Dodgertown Dates: 1954

Dodger President Walter O’Malley writes to Charles Jewett, the City Manager of Vero Beach, Florida, of his future plans for a Dodgertown Camp for Boys. “Sometimes I wonder if people really appreciate just how serious and proud we are to have the largest baseball training camp in the world located in Vero Beach. I know a number of my associates thought I was going soft when I decided to build a stadium in Vero Beach on property that we did not even own. I felt that the stadium would be a fine monument to the City of Vero Beach even if the Dodgers for some reason moved elsewhere.  We have enjoyed excellent cooperation and understanding with the people of Vero Beach and we shall do everything possible to continue that fine relationship….I am enclosing a schedule of the games that we propose to play in Vero Beach this spring. With a few exceptions these games are reported back to the various cities of the participating clubs under Vero Beach date lines.  This, of course, is terrific and wholesome publicity….I believe the year will come when one of the great umpire schools will be located at Dodgertown as well as pre-spring training clinics for the amateur leaders of Little League and amateur junior baseball. All of these I believe are steps in the proper direction and I do hope the civic response is cordial as it always has been.” Walter O’Malley to Charles Jewett, Correspondence, February 3, 1954

The Dodgertown Boys’ Camp will begin on July 1st and known distance runner Leslie MacMitchell will be the director.  MacMitchell at one time co-held the indoor world record for the mile. The Sporting News, March 3, 1954  Also, Walter O’Malley has given the green light for non-playing coaches to help Dodger minor league managers.  “Manager Walt Alston,” said O’Malley “had no help whatever along that line while managing Montreal (Dodgers’ AAA club in 1953).  He and other managers in the minors had to do everything and the paper work alone—making reports to our office was a 24-hour job.” The Sporting News, March 4, 1954

The Brooklyn Dodgers were playing an intra-squad game at Holman Stadium when play was suddenly stopped.  George Shuba had just doubled and was moving into second base when the noise of a car horn announced the arrival of the car owner, Roy Campanella with his passenger, Walter O’Malley.  Campanella wanted his teammates to see the car he had just purchased from Bud Holman in Vero Beach.  The game went on after Campanella sat for photos and he drove off the field. Roscoe McGowen, New York Times, March 5, 1954

Dodgertown is the subject of a feature in the Newark Sunday News.  Writer Bill Dougherty says, “A classic example of what goes into modern-day Spring Training is to be found here at the sprawling former naval air base that is now known locally as Dodgertown.  Complete with barracks, dining hall, recreation lounges, swimming pool and every imaginable gimmick that might possibly contribute to improvement of the breed of ball player, the Brooklyn camp serves to condition the most polished major league and the most brash, raw rookie.  Dougherty concludes the article by stating “It’s in Spring Training that they have the time and the opportunity and the facilities to find out just what the young man’s potential really is.  They can put him through a thoroughly organized processing that will tell them what they want to know about them.  Today, the ball player isn’t born.  He’s made.” Bill Dougherty, Newark Sunday News, March 7, 1954

New Dodger Manager Walter Alston is as handy with a pool cue as he is with a lineup card. Alston demonstrated his ability on a pool table in Dodgertown. He demonstrated a trick shot where he sank five balls at one time. The Sporting News, March 17, 1954

The Brooklyn Dodgers received pennant rings from the National League for the first time in baseball history.  Previously, only the World Series winning team had rings awarded to them but this was the first time a league pennant ring had been given. Also, on this date, the Dodgers held their third annual St. Patrick’s Day party at the McKee Jungle Gardens.  According to Roscoe McGowen, a “pink” elephant appeared at the event.  The elephant had the word “P-I-N-K” spelled on a large side of the animal.  The menu was Irish with green beer, green whiskey, and corned beef and cabbage and Dodger personnel were given Irish names for the night as “McVasi” for Vice-President Buzzie Bavasi and “Vice-Royal O’Thompson” for Vice-President Fresco Thompson.  A menu item featured “McVasi Salad Without Dressen” referring to the former Dodger manager. Roscoe McGowen, The Sporting News, March 17, 1954

Roscoe McGowen writes a feature on Bud Holman and how Holman was able to convince the Brooklyn Dodgers to hold their Spring Training in Vero Beach, Florida. As McGowen writes, “Bud is a millionaire who looks and normally dresses like a garage mechanic, which in fact he was and still is. He probably knows more about automobile and airplane motors than any man alive.” Holman said his wife Dora Belle wanted to live in Vero Beach and that’s why they came to Florida. “I didn’t even know where the place was,” said Holman. “But she wanted to come down here and live. She bought some real estate here when I wasn’t lookin’ and kept after me to move here. Finally I said I’d come if I could get a Cadillac agency here--which I figured I couldn’t get because a fellow in Fort Pierce, which was then in the same county as Vero Beach, already had the agency. Then one day my wife shows me a paper from Vero Beach with big headlines, which said St. Lucie County had been split in half and Vero Beach was then in Indian River County and the county seat…..So the agency was open and I didn’t have any more alibi for not coming down here…..I’ve been very happy.” Holman also said he learned from a friend of a daughter of Branch Rickey that Rickey wanted a place where all minor league players could play and Holman knew he had the place.  Roscoe McGowen, The Sporting News, March 24, 1954

Walter O’Malley proposed an idea that former players be invited to Spring Training for just one more Spring Training trip. O’Malley said major league owners had agreed to make their headquarters for a Florida visit in Dodgertown, Vero Beach, Florida. The idea had to be approved by the Major League Players’ Association as the trips would be paid for from a potential excess in the players’ pension fund.” The Sporting News, March 24, 1954

Dodger ownership, executives and Spring Training instructors joined to play a game at Dodgertown.  Former professional players in the game that are now working for the Dodgers included Andy High, Goldie Holt, and Fresco Thompson. Vice President Buzzie Bavasi coached third base and gave signals by using flags and sky-rockets. John Corriden, coach of one team, gave assignment of “batboy” to Dodger owner Walter O’Malley. Fred Young, The Sporting News, April 7, 1954

Colonel James Pratt, Commander of Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama sent his appreciation to Dodger President Walter O’Malley.  Before Spring Training started, O’Malley had new Dodger Manager Walter Alston, Pitching Coach Ted Lyons and other Dodger personnel to the air force base for three days of baseball instruction. The Air Force Colonel wrote O’Malley, “I thought you would be interested to know that this report will reflect our deep gratitude to you and your organization for the splendid contribution you have made to service baseball in the Southeast.” Roscoe McGowen, The Sporting News, April 21, 1954  Also, on this date, former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Mal Mallette made a career change to become a sportswriter. His byline appeared in The Sporting News as he writes a story of an armadillo digging holes on Field No. 1 at Dodgertown. After several days and attempts to capture the animal, a Dodger minor league manager was able to corral the armadillo. Mal Mallette, The Sporting News, April 21, 1954

Walter O’Malley tells the Brooklyn Dodger Board of Directors of his interest to extend the lease for Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. “On my recent visit to Vero Beach I went into the matter of extending the lease at the Naval Base. Matters were discussed with Mr. B.L. Holman and various City officials. The lease has been extended to the satisfaction of the various parties concerned.” O’Malley also spoke of the progress of the Dodgertown Summer Camp for Boys. “Our summer camp program is progressing rapidly.  With the help of everyone in the organization this camp should be a big success. We do not expect the maximum attendance the first year, but there is no camp in history that has had the publicity the summer camp at Dodgertown is receiving.” O’Malley then spoke of Holman Stadium and its value. “The Stadium at Vero Beach has proved a useful project. As a matter of fact, the income derived from the Stadium over the period of the last two years has been $44,334.95.  It is possible that the Stadium can pay for itself by the end of the 1955 Spring Training season. This is certainly paying off a greater rate than was anticipated.” Brooklyn Dodger Board of Director Notes, April 30, 1954

Dodger Vice President Fresco Thompson put Dodger minor leaguers to the test, a test of the Official Playing Rules of baseball. Using questions from the TV show ‘Talk to the Stars’, Thompson had them printed and gave the questions to two Dodger minor league clubs. “Some of the boys knew a great deal about the obscure rules. Others showed amazing lack of knowledge about some of the most basic plays.” Fred Young, The Sporting News, May 5, 1954  Also, the Dodgers signed a player from West Germany to a minor league contract. Oscar Young, a former U.S. serviceman, played in a German baseball league and was signed on the recommendation of future Dodger player and future California Angel Manager Norm Sherry. Young would play two seasons in the Dodger minor league system. Fred Young, The Sporting News, May 5, 1954

Former Dodger pitching star Dazzy Vance paid a visit to the Dodgertown Boys’ Camp and served as a baseball instructor. “Give me a half-hour with kids at that age and I can show them more than I could teach a major league rookie in a whole season,” said Vance. Vance would be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. The Sporting News, August 25, 1954

Terry O’Malley, the daughter of Dodger President Walter O’Malley, spent her summer working for Camp Director Leslie MacMitchell at the Dodgertown Boys’ Camp in Vero Beach, Florida. Roscoe McGowen, The Sporting News, November 17, 1954

Photographs by Barney Stein of Dodger minor league players running around a baseball diamond appeared in a recent book written by Dodger announcer Red Barber. The Stein photograph demonstrates a long line of players in Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida loosening up for the day’s activities. Roscoe McGowen, The Sporting News, December 1, 1954

The Brooklyn Dodgers revived a previous innovation for their Spring Training camp when they invited 25 minor league prospects to the Dodgers’ regular Spring Training camp. The Dodgers had tried the idea in 1946 in Daytona Beach and the idea had been deemed successful. The Sporting News, December 1, 1954