brooklyndodgermemories

Move to Los Angeles

Did a greedy, cold-hearted Walter O'Malley ship the Dodgers off to Los Angeles for California gold?

O'Malley was no saint, but neither was he just trying to get rich. As early as 1952 he tried to buy land in Brooklyn in order to build a stadium more modern and accessible than Ebbets Field. Beloved as it was, Ebbets Field was more than forty years old and had a capacity of only 32,000 seats. Even then the Dodgers couldn't fill all the seats in the heat of a pennant race. They drew only 13,423 fans per game in 1955, down from the 23,474 they'd averaged in 1947. The first season in Dodger Stadium the team averaged 34,014 fans per game — more than the capacity of Ebbets Field.

New York City building czar Robert Moses, however, sought to all but jam a site in Flushing Meadows, Queens, down O'Malley's throat — a site featuring a city-built, city-owned park. Moses made it plain enough that he had no intention of allowing any privately owned baseball stadiums in his New York. Only when he realized he wasn't going to be allowed to buy any fresh land in Brooklyn did Walter O'Malley begin thinking elsewhere.

For their part, the Los Angeles city fathers weren't even thinking of the Dodgers when they attended the 1955 World Series looking to lure a team to the City of Angels — their original target had been the Washington Senators! But when O'Malley realized he'd need a contingency in case Moses and New York's politicians refused to let him build a new Dodger home in Brooklyn, he sent word to the Los Angeles officials that he wanted to talk. Los Angeles offered him what New York would not: a chance to buy land suitable for building a new ballpark. That the Dodgers left Brooklyn heartbroken is indisputable; that Walter O'Malley did it without good reason is not.

As the 1957 season rolled around, the team on the field was overshadowed by the publicity of the team's possible move to the West Coast. Since the early 1950's Walter O'Malley had wanted to build a more modern stadium for his ballclub in Brooklyn, but New York officials did not want to provide O'Malley with the specific land he had in mind.

On October 8, 1957, O'Malley announced that after 68 seasons in Brooklyn, the Dodgers would be moving to Los Angeles. In a move to bring baseball to all parts of the country, O'Malley also convinced Giants owner Horace Stoneham to move his Giants the same year to San Francisco. Just a little more than six months later, on April 18, 1958, the Dodgers played their first game in Los Angeles, defeating the Giants 6-5 before 78,672 fans at the Coliseum.

Why would a shrewd owner want to build a privately owned ballpark in Brooklyn/NY with more seats, when he could not even fill Ebbets Field during a pennant race?

CHRIS THAT WAS WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THOSE DAYS. tHE dODGERS STILL HAD THE BEST ATTENDENCE IN THE nATIONAL lEAGUE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE mILWAUKEE bRAVES WHO WERE RIDING THE WAVE OF A NEW TOWN. TELEVISION WAS AFFECTING THE LIVE GATE, BUT THE DODGERS MORE THEN MADE UP FOR IT WITH THEIR TV-RADIO DEAL. THE DODGERS BOTTOM LINE WAS THE BEST IN BASEBALL. fAR BETTER THEN THE BRAVES WHO HAD A MUCH LARGER ATTENDENCE.

Sorry I didn't realize I had the caps button turned on.

Walter O'Malley allowed Ebbets Field to "go down the drain" on purpose. He allowed the great old stadium get dirty and smelly to try and force the hand of the local political forces. Basically it was all bullshit, because Walter had made up his mind to move to LA years before.

When Ebbets Field was built, it was the poshest ballpark in baseball. Unfortunately, Ebbets and the Mckeevers didn't have the money to keep Ebbets maintained properly. Things went downhill from there. Larry McPhail refurbished Ebbets Field when he was there.After that Branch Rickey did nothing to maintain the physical plant, although the playing field itself was well maintained. When O'Malley took over in October,1951, he knocked Rickey for not taking care of Ebbets Field and promised that he would put all profits from baseball back into bringing Ebbets Field up to date and taking the fans comfort into consideration. O'Malley did nothing to improve Ebbets Field. Other then change burnt out lightbulbs and paint the seats evry two years not a dime was spent on Ebbets Field. As Pete said, O'Malley was happy to see Ebbets go downhill, that is one of the major reasons he gave for moving. O'Malley took advantage of every situation that helped him.Ebbets Field could have been saved, O'Malley did not want that to happen.

The fat SOB had it all planned.

I believe during the 1955 season is when O'Malley decided he was leaving Brooklyn. There was no legal way NYC even if it wanted to could have given O'Malley what LA gave him.

It used to boggle my mind. I couldn't believe that LA would give O'Malley what they did. But, upon reflection, they (LA) wanted the Dodgers very badly. They had a little tease with getting the Senators, but when they realized O'Malley was serious, they wet their pants and gave away the house.

The politicians in LA could get away with a lot more in the late 50's, then the politicos in NYC could. There is no way what happened in 1957 could happen today legally in LA.

I would have to agree with that assessment. The press doesn't let anything slide nowadays. LA would have been hung out to dry for those under-the-table shananagans today.

I cannot help but wonder if George Steinbrenner was taken for a helicopter ride over, let's say Las Vegas back a few years ago, and told he could have 125 acres of free land there, what he would have done. Remember, George was intent on moving the Yanks after NYC told him "no go" on a new stadium. George threatened to movge to the Meadowlands in NJ, but WHAT IF...........hmmmmmmmmmmm.......

I think at one time George would have loved to have been the first in Tampa. Folks forget Steinbrenner was investigating moving his Yanks.

Can you imagine the Tampa Bay Yankees? The existing Rays into NYC to "replace" the Yanks? Oh my! It COULD have happened. George was a looser cannon than O'Malley before he got sick.

George was too smart he knew he needed NYC for the Yankees, Tampa Bay is actually a minor league city issued a major league franchise.