This Day in Walter O’Malley History: July 8

Walter O’Malley responds to a New York Giants’ fan named Matthew Joss, who had written a letter to him on July 2 regarding the Dodgers and how tough they play. “It is good to hear from a Giant fan particularly such a fair minded one,” said O’Malley. “You must have had a Field Day Sunday at our expense. Watch out, we will return the compliment. It was nice of you to write.” Joss wrote to O’Malley, “A club of your type deserves excellent patronage because win or lose they’re in there battling. Thank you for the many enjoyable hours your fighting Dodgers have presented me with, and if the Giants can’t win the pennant your team deserves it. I’ll be at Ebbets Field this afternoon to see the Bums play Philadelphia and though I’ll be rooting for Philly I know that the Dodgers will give me ‘ulcers’ before its over. Here’s hoping you continued success and happiness. A loyal baseball fan who admires class.” The Dodgers won the 1952 National League Pennant and went up three games to two in the World Series against the New York Yankees, before losing in seven games.

Dodger center fielder Duke Snider praises Walter O’Malley for sticking with him, even though he thought he might be traded after the collapse of 1951, in which the Giants caught the Dodgers in the standings and then beat them in the National League Playoff series on Bobby Thomson’s home run. “My spirit was down in my ankles,” said Snider. “‘I wouldn’t blame you if you got rid of me, Mr. O’Malley.’ I looked up and told him, ‘It’s all my fault, not Dressen’s. But darned if he didn’t put his arm around me! ‘Duke,’ he said, ‘don’t you worry about a thing. We plan to have you with us for a long while. I’m not going to trade you.’ I never knew they made human beings as fine as Mr. O’Malley. Why, he never gave me away, either! The newspapers said ‘one’ Dodger player had gone to him pleading to be sent somewhere else. But he didn’t let on I was the one. How can you help but play your heart out for a man like that. I’ve had two good World Series against the Yanks. They built up my confidence. But they weren’t the beginning. It all started in the Polo Grounds dressing room.” Harold C. Burr, "The Duke Steps Out - Faith of O’Malley," Brooklyn Eagle, July 8, 1954

William J. Levitt, President of Levitt and Sons, Inc., known for developing Levittown, Pennsylvania, the largest planned community constructed by a single builder in the United States, writes this letter to Walter O’Malley, “In my business when we have an executive that doesn’t produce we give someone else a chance on the theory that he couldn’t do worse but might conceivably do a lot better. Even more important a change of face imbues our people with a new spirit and we have found that the impossible very frequently happens. Aside from being a loyal follower of the Dodgers for many years I happen to be of the temperament that hates to see a healthy group of men suddenly turn into invalids. I am quite sure that there is nothing basically wrong that a new spark wouldn’t cure...I think a wire to (former Dodger Manager Charlie) Dressen asking him to come back for two years would prove to be so electrifying that the boys might conceivably even capture their first World Series championship. They once told me that I was crazy to build a second one but I think you know the results.” In 1958, Levittown grew to more than 5,500 acres of schools, churches, shopping centers and 17,311 single-family homes with 70,000-plus residents. Business Week named Levitt as one of “The Great Innovators” in the past 75 years in its May 31, 2004 issue.

In his letter to Frank D. Schroth, editor of the New York News and former publisher of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Walter O’Malley writes, “Our double win yesterday before the All-Star break finds us back in good form with a real chance to stay in contention and we hope, win the pennant. The closeness of the race has the fans all excited and we had to turn people away yesterday. We built the stadium here on the assurance that our real estate taxes would be approximately $350,000 a year but a new tax assessor has seen fit to raise the value of the land from $3,500,000 to $15,000,000 in one year. This would produce a prohibitive result and of course, we are once more in the newspapers and will soon be in the courts. Never a dull day with the Dodgers or O’Malley. All the best.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn writes a letter to Walter O’Malley stating, “Our family enjoyed July 3, the birthday of Jimmy. You were kind and generous. All of us will remember the evening, especially Jimmy.” Hahn’s son, James, was elected Mayor of Los Angeles in June, 2001.