This Day in Walter O’Malley History: June 9

As a member of the Board of Directors for Todd & Brown, Inc., Walter O’Malley travels to Washington for a meeting. Todd & Brown supervised the building of New York’s Rockefeller Center and Virginia’s Old Williamsburg.

Walter O’Malley is one of the original supporters of interleague play as shown in a statement made by him in 1954. Hank Greenberg, Vice President of the Cleveland Indians, had suggested clubs of the American and National Leagues face each other during the season and O’Malley was in agreement. “You can say I’m very much in favor of the plan,” he said, noting that the concept was very much “in the conversational stage.” The Sporting News, June 9, 1954

With Texas-sized confidence, Jerome K. Crossman, President of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, wires Walter O’Malley and invites him to relocate the Dodgers in Dallas. Crossman makes his invitation after reading a news report of the Dodgers’ unhappiness with a new five percent New York City admissions tax for games at Ebbets Field. Crossman said, “The City of Dallas would welcome and, in my judgment, support major league baseball, and any such club whose franchise might be subject to any city amusements tax under existing ordinances. No such ordinance would be enacted if such a franchise were to be transferred to this city. Down here we think in ‘big league’ terms and we are not inclined to levy a tax against the hen that lays the golden egg.” The invitation was strictly unofficial and O’Malley certainly never considered turning the club into the Dallas Dodgers. Bill Rives, The Sporting News, June 9, 1954

Frank Finch of the Los Angeles Times writes of the benefits of playing Major League Baseball in Los Angeles and the miniscule number of games postponed because of rain. “Our idea of a soft job,” writes Finch, “would be that of superintendent in charge of the field tarpaulin at Dodger Stadium — if Walter O’Malley owned one.” Quotes column, The Sporting News, June 9, 1962

In preparation for a possible goodwill trip to Japan, Walter O’Malley writes an Inter-Club Communication memorandum to Dodger Executive Vice President Buzzie Bavasi asking him to “discuss this with the players.” The Dodgers made their first successful visit to Japan in 1956. O’Malley notes, “players would receive $3,750 of which $750 would be in yen for spending money in Japan.” The schedule called for about 18 games to be played. Japanese officials insisted that Major League Baseball send the Dodgers to make the trip, in appreciation of training they had provided to teams, scouts, managers and coaches.

Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully has a star named for him placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Scully would receive the Ford Frick Award at the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY later that summer.