Dodgertown
Spring’s Eternal at Dodgertown
The Sporting News list of 100 Most Powerful People in Sports for the 20th Century, December 1999
- Pete Rozelle
- Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
- Roone Arledge
- Branch Rickey
- Marvin Miller
- David Stern
- Rupert Murdoch
- Avery Brundage
- Ban Johnson
- Muhammad Ali
- Walter O’Malley
- Steve Borstein
- Phil Knight
- George Halas
- Babe Ruth
- Walter Byers
- Lamar Hunt
- Ted Turner
- Paul Brown
- Michael Jordan
- Jackie Robinson
- Pierre De Coubertin
- Juan Antonio Samaranch
- Donald Fehr
- Tex Rickard
- Roy Hofheinz
- Horst Dassler
- Red Auerbach
- Bill France Sr.
- Arnold Palmer
- Al Davis
- Birch Bayh
- Billie Jean King
- Paul Tagliabue
- Charlie Finley
- Clarence Campbell
- George Steinbrenner
- Peter Ueberroth
- Bert Bell
- Jacob Ruppert
- Dick Ebersol
- Mark McCormack
- Al Neuharth
- Tex Schramm
- Bill Veeck
- Arthur Ashe
- Howard Cosell
- Fathers Theodore Hesburgh and William Beauchamp
- Don King
- Connie Mack
- David Falk
- John Wooden
- Andre Laguerre
- August Busch Jr.
- Peter Seitz
- Roger Penske
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Jack Nicklaus
- Bill France Jr.
- Bowie Kuhn
- George Preston Marshall
- Ed Barrow
- Abe Saperstein
- John McGraw
- Larry MacPhail
- Dick Schultz
- Gary Bettman
- Adolph Rupp
- Walter Brown
- Jesse Owens
- Deane Beman
- Phog Allen
- Wellington Mara
- Charles Comiskey
- Eddie Robinson
- Knute Rockne
- Arch Ward
- Jerry Jones
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
- Bobby Orr
- Art Rooney
- Alan Eagleson
- Pele
- Bud Selig
- Tommie Smith and John Carlos
- Pat Summit
- Laurence Tisch
- Bobby Jones
- Tiger Woods
- Leigh Steinberg
- Henry Iba
- Bill Bowerman
- Anatoli Tarasov
- Albert “Happy” Chandler
- “The Voices of Baseball” — Mel Allen, Red Barber, Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Ernie Harwell,Bob Prince, Etc.
- Sonny Werblin
- Ed and Steve Sabol
- J.G. Taylor Spink and C.C. Johnson Spink
- Wayne Gretzky
- 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
- Branch Rickey
- Pete Rozelle
- Roone Arledge
- Marvin Miller
- Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
- David Stern
- Avery Brundage
- Walter O’Malley
- George Halas
- Mark McCormack
Attendance 1953-1957 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Braves

Early in January 1953, O’Malley told the press that the stadium would be named for a Vero Beach citizen. Then, on January 15, O’Malley said in his announcement, “From the time Branch Rickey came to Vero Beach, Bud Holman has continually sparked the development of the (Dodgertown) project.” The Vero Beach Press Journal of January 15 concluded, “The entire Dodger organization was deeply appreciative of the fine co-operation received from the citizens and officials of Vero Beach and felt that it was highly appropriate that the stadium be named for one of its citizens — a man who had devoted much of his time and effort towards making Dodgertown possible.
“Holman Stadium at Dodgertown stands as a tribute to the man who brought to Vero Beach one of the biggest attractions and businesses in the United States.”Bill Boeding, Vero Beach Press-Journal, February 27, 1993
The construction process was unique and fast, as dirt dug out from the field was used to create an embankment for the outfield. There would be no outfield fence, just a grass slope. In a June 18, 1954 letter to St. Louis Cardinals’ Vice President William Walsingham, O’Malley explained, “The Vero Beach stadium was let on competitive bidding. The excavation, fill, mounds, concrete and reserve seats cost $50,000 even for 5000 seats. The house is scaled very high in favor of box seats of which there are 40% or 2000. This percentage can be varied depending on local conditions.
“The lights came from our abandoned Cambridge, Maryland park so there is no true cost figure on that. The ticket office, 4 public toilet rooms and clubhouse with plumbing cost $12,000, the press box $1000.
“This stadium is by far the cheapest I have ever known to have been built and we did it more or less as an experiment to show minor league people that it would be possible for a modest outlay to have a new and attractive stadium replace the horrible minor league monstrosities in which most teams now play.”
The dedication of the new ballpark, O’Malley’s pride and joy, was on Wednesday, March 11, 1953. In preparation for the big day, the Vero Beach Press Journal reported that “we spied an extra workman among the ground crew working on the infield the other day. The fellow was busy raking the soil part of the new infield. He looked familiar to us and he rightly should...He was Walter F. O’Malley, president of the Dodgers.”Bob Curzon, The Dodger Bullpen, Vero Beach Press-Journal, March 12, 1953
The Dodgers played the Philadelphia Athletics that day and an overflow crowd of 5,532 attended the first game at Holman Stadium. The 1:30 p.m. dedication ceremonies began a little late but included a concert by the Vero Beach School Band, Merrill P. Barber; the President of the Indian River County Citrus Bank as the emcee for the official festivities; and an invocation by Rev. Fr. Patrick D. O’Brien of St. Helen’s Catholic Church in Vero. Distinguished guests included Florida Secretary of State Robert A. Gray, representing long-time Governor Daniel McCarty, who had suffered a disabling heart attack only two weeks prior,Florida, a Division of Historical Resources web site, Florida Governors’ Portraits, Daniel Thomas McCarty politicians from Vero, Ft. Pierce and Stuart, the Commissioner of Baseball Ford C. Frick, the President of the National League Warren Giles and the President of the American League William Harridge. The festivities were carried live on radio.
The dedication program for Holman Stadium on March 11, 1953 includes selections by the Vero Beach School Band, numerous speeches by civic leaders and the dedication message delivered by Walter O’Malley.
Walter O’Malley and Bud Holman shake hands at the dedication ceremonies for Holman Stadium on March 11, 1953. Though he became a rabid Dodger fan, initially Holman knew little about baseball. As an astute businessman, he saw and acted on the opportunity to bring the Dodgers to Vero Beach for spring training. The plaque presented by the Dodgers reads, “The Brooklyn Dodgers Dedicate Holman Stadium to Honor Bud L. Holman of the Friendly City of Vero Beach, Walter F. O’Malley, President, Emil H. Praeger, C.E., Designer, 1953.”