This Day in Walter O’Malley History: October 1

The Dodgers lost the first game of the 1951 National League playoffs to the Giants, 3-1, at Ebbets Field and Walter O’Malley kidded a newspaperman it was because the reporter didn’t wear the right tie. A reporter had worn a blue polka-dot tie during the Dodgers’ important win in Philadelphia the day before to tie for the National League pennant and O’Malley had worn his own lucky blue polka-dot tie. O’Malley lamented to the reporter, “I sent a message to you to wear that tie again, and you let me down.” New York Times, October 2, 1951

The Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the 1955 World Series to tie the series at 2. The Dodgers would win their first World Championship in seven games over their American League rivals.

National League owners unanimously vote to extend the deadline for two weeks for the Brooklyn Dodgers to decide on a proposed shift of the team to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham formally announces his intentions to move to San Francisco for the 1958 season. Although O’Malley had not sought an extension, after fellow owners heard an update on the current situation, “the extension was introduced in the form of a resolution by President John W. Galbreath of the Pittsburgh Pirates...After a full discussion of the situation, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: ‘The National League extends to and including Oct. 15 the time within which the Brooklyn club shall notify the league of its intention if it desires to acquire the Los Angeles territory.’” Frank Finch, Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1957  According to Associated Press, “In Los Angeles, Harold C. McClellan, Los Angeles city and county negotiator with the Dodgers, said he thought the extension provided adequate time for the Los Angeles city council to take action on a proposed contract between the city and O’Malley.”

Walter O’Malley and the construction of Dodger Stadium are prominently featured in The Pennsylvania Gazette magazine. O’Malley, a 1926 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, is profiled. “Privately financed and costing in the neighborhood of $12,000,000, the stadium will be the first ball park built with non-government capital since Yankee Stadium was completed in 1923. And the new park will be just about the final word in offering comforts and conveniences to the fans...After Pennsylvania, where he was president of the junior and senior classes, he studied at Columbia and Fordham, and began his career as an attorney in 1930.” The Pennsylvania Gazette, October, 1961

According to the Los Angeles Times, the odds against the Los Angeles Dodgers sweeping the rival New York Yankees in the World Series were posted at 25-1. Los Angeles Times, October 1, 1963  But, that is exactly what the Dodgers accomplished five days later.