This Day in Walter O’Malley History: January 3

Walter O’Malley signs an agreement with owners of the Cerveceria Caracas club of the Venezuelan League giving the Brooklyn Dodgers priority in signing players for the Dodgers’ system in winter baseball.

Sportswriter Frank Finch of the Los Angeles Times, comments in The All-Sports News about his biggest thrill for 1961: “Outdrawing Walter O’Malley on the last card in a poker game in the Dodgertown (Vero Beach, Florida) press room was an unforgettable moment, but I guess my biggest thrill on the sports beat in 1961 came when Roger Maris hit his sixty-first home run.” Finch’s statement concluded, “O’Malley won the next five hands.”