves

Attendance 1953-1957 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Braves
×

A vision of the future was dancing in his head and O’Malley shared it to the world in 1952, when he agreed to build a permanent home stadium at Dodgertown. He knew the original agreement was to expire in 1953. The Dodgers would sign a 21-year lease agreement with the City of Vero Beach, whose officials had voted unanimously, to make Dodgertown their spring training headquarters during the week of January 31, 1952. The agreement enabled the Dodgers to “renew for an additional period of 21 years.”Julie Autumn Luster, 2002 Dodgers Spring Training Yearbook, “Holman Celebrates Half a Century” No other major league club had a longer running spring contract. The terms of the lease were $1 a year for 21 years, which O’Malley, a non-practicing attorney, paid in cash upfront to avoid a lot of legal issues in the contract.

It would be the first major statement that had been made by the Dodgers that indeed they were there to stay. The terms “called for the Dodgers to have their team in Vero Beach at least 15 days each spring. A certain number of exhibition games were to be played, the Dodgers were to pay the city $3,000 to complete the debt on the swimming pool and earmark the entire receipts from one exhibition game for the airport fund.”Joe Hendrickson, Dodgertown A Vero vote of confidence and one appreciated by the local city fathers, who immediately realized the financial, public relations and hospitality impact of O’Malley’s commitment.

O’Malley never scaled the pinnacle of superiority in his actions, as could be seen by every one of the ballplayers at Dodgertown. When the many minor league teams descended on Dodgertown and table service reverted to cafeteria style, the Dodger chief and his wife, Kay, stood in line with their aluminum trays for food in the mess hall dining room just like everyone else. Class D ballplayers waited in line shoulder to shoulder with Class B, major leaguers and the Dodger President himself. That was one of the most unique facets of Dodgertown and part of the reason for its success. This was no nameless, faceless organization, but one that gathered the “troops” together and made everyone feel a part of the larger family. By meeting and talking with the masses of individuals each day, the Dodgers became stronger and more unified.

“One of the main advantages of a central training camp is fraternization,” wrote Thompson. “The players with all clubs become acquainted with one another; firm friendships develop. During the season if a player should be transferred from one club to another, or when the Dodgers cut down to their active limit of twenty-five, he goes to a club where he is not a stranger to the players or the manager.”Fresco Thompson, “Every Diamond Doesn’t Sparkle,” David McKay Company, Inc. 1964 copyright, page 131

The plan O’Malley devised for Dodgertown was to systematically upgrade the entire complex, maintaining the basic features that made it work from Rickey’s regime and enhancing it to become more player and fan friendly. He believed the more players felt at home at Dodgertown, by catering to their every need, the less likely they would wander off base for outside entertainment. O’Malley wanted to have the most state-of-the-art spring training complex, with the best training techniques, meals, medical facilities, stadium, landscaping and recreational facilities. A player might never leave base during his stay, except to attend a weekly religious service of his choice. And the Dodgers even provided bus transportation for that. Although the goal never changed, which was to address the well-being and conditioning of the players while preparing them for the season, O’Malley saw opportunity in Dodgertown, that the real beauty of it was that it could be a self-contained retreat, not just for a couple of months in the spring but with year-round possibilities.

Back to top
  • Dodgertown’s mess hall is the gathering point for all hungry players, staff and executives. But, feeding the masses cafeteria style meant waiting in line and eating in shifts. Walter and Kay O’Malley stood in line holding their aluminum trays shoulder to shoulder with the players.Dodgertown’s mess hall is the gathering point for all hungry players, staff and executives. But, feeding the masses cafeteria style meant waiting in line and eating in shifts. Walter and Kay O’Malley stood in line holding their aluminum trays shoulder to shoulder with the players.
  • Dodger players attend a baseball skills class in the old Dodgertown auditorium. Branch Rickey’s initial vision for a training camp included educating the players about all aspects of the game.Dodger players attend a baseball skills class in the old Dodgertown auditorium. Branch Rickey’s initial vision for a training camp included educating the players about all aspects of the game.
  • Dodger hitting instructor George Sisler (l-r), Duke Snider and Pete Reiser are practicing at the batting tee.Dodger hitting instructor George Sisler (l-r), Duke Snider and Pete Reiser are practicing at the batting tee.