This Day in Walter O’Malley History:

  • After the Dodgers lose to the New York Yankees in the 1953 World Series, four games to two, Walter O’Malley told Dodger Manager Charlie Dressen in the Brooklyn clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, “You all had a good season. You did well and there are no regrets. Once more, we’ll have to wait ’til next year.” Roscoe McGowen, The New York Times, October 6, 1953  O’Malley also shakes the hand of Billy Martin in the Yankees clubhouse after Martin’s game-winning single gave the Yankees their fifth straight World Championship. “Bill, you’re the hero of the Series,” said O’Malley. For the Dodgers, the World Series loss was their seventh straight dating back to 1916.

  • The headline in the Daily News says it all about the Dodgers’ first World Championship in Brooklyn, “THIS IS NEXT YEAR!” It was the only World Championship out of the eight Series appearances during the Dodgers’ 67-year history in Brooklyn.

  • Former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Dazzy Vance, the first long-term Dodger (1922-32 and 1935) inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955, writes a congratulatory telegram to Walter O’Malley: “Sincere congratulations to you and all the boys. You are more then (sp.) deserving. With personal regards, Dazzy Vance.”

  • Ted Sizemore, National League Rookie of the Year of 1969, is traded to St. Louis following the 1970 season and receives this letter from Walter O’Malley: “This morning I learned that a trade had been made involving you. I am personally unhappy to lose you as you are not only a fine ball player but a personable and good citizen, and I look for you to have a career in baseball long after your playing days are over. You have been a great Dodger and a fine young man to have in our organization. I will particularly miss you at Vero Beach as will your host of friends in the Dodger family. All good wishes to you Ted, and to your lovely wife and let’s keep in touch.” Sizemore would return to the Dodgers for the 1976 season.

  • In his letter to Dodger Manager Walter Alston, Walter O’Malley writes, “I want to thank you for some extraordinary maneuvers on your part this season, in order to take our team from eleven and a half games out to but one. Fortunately the fans will remember that we almost beat the Giants but you and I know that in the percentages, we finished fourth. This means to me that we should be quite bold in our appraisal of talent as we approach possible trades.”

  • The Wall Street Journal runs a Page 1 feature about the “Secrets of Walter O’Malley” in its article “Baseball’s Big Hit, Los Angeles Dodgers Again Seeking Pennant, Keep on Winning Fans.” According to the story, “His operating philosophy is simple: Own your own stadium so you aren’t at the mercy of politicians, promote each game as a special event, maintain a clean, attractive facility with plenty of parking and keep your ticket prices down. In an era when stadiums generally are financed by municipalities through bond issues, Mr. O’Malley is the sole owner of Dodger Stadium...Further proof of Dodger daring is evident in the team’s impressive list of baseball firsts: first commercial television broadcast, first pay-TV broadcast (in 1958), first Spanish-language radio broadcast, first to buy its own jet...The team pioneered baseball instruction as well. It was the first to bring both major and minor leaguers to one spring training site, thus making it easier to track players’ progress.” Hal Lancaster, The Wall Street Journal, October 5, 1978