✕

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
×

The Dodgers stumbled upon this small East Coast hamlet in Florida, with nothing more attractive than a U.S. Naval Air base used in World War II, complete with temporary barracks featuring neither heating for the cold nights nor air conditioning for the brutal humidity on scorching spring days in the South.

When local businessman and airport manager Bud Holman approached the Dodgers in 1947 about setting up a spring training camp, initially the reaction of Brooklyn brass was somewhat skeptical. But, Holman had done his homework and found that the Dodgers had more farm clubs than any other major league team, thanks to famed executive Branch Rickey’s philosophy of player development.

Rickey had told his family and some close friends that the club was searching for a training site in the United States. Rickey’s daughter mentioned the fact to a neighbor, Dick Cameron, who in turn relayed the information to HolmanJohn L. Klucina, Vero Beach Press-Journal, February 22, 1968.

Holman was convinced that a large facility like the Naval base would be a good fit for the Dodgers and their 26 minor league teams, if they would only visit and give him a chance to prove it. It would take a great selling job in order to snatch the Dodgers for a full-time camp, but that was one of Holman’s fortés. Holman invited Rickey to see the site for himself and took him on a tour of the city. Rickey had a positive reaction to visiting the base, along with his aide Spencer Harris, who would later become the first camp supervisor, but he wasn’t ready to commit just yet.

Back to top
  • The United States built a Naval Air Station at Vero Beach during World War II with temporary barracks to house the servicemen. After the city gained ownership of the base, the Dodgers were approached by local airport manager and businessman Bud Holman to use the site for spring training camp. The Dodgers initially signed a five-year lease and the barracks became home to more than 600 ballplayers, coaches, executives, staff and members of the press.The United States built a Naval Air Station at Vero Beach during World War II with temporary barracks to house the servicemen. After the city gained ownership of the base, the Dodgers were approached by local airport manager and businessman Bud Holman to use the site for spring training camp. The Dodgers initially signed a five-year lease and the barracks became home to more than 600 ballplayers, coaches, executives, staff and members of the press.
  • Airport manager Bud Holman (right) welcomes Walter O’Malley to Vero Beach as spring training activities begin at Dodgertown. Holman, an Eastern Air Lines director, initially contacted Branch Rickey and the Dodgers about using the barren U.S. Naval Air Station as a spring training home.Airport manager Bud Holman (right) welcomes Walter O’Malley to Vero Beach as spring training activities begin at Dodgertown. Holman, an Eastern Air Lines director, initially contacted Branch Rickey and the Dodgers about using the barren U.S. Naval Air Station as a spring training home.
  • Before Walter O’Malley built a stadium for the Dodgers at Dodgertown, several more primitive fields were in use at the complex and available for practices and exhibition games.Before Walter O’Malley built a stadium for the Dodgers at Dodgertown, several more primitive fields were in use at the complex and available for practices and exhibition games.