On November 10, 2014, dedication ceremonies were held to unveil a marker recognizing Historic Dodgertown, Vero Beach as a Florida Heritage Landmark. (L-R) Bump Holman, former Dodger airplane pilot and son of Bud Holman, for whom Holman Stadium is named; Tom Lasorda, Hall of Fame Dodger Manager; and President, Los Angeles Dodgers (1970-1998) Peter O'Malley, then Chairman, Historic Dodgertown.
Dodger Milestones in the Development of International Baseball During the O’Malley Era: The 2010s
Researched and edited by Brent Shyer and Robert Schweppe
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Peter O’Malley becomes responsible for Dodgertown, the historic Spring Training home of the Dodgers from 1948-2008, in Vero Beach, FL. He formed a partnership with his sister Terry O’Malley Seidler, who had co-inherited the Dodgers in 1979, and Dodger pioneer pitchers Hideo Nomo and Chan Ho Park to manage the multi-sport site, owned by Indian River County. For the next six years, professional and amateur baseball and softball teams from Asia train at newly-named Historic Dodgertown
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The inaugural Peter O’Malley International Invitational Baseball Tournament is played at Dodger Baseball Field in Corkagh Demesne Park, West Dublin, Ireland. O’Malley attends the festivities. The Irish National Team won the four-team, round-robin tournament
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Peter O’Malley travels to Tokorozawa, Japan to participate in Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for Hideo Nomo. O’Malley is on the field for ceremonies prior to the Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game at Seibu Dome to present Nomo with a bouquet of flowers
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Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo are the first recipients of the Baseball Pioneer Award at the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation “In the Spirit of the Game” dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Peter O’Malley presented the award to Park
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On May 9, The Wall Street Journal runs an article about the Dodgers’ 1956 Goodwill Tour to Japan with the headline: “Sixty Years Ago, the Dodgers Toured Japan and Changed Baseball Forever”. The article by Brad Lefton focuses on the friendship that started between the O’Malley family and Tokyo Yomiuri Giants, as the National League Champion Dodgers made the 19-game tour in the fall of 1956 throughout Japan. Since that trip, the friendships continued to grow as the numerous cultural exchanges advanced, including five team trips by Yomiuri to Dodgertown, Vero Beach, Florida for training. When Dodger President Peter O’Malley made the free agent signing of pitcher Hideo Nomo in 1995, baseball would never be the same in the two countries