Spring’s Eternal at Dodgertown

Attendance 1953-1957 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Braves

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In February 1947, the Dodgers had set up their training camp in Havana, Cuba, a long way from the Borough of Brooklyn, but Rickey strategically wanted to keep his “great experiment” under wraps as long and as quietly as possible. Racial discrimination was less prevalent in Havana, where black players had regularly participated in the Cuban Winter Leagues. Although Robinson would not be housed at the team’s headquarters, the plush Hotel Nacional, he would have relative insulation and a safe haven at the Hotel Boston in old Havana.Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, “The '47 Dodgers on Havana: Baseball at a Crossroads,” Spring Training, 1996 issue

Although, perhaps, that spring training would be remembered for the efforts of baseball to thwart the Mexican League’s attempt to vie for major league talent through high-priced contracts and Dodger Manager Leo Durocher’s one-year suspension for “conduct detrimental to baseball,” nevertheless Rickey had prepared Robinson in the isolation of Cuba for the huge task ahead.

In 1948, the Dodgers would establish camp in Vero Beach particularly for the many minor league clubs, while at the same time maintaining a major league camp again outside of the country. This time, the Dodgers moved locations to Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic, which also provided good weather and less expensive costs, compared to pricey Havana. Attendance in Havana was also lackluster, causing one series between the Dodgers and the St. Louis Browns to be cancelled, plus Cuban fans seemed satisfied to watch their own exciting baseball league. Durocher returned to the field, after his suspension, for the 1948 season.

Scrambling to get the Dodgertown camp prepared for the influx of players, coaches and support personnel by February of 1948, Rickey and Harris had to get the two unused barracks, which had been dormant since the end of World War II, patched, painted and cleaned. Offices had to be established, a mess hall for feeding the masses and recreational facilities developed. Two practice fields and a third with stands were made ready for play. When Bavasi had visited in November and recommended to Rickey to proceed with his plan, weeds were nearly overtaking the barracks. And that was just on the inside.

Rickey promised to give Vero Beach residents a taste of the major league Dodgers when he scheduled two exhibition games on March 31 and April 1, 1948 against the top farm team, the Montreal Royals.

“The Dodgers have an excellent rookie camp in Vero Beach,” wrote Jimmy Powers in the New York Daily News. “The kitchen and equipment room are first class. Vero Beach is much farther north than Miami, as a result too decent and too quiet for the hoodlum element to bother with. Its streets are clean. Its citizens are highly respectable. It has great civic spirit.”Joe Hendrickson, Dodgertown

When not eating and sleeping baseball, the minor league players were kept occupied on base with shuffleboard, ping pong tables, a juke box, pool tables, pinball machines and movies three times a week. To further keep the players busy, Rickey wanted a swimming pool to be built and asked Holman and city fathers to start a fund for one to be built by 1949. The innovative Holman guaranteed the construction himself, to be reimbursed using funds from future Dodger exhibition games and thus the pool was built. Wooden street markers around Dodgertown read “Rickey Boulevard, Durocher Trail, Flatbush Avenue and Ebbets Field.”

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• Vero’s First Exhibition >