Dodgertown Dates: 1988

Alexander Ardatov and Guela Chikhradze, baseball coaches from the Soviet Union, are welcomed on their arrival to Dodgertown.  The two coaches’ itinerary is to spend several days to observe Spring Training activities at Dodgertown. Gordon Verrell, Long Beach Press-Telegram, February 22, 1988  Peter O’Malley introduced the two Soviet coaches at a press conference that included several Japanese media who were following the Chunichi Dragons, also training in Dodgertown.  As the Russian coaches spoke, their remarks were translated in English for American media and then Assistant to the President Ike Ikuhara would repeat their statements in Japanese for the Chunichi Dragons media. Matt McHale, Daily News, February 23, 1988

Soviet baseball coach Guela Chikhradze spoke to Peter O’Malley at a press conference in Dodgertown on talented Russian players.  O’Malley told the coach he wanted to have the players’ names.  Of one player, Chikhradze said he was a javelin thrower who also pitched and “When he throws the catcher is afraid.” Matt McHale, Daily News, February 23, 1988

The Dodgers played the Dodgers to a 0-0 tie in a Spring Training intersquad game, but Mickey Hatcher found a way to put some life into the game.  Hatcher, the designated leader of “The Stuntmen”, the bench players whose valued performance will be for the 1988 World Champion Dodgers, had the “Stuntmen” in formation at home plate.  At his instruction, the Dodger players then removed their Dodger uniform shirts to reveal the Chunichi Dragons uniform tops, a style closely resembling the Dodger uniform with “Dragons” in Palmer type-script with blue and white colors.  In the game, Hatcher singled and was thrown out at second trying to stretch the hit into a double.  He had a mock argument with a Japanese umpire on the out call, and then gave the arbiter a proper bow of respect. Ken Gurnick, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, February 28, 1988

Miichiro Katoh, the owner of the Chunichi Dragons baseball team and chairman of the board of Chunichi Shimbun, is greeted by Peter O’Malley and Assistant to the President, Ike Ikuhara, at the Vero Beach Airport. Mr. Katoh is in Dodgertown to see his team play the Dodgers in the first Spring Training game of 1988 for both teams on March 3rd. Vero Beach Press Journal, March 3, 1988

The Dodgers defeated the Chunichi Dragons, 14-0 in the first Spring Training game of the season, but the real story came with a change in the starting lineup. Outfielder Kirk Gibson removed himself from the starting lineup after discovering someone pulled a practical joke on him by putting shoe polish on the inside of his baseball cap that stained his forehead.  Gibson expressed to his teammates he did not appreciate their lack of dedication to preparation for a winning season by playing jokes and demanded an apology. Tom Keegan, Orange County Register, March 4, 1988  One Dodger player said, “I guess we learned that you don’t mess around with Kirk Gibson, or else.” Associated Press, March 4, 1988

Peter O’Malley speaks to the Vero Beach Press Journal on the occasion of his 41st Spring Training at Dodgertown.  O’Malley said, “I’ve seen Dodgertown as a boy as well as a student on spring vacation from school.”  He added he learned to drive with the help of Bud Holman, the Vero Beach resident who convinced the Dodgers to have Spring Training in Vero Beach and for whom the Dodgertown stadium is named.  “I learned how to drive on airport streets,” said O’Malley.  “The airport was in the country then.”  He admitted spending a large amount of time at the swimming pool or the beach in his first job as a Dodgertown Camp for Boys counselor.  “Everyone stayed in the barracks, which had no air conditioning,” he explained.  O’Malley knew the history of the Dodgers playing exhibition games on a field near the site where Piper Aircraft Company is located.  “The first game Jackie Robinson played in Vero Beach was on that field (and he hit a home run in his first at bat).  The players walked several blocks from Dodgertown to the field for games.”  It was Peter O’Malley who integrated Holman Stadium for all fans despite continued segregation in the South in 1962.  “I can remember going to the stadium with head groundskeeper Bob Summers and painting over the signs which designated separate restrooms,” said O’Malley. Nick Powell, Vero Beach Press Journal, March 6, 1988

In the second part of a two-part feature, Vero Beach Press Journal writer Nick Powell writes of the international influence of Dodgertown.  The Yomiuri Giants and the Chunichi Dragons professional baseball teams from Japan and the Samsung Lions from South Korea professional baseball league have been visitors.  This year, Dodgertown entertained Soviet baseball coaches to help them understand pre-season training in the Dodger way.  O’Malley discussed why the Dodgers had remained in Vero Beach even though the team’s move to Los Angeles placed them closer to Spring Training sites in Arizona and California.  “In 1958, when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, there were serious temptations to leave Florida….Vero Beach was a lot smaller than other cities, but our roots had grown deep in 10 years.  The Dodgers had made great contacts and friendships in Indian River County.  We knew how much the people appreciated us.  I look back and I’m glad the Dodgers decided to stay.  Other training camps are newer and may be more modern, but none of them are more charming than Dodgertown.  Without a doubt, Dodgertown is the most famous baseball facility in the world.” Nick Powell, Vero Beach Press Journal, March 7, 1988

Representatives of four countries from the International Baseball Federation were introduced to the crowd at Holman Stadium for the first ball ceremony before the Dodgers-Orioles exhibition game.  The four men, guests of Peter O’Malley at Dodgertown were Ramaz Goglidze, the U.S.S.R. Federation president who threw the first ball; Jong Nak Kim of South Korea, continental vice president for Asia; Eiichiro Yamamoto of Japan, first vice president; and IBAF President Dr. Robert Smith from Greenville College. Vero Beach Press Journal, March 9, 1988 Also attending the game and watching from the Holman Stadium press box was Grammy award winning singer and television personality Perry Como. Vero Beach Press Journal, March 9, 1988

In attendance at Holman Stadium for the Dodgers’ 6-5 win over the Phillies on St. Patrick’s Day are former Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and National League President A. Bartlett Giamatti. Sam McManis, Los Angeles Times, March 18, 1988  In September, 1988, Giamatti would be named the seventh Commissioner in baseball history. A. Bartlett Giamatti biography, Wikipedia

The Los Angeles Dodgers play the New York Mets at Holman Stadium in the first nationally televised game in Spring Training.   The game on NBC-TV featured the two teams that would later meet in the 1988 National League Championship Series and the Dodgers would defeat the Mets in seven games before going to defeat the Oakland A’s in the 1988 World Series in five games.

Sam McManis of the Los Angeles Times writes of the Dodgertown tradition of their annual Christmas celebration for staff, players, and their families.  “Christmas at Dodgertown can be confusing to the uninitiated.  It’s always celebrated in the dead of March, a fancily trimmed tree and the standard North Pole scene decorating the grounds.  Santa’s sleigh is set up at poolside, so he can catch some later-afternoon sun before handing out gifts.  One year, the Dodgers even imported snow……The Dodgers do this every year, for no reason other than to celebrate the dwindling days of Spring Training and entertain the children of players and employees.  It is part family reunion, part company picnic and it also epitomizes the concept of the Dodger family…” Sam McManis, Los Angeles Times, March 26, 1988

Masahiro Yamamoto, a Japan Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, was once struggling to stay on the Chunichi Dragons roster when he arrived at Dodgertown.  It was then that Akihiro “Ike” Ikuhara, Assistant to Dodger President Peter O’Malley, was assigned to help the left-hander at Dodgertown.  In 1988, the Chunichi Dragons came to Dodgertown for 2 ½ weeks of Spring Training on the invitation of Peter O’Malley.  Yamamoto was a young pitcher for Chunichi and had pitching struggles early in the spring.  To improve Yamamoto’s development as a pitcher, the Dragons’ manager, Senichi Hoshino, told Yamamoto he would remain in Vero Beach and not return with his Dragon teammates.  Hoshino said, “I was thinking that maybe Japanese coaches don’t know how to coach such a big player with long arms and legs.  So we (Chunichi) decided to leave him in Vero Beach…I asked Ike to take care of him.” Senichi Hoshino, Tokai Television, January 2, 2009   With the permission of Peter O’Malley and the Florida State League, Yamamoto was given an opportunity to pitch for the Vero Beach Dodgers.  Under the tutelage of Ikuhara, Yamamoto prospered.  During one game early in the 1988 Florida State League season, Yamamoto was not pitching well.  Ikuhara told him, “Never give up.  If you do, that’s the end.”  In a television broadcast in 2009, Yamamoto recalled in his regard for Ike Ikuhara that “I learned the whole basis in Vero Beach.  Of course I learned additional things afterwards but I can’t even imagine what I would be doing now if I didn’t go there (Vero Beach).” Masahiro Yamamoto, Tokai Television, January 2, 2009  He added, “I was relieved by Ike’s (Ikuhara) personal warmth and passion more than anything.” Masahiro Yamamoto, Tokai Television, January 2, 2009  Yamamoto turned his season around and won 13 games with a 2.00 ERA at Vero Beach.  On his return to Japan, he was 5-0 in six starts for Chunichi and the Dragons won the 1988 Central League Championship.  In 2009, Peter O’Malley accepted an invitation to honor Yamamoto on his 200th career win in Japan.  At the ceremony in Nagoya, Japan, O’Malley told Yamamoto, “I remember Ike (Ikuhara) gladly helping Masa (Yamamoto) and always encouraging him. I am certain that Ike is happy and observing this ceremony from heaven.” Tokyo Chunichi Sports, January 19, 2009

Columnist Bob Hunter, who had covered the Dodgers as a sportswriter since their arrival in Los Angeles in 1958, remembers what has occurred in Dodgertown in 41 Spring Trainings.  Hunter recalls the only public telephone at Dodgertown was in the lobby, but a local call requires only a nickel.  He relates the story how Vice President Fresco Thompson would catch minor leaguers out after curfew.  Cars with late players had to pass over a wooden bridge near Dodgertown.  When they did, a loose board on the bridge when the car crossed over to the base made enough noise to alert the staff someone was out after dark.  And Hunter relates because of Southern law that until 1962, Holman Stadium fans had to endure segregated seating, drinking fountains and restrooms until Camp Director Peter O’Malley changed the local restrictions and made the stadium available for all. Bob Hunter, Dodger Blue Magazine, Spring, 1988

Forbes magazine wrote their 1988 Spring Training report of Major League Baseball teams and had this to say of the Los Angeles Dodgers chances for the season.  “Classic blue-chip fade.  The General Motors of baseball.  Overvalued, aging assets, disappointing R&D (research and development).  Strong sell.”  The Dodgers would turn out to be a strong “buy” as they would win the 1988 World Series in five games over the Oakland Athletics. Forbes Magazine, April 4, 1988

The Vero Beach Press Journal features the large number of Vero Beach Dodgers who played in the major leagues. Through the 1988 season 46 players of 210 Vero Beach Dodgers had earned a spot on the major league roster and 15 players had played most of one season. Tom Riggs, Vero Beach Press Journal, August 31, 1988  The first Vero Beach Dodger to play in the major leagues was right hand pitcher Alejandro Pena who made his debut August 13, 1981. Five days later on August 18, 1981, it is Steve Sax who is the first Vero Beach Dodger position player to reach the major leagues. Among former Vero Beach Dodgers players who had topflight baseball careers include Sid Bream; Mariano Duncan; Sid Fernandez; John Franco; Matt Kemp; Ramon Martinez; Mike Piazza; Shane Victorino and John Wetteland.