Walter O'Malley

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Walter Francis O'Malley

O'Malley circa 1940s
Born October 9, 1903(1903-10-09)
Bronx, New York
Died August 9, 1979 (aged 75)
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota
Cause of death Congestive heart failure with cancer
Burial place Holy Cross Cemetery
Residence Los Angeles
Nationality American
Education Culver Academy, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Fordham University
Occupation Owner of Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
Known for Moving the Dodgers to Los Angeles from New York City
Religious beliefs Roman Catholic
Spouse Katherine Elizabeth Hanson (1907-1979)
Children Therese O'Malley Seidler
Peter O'Malley
Parents Edwin Joseph O'Malley
Alma Feltner (1882-1940)
Website
http://walteromalley.com

Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979 and who was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He served as Brooklyn Dodgers chief legal counsel when Jackie Robinson broke the racial color barrier in 1947. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league baseball to the West Coast, moving the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and coordinating the move of the New York Giants to San Francisco at a time when there were no teams west of Missouri.[1][2] For this, he was long vilified by Brooklyn Dodgers fans.[3] However, neutral parties describe him as a visionary for the same business action,[4] and many authorities cite him as one of the most influential sportsmen of the 20th century.[5] His detractors who say that he was not a visionary, but instead a man who was in the right place at the right time, still regard him as the most powerful and influential owner in baseball after moving the team.[6]

O'Malley’s Irish father, Edwin Joseph O'Malley, was politically connected. Walter, a University of Pennsylvania Salutatorian, went on to obtain a Juris Doctorate, and he used the combination of his family connections, his personal contacts, and both his educational and vocational skills to rise to prominence. First, he became an entrepreneur involved in public works contracting, and then he became an executive with the Dodgers. He progressed from being a team lawyer to being both the Dodgers' owner and president, and he eventually made the business decision to relocate the Dodgers franchise. Although he moved the franchise, O'Malley is known as a businessman whose major philosophy was stability through loyalty to and from his employees.[7]

O'Malley ceded the team presidency to his son, Peter, in 1970 but retained the titles of owner and chairman of the Dodgers until his death in 1979. During the 1975 season, the Dodgers' inability to negotiate a contract with Andy Messersmith led to the Seitz decision, which limited the baseball reserve clause and paved the way for modern free agency.[8] He bequeathed the team to his children Peter O'Malley and Therese O'Malley Seidler upon his death in 1979.[9]

Contents

[edit] Early years

Edwin O'Malley circa 1905
Edwin O'Malley circa 1905

Walter O'Malley was the only child of Edwin Joseph O'Malley (1883–1955), who worked as a cotton goods salesman in the Bronx in 1903. Edwin O’Malley would later become the Commissioner of Public Markets for New York City. Walter's mother was Alma Feltner (1882-1940).[10] O'Malley grew up as a Bronx-born New York Giants fan.[10] He frequently attended Giants games at the Polo Grounds with his uncle Clarence.[11] O'Malley was a Boy Scout who rose to the rank of star.[11]

O'Malley attended Jamaica High School in Queens from 1918–1920 and then the Culver Academy (the eventual high school alma mater of future New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner)[12] in Indiana.[13] He managed both the baseball and tennis teams, served on the executive staff of the student newspaper, was a member of the Hospital Visitation Committee as well as the debate team, Bible Discipline Committee and the YMCA.[11] At Culver, his baseball career was ended with a baseball that hit him on the nose.[10]

Later, he attended the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and graduated in 1926 as the senior class Salutatorian.[1] At Penn, he was initiated into Theta Delta Chi, and he also served as president of the Phi Deuteron Charge.[1] Upon his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science his father gave him a cabin cruiser that slept eight.[14] He was also Junior and Senior class president.[10] O’Malley originally enrolled at Columbia University in New York City for law school, but after his family lost their money in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, he switched from Columbia Law School to night school at Fordham University.[15] Edwin O'Malley's dry goods business was failing and Walter had to help run the business.[16]

[edit] Personal

On September 5, 1931, he married Katherine Elizabeth "Kay" Hanson (1907–1979), whom he had dated since high school, at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan[17]. They had two children: Therese O'Malley Seidler (born in 1933)[18][19] and Peter O'Malley (born in 1937).[20] Kay had been diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 1927 before the engagement and had to have her larynx removed. She was unable to speak above a whisper the rest of her life.[1][21] Edwin O'Malley encouraged Walter to break off his engagement, and after Walter refused his parents did not attend the wedding.[11] O'Malley was a smoker, who golfed occaisionally, but more commonly gardened for recreation.[22] In 1944, he remodelled his parents' summer house in Amityville, New York and relocated his family there from Brooklyn.[22] The house was next door to the house Kay had grown up and her parents lived next door.[22]

As a family man, he attended church regularly, attended Peter's football games at LaSalle Academy, chaperoned his daughter's dances. On summer weekends he took the family sailing on his boat, which was named Dodger.[23]

[edit] Pre-baseball career

After he completed his law degree in 1930 at Fordham Law, and he worked as an assistant engineer for the New York City Subway.[15] After earning his law degree he needed to obtain a clerkship, but since during the depression no one could afford to hire him, he allowed a struggling lawyer to use space in his office and paid for his own clerkship.[24] After working for the Subway, he worked for Thomas F. Riley, who owned the Riley Drilling Company, and they formed the partnership of Riley and O'Malley. With the help of Edwin O'Malley's political connections, Walter's company received contracts from the New York Telephone Company and the New York City Board of Education to perform geological surveys.[15] Subsequently, Walter started the Walter F. O'Malley Engineering Company and published the Subcontractors Register with his uncle, Joseph O'Malley (1893–1985).[1]

Walter eventually concentrated on the field of law, starting with work on wills and deeds.[10] By 1933, he was senior partner in a 20 man Midtown Manhattan law firm.[24] He developed the business habits of smoking cigars and of answering questions only after taking two puffs.[10] During the Great Depression O'Malley represented bankrupt companies and enriched himself, while building his thriving law practice.[14] He invested wisely in firms such as the Long Island Railroad, Brooklyn Borough Gas Company, the New York Subways Advertising Company, a building materials firm, a beer firm and some hotels. His success begot both influence and attention. The Brooklynn Democratic Machine powers such as judge Henry Ughetta and Brooklyn Trust Company president George V. McLaughlin were among those he noticed the rising O'Malley.[14]

[edit] Dodgers

O'Malley helped Branch Rickey sign Jackie Robinson (pictured).
O'Malley helped Branch Rickey sign Jackie Robinson (pictured).

McLaughlin had been New York City Police Commissioner in 1926, knew O'Malley's father, and had attended Philadelphia Athletics games with O'Malley when he was still at the University of Pennsylvania.[24] McLaughlin hired O'Malley to administer mortgage foreclosures against failing businesses for the Trust Company. O'Malley earned McLaughlin's confidence by acting in numerous capacities including bodyguard, valet, chauffeur, adopted son, confidant and right-hand man.[14] The trust company owned the estate of Charles Ebbets, who had died in 1925 and owned half of the Brooklyn Dodgers.[25] It was 1933 when Walter again met George V. McLaughlin, president of the Brooklyn Trust Company.[1] O'Malley was chosen to protect the company's financial interests in the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1933.[26] It was through McLaughlin that Walter was brought into the financial arrangements for Ebbets Field in 1940.[1] In 1942, when Larry MacPhail resigned as general manager to serve in the United States Army as a Lieutenant colonel,[10] O'Malley was appointed the attorney for the Dodgers, and he obtained a minority ownership interest on November 1, 1944.[26][27] He purchased twenty five percent as did Rickey and John L. Smith (President of Pfizer Chemical),[28] while the heirs of Stephen McKeever retained the final quarter.[29] In 1943, he replaced Wendell Wilkie as chief legal counsel.[10][12] Branch Rickey, who had built the St. Louis Cardinals into champions, replaced MacPhail and O'Malley began to accumulate stock in the Dodgers.[10]

Rickey was a conservative teetotaler, while O'Malley freely consumed vices such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco.[10] As O'Malley became more involved in affairs, he became critical of Rickey, the highest-paid individual in baseball, counting salary, attendance bonuses, and player contract sales commissions.[12] O'Malley and Rickey had very different backgrounds and philosophies.[12] It was O'Malley who put pressure on Rickey to fire Leo Durocher, who O'Malley felt was a drain on attendance.[30] In board of directors meetings, O'Malley also opposed Rickey's extravagances.[31] When he was with his political friends, he made fun of Rickey at every chance.[32] Daily News columnist would deride Rickey for selling off players and for general miserliness.[32] When Rickey asked O'Malley, the team lawyer, if he should sue, O'Malley said no. Powers campaign became so public that after the 1946 season Rickey gave each player a new Studebaker, which gave O'Malley, a Dodgers shareholder, reason to speak ill of Rickey in the press.[32] It got to the point where everything Rickey did was something O'Malley derided: O'Malley thought Rickey's construction of the state of the art Vero Beach spring training facility, known as Dodgertown, was extravigant; he thought Rickey's investment in the Brooklyn Dodgers of the All-America Football Conference was questionable; he fought Rickey on the team's beer sponsor; and he demanded that players return their 1947 World Series rings before receiving the new one's Rickey ordered.[33] As team lawyer, O'Malley had a role in breaking the racial barrier as well. In particular, he had a significant role in Rickey's top-secret search for suitable ballplayers to break the color barrier and then later he had a role in assessing the on-going legal risks to the franchise.[12]

[edit] Control

When co-owner John L. Smith died in July 1950, O'Malley convinced his widow to turn over control of the shares to the Brooklyn Trust Company, which O'Mally controlled as chief legal counsel. Rickey's contract as manager was set to expire on October 28, 1950. Rickey's Dodgers stock was held on margin and he had fully levered life insurance policy. O'Malley lowballed Rickey with an offer of $346,000 (the purchase price). Rickey demanded $1 million.[34] O'Malley eventually pursued a complicated buyout of Rickey, who had received an outside offer from William Zeckendorf of $1 million for his interests.[35] There were varying accounts about the sincerity of the offer because Zeckendorf and Pittsburgh Pirates owner John Galbreath were fraternity brothers, but there is a lot of evidence that he had a sincere interest in acquiring the team.[36] The outside offer triggered a clause in the partnership agreement whereby the asking price of a third party had to be matched if a current owner wanted to retain control and the third party would be compensated $50,000. The cancelled $50,000 check would later include Rickey's signature showing that Zeckendorf turned over the $50,000 to Rickey.[37]

O'Malley replaced Rickey with Buzzie Bavasi.[10] O'Malley became the president and chief stockholder (owner) on October 26, 1950.[27] O’Malley assumed the title of president from Rickey, who was a trailblazer in baseball both for instituting the farm system and for breaking the racial barrier with Jackie Robinson.[38] According to Clem Labine and Roger Kahn the first thing O'Malley did when he took over was assign Buzzy Bavasi to enamor himself to Dick Young of the Daily News so that O'Malley would not have to worry about ever getting bad press from the Daily News.[39]

After the ownership transfer, O'Malley's rivalry with Rickey became very public. O'Malley forbade the speaking of Rickey's name in Dodgers offices with transgressors being subjected to a fine. He abolished Rickey's title of General Manager so that no front office person could perpetuate Rickey's role. In addition, when Rickey assumed the title with the Pittsburgh Pirates, O'Malley arranged for the Dodgers to omit the Pirates from their spring training schedule.[35] Nonetheless, after the transfer, the Dodgers remained successful under O'Malley: they won the National League pennants in 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956. Under O'Malley, the Dodgers were the most overtly political post World War II franchise.[40] In 1951, Brooklyn-native and United States Congressman Emanuel Celler's Judiciary Committe investigated whether the reserve clause was in violation of federal anti-trust laws. Celler represented half of Brooklyn in Congress and O'Malley used the local press such as the Brooklyn Eagle to pressure Celler into backing off of the issue.[41] During the 1951 season, the Dodgers engaged former West Point varsity baseball player and United States Army General Douglas MacArthur to lure war veterans.[42] O'Malley attempted to entice him to take the post of Commissioner of Baseball.[43]

Robinson had been a Rickey protege, and O'Malley did not have the same respect for Robinson that Rickey did.[44] O'Malley referred to him as "Rickey's prima donna".[45] Robinson did not like O'Malley's choice for manager, Walter Alston. Robinson liked to argue with umpires and Alston rarely did so. Robinson derided Alston in the press.[46] In 1955, Alston played Don Hoak at third base during the exhibition season. Robinson voiced his complaints to the press.[47] Robinson did not get along with Bavasi either, and the three seasons under Alston were uncomfortable for Robinson. Robinson announced his retirement in Look magazine after the 1956 season.[48]

Ebbets Field (1913)
Ebbets Field (1913)

The signing of Robinson brought the team international fame, making O'Malley an international baseball ambassador to celebrities such as Iraq's King Faisal II.[49] In 1954 Dodgers scout, Al Campanis, signed Sandy Koufax in large part for two reasons, according to a note memo to O'Malley that said "No. 1, he's a Brooklyn boy. No. 2, he's Jewish." Bavasi noted that "there were many people of the Jewish faith in Brooklyn."[50] During the 1955 season, Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella had a medical billing controversy regarding neurosurgery services by Manhattan doctor, Dr. Samuel Shenkman. Shenkman billed $9,500, an amount which Campanella forwarded to the Dodgers and the Dodgers refused to pay. O'Malley felt the doctor was overcharging: "It appears that [Dr. Shenkman] thought he was operating on Roy's bankroll. . ."[51] The Dodgers had convinced Campanella to have the surgery after enduring a slump in 1954 following Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award seasons in 1951 and 1953. The surgery was intended to restore complete use of his hand.[52]

Despite having won the National League pennants in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953, they lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series each time, which frustrated O'Malley and all Dodgers fans.[53] In 1955, the team won the World Series for the first time in their history. However, attendance declined from a peak of 1.7 million in 1946 and 1947 to just over one million per year in the mid-1950s. With the advent of the affordable automobile and post-war prosperity, Brooklyn's formerly heterogeneous, middle-class fan base for the Dodgers began to splinter.[54] A large white flight took place, and Ebbets Field's shabby condition and lack of parking spaces led to the loss of fans who relocated to Long Island.[55] O'Malley tried to raise money and get the political backing to build a new ballpark elsewhere in Brooklyn. The one person whose backing he needed was Robert Moses, a powerful figure who influenced development in New York through the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. O'Malley envisioned a dome stadium near the Long Island Railroad station on Brooklyn's west end.[10] Moses did not like O'Malley and derided O'Malley's pro-Brooklyn and pro-Irish sentiments in the press.[56] O'Malley wanted to build a new Brooklyn Dodgers stadium at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenue, but Moses wanted the Dodgers to move to Queens and play in Flushing Meadows Park (the location where the New York Mets play today). Although O'Malley lined up bipartisan political support including New York Governor W. Averell Harriman, Moses blocked the sale of the land necessary for the planned new Brooklyn stadium.[57] O'Malley bought the Chicago Cubs minor league baseball team in Los Angeles from Philip Wrigley in 1956 at the winter baseball meetings, and during spring training Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson traveled to the Dodgers' training camp at Vero Beach, Florida in an attempt to lure the franchise.[10] O'Malley noticed the great success of the Milwaukee Braves after their move from Boston in 1953.[10] They had a 43,000-seat stadium, parking for 10,000 cars and an arrangement for no city or real estate taxes.[58] He also felt the limitations of the small landlocked Ebbets Field, which held less than 32,111 fans and accommodated only 700 parking spaces.[26][27][10] Attendance between 1950 and 1957 was between 1,020,000 in 1954 and 1,280,000 in 1951.[58] Ultimately, O'Malley decided to leave Brooklyn for Los Angeles in 1957.[1][2][59] Robert Moses authority, Robert Caro, and other contemporaneous sports historians felt that Moses was more to blame for the Dodgers' leaving.[60][61] The 1956 season had marked the end of the Jackie Robinson era in which the Dodgers won six pennants, lost two pennant series and finished as low as third only once in ten years, and the new era would begin in a new home.[10]

[edit] Move to Los Angeles

April 28, 1958 Time cover
April 28, 1958 Time cover

O'Malley is considered by baseball experts to be "perhaps the most influential owner of baseball's early expansion era."[62] Following the 1957 Major League Baseball season, he moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles, and New York's Dodgers fans felt betrayed.[5] O'Malley was also influential in getting the rival New York Giants to move west to become the San Francisco Giants. He needed another team to go with him, for had he moved out west alone, the St. Louis Cardinals—1,600 mi (2,575.0 km) away—[63][64] would have been the closest National League team. The joint move would make West Coast road trips more economical for visiting teams.[26][10] O'Malley invited San Francisco Mayor George Christopher to New York to meet with Giants owner Horace Stoneham.[10] Stoneham was considering moving the Giants to Minnesota,[65] but he was convinced to join O'Malley on the West Coast at the end of the 1957 campaign. Since the meetings occurred during the 1957 season and against the wishes of Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick, there was media gamesmanship.[66] When O'Malley moved the Dodgers from Brooklyn the story transcended the world of sport and he found himself on the cover of Time.[67] The cover art for the issue was created by Willard Mullin.[68] The dual moves broke the hearts of New York's National League fans but ultimately were successful for both franchises – and for Major League Baseball as a whole.[69][5] In fact, the move was an immediate success as well since the Dodgers set a major league baseball single-game attendance record in their first home appearance with 78,672 fans.[10] In the years following the move of the New York clubs, Major League Baseball expanded to include three other California based teams, as well as two in Texas and one each in Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona and Seattle. In addition, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City, Missouri and eventually to Oakland, California.

Dodger Stadium (2007-05-27)
Dodger Stadium (2007-05-27)

The dealings with the city of Los Angeles after the Vero Beach meeting were controversial. The minor league San Diego Padres owners led an opposition effort to stop the transfer of 352 acres (1.42 km²) in Chavez Ravine via a referendum.[10] O'Malley engaged in an extensive marketing and media campaign that helped the referendum passed, but there were extensive subsequent taxpayer lawsuits.[70] The plaintiffs initially prevailed in some of these suits.[71] Finally, during the middle of the 1959 season, the Los Angeles City Council was finally able to approve the final parcel for the stadium.[72] One legendary negotiation with city over concession revenue is that in O'Malley's move to the Coliseum he agreed to accept concession revenues from only half the teams games—the home half.[73] The land was eventually transferred by the Los Angeles city government to O'Malley by an agreement which required O'Malley and the Dodgers to design, build, privately-finance and maintain a 50,000-seat stadium; develop a youth recreation center on the land. O'Malley was to pay $500,000 initially, plus annual payments of $60,000 for 20 years; and pay $345,000 in property taxes starting in 1962, putting the land on the tax rolls. Also, the Dodgers would transfer team-owned Wrigley Field, then appraised at $2.2 million, to the city. The city exchanged "300 acres, more or less, in the Chavez Ravine area", while L.A. County Supervisors unanimously agreed to provide $2.74 million for access roads. In addition, the Dodgers also had to pay $450,000 for territorial rights to the Pacific Coast League, whose Los Angeles Angels and Hollywood Stars suspended play.[74]

When he made the decision to relocate in October of 1957 to Los Angeles, O'Malley did not have an established location for where the Dodgers would play in 1958. O'Malley worked out a deal with Los Angeles County and the state of California to rent the Los Angeles Coliseum for $200,000 per year for 1958 and 1959, plus 10% of the ticket revenue, and all concession profits for the first nine games of each season following an opening series with the San Francisco Giants.[75] The Dodgers temporarily took up residence while they awaited the completion of 56,000-seat capacity Dodger Stadium, built for $23 million. The Dodgers were soon drawing more than two million fans a year. They remained successful on the field as well, winning the World Series in 1959, 1963, and 1965. The Los Angeles Angels also played in Dodger Stadium from 1962 to 1965.[76] In the 1960s, O'Malley attempted to buyout the contract of Shigeo Nagashima of the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants from Matsutaro Shoriki.[77] In 1960, O'Malley refused to pay Carl Furillo for the 1960 after he was released early due to injury. This forced Furillo to sue the team. O'Malley blacklisted Furillo from any job in any organization.[78]

Vin Scully and Tommy Lasorda were long time O'Malley employees.

His son, Peter O'Malley, described his management style as follows: "As president, the way he ran the business, he believed in stability and very little turnover. It was the strength of the organization. The management team worked as well as the team on the field."[7] This is evidenced in many ways, including the long tenure of both Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda as Dodgers managers and Vin Scully, the broadcast voice of the Dodgers. Alston was repeatedly rehired to consecutive one-year contracts from 1954–1976 until he retired. Then Lasorda, who had been a long-time employee in as a coach and minor league baseball manager, took over as manager for another twenty years.[26] Scully has been the voice of the Dodgers since the O'Malley family acquired the team. In addition, the infield of first baseman Steve Garvey, second baseman, Davey Lopes, shortstop Bill Russell and third baseman Ron Cey were the longest-running intact infield in major league history.[26] Furthermore, O'Malley is said to have kept Bowie Kuhn in office as the Commissioner of Baseball until O'Malley's death.[26] O'Malley rewarded loyal employee Bavasi by allowing the San Diego Padres franchise to establish an expansion team with Bavasi as President in Southern California.[79] Alston, said O'Malley convinced him that when he signed his first one-year contract it could be a lifetime job by pointing out that "signing one-year contracts can mean a lifetime job, if you keep signing enough of them."[80] Although O'Malley had good stories of loyalty with some employees, there were several stories of O'Malley's frugality.[81]

Although O'Malley was loyal to his employees, he did not take kindly to demands from employees such as manager Charlie Dressen's request for a three-year contract. When Dressen requested a multi-year contract after losing a second consecutive World Series to the Yankees, he was released.[82] Then when he hired Walter Alston as a replacement, he made it clear to the press that Alston would only receive one-year contracts and would not attempt to show up the management in the national media.[83] There were rumors that Alston even signed blank contracts in the fall and showed up in the spring to find out his salary.[83] O'Malley also did not support those who remained friends with Rickey, which was a large factor in Red Barber quitting as Dodgers announcer.[84]

O'Malley believed that employees should accept whatever salaries they were offered. In 1966, this led to the strikes of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale who employed the same lawyer.[85] They duo of pitching aces decided to strike together until they were both satisfied.[86] They had earned $70,000 and $75,000 respectively during the 1965 season,[85] during which the Dodgers won the World Series,[86] and O'Malley offered $105,000 and $95,000 for the 1966 season.[85] At the time, Willie Mays was Major League Baseball's highest paid player at $125,000 per year and multi-year contracts were very unusual.[86] They demanded three-year $167,000 per year contracts and after holding out until less than two weeks before Opening Day, they received one-year $130,00 and $115,000 contracts respectively.[85]

O'Malley liked clubhouse turmoil only slightly less than free agent disloyalty.[87] When he traded Maury Wills to the Pittsburgh Pirates following consecutive National League pennants, it was attributed to Wills having quit during the middle of the Dodgers' post-season tour of Japan.[88]

[edit] Retire from presidency

On March 17, 1970, Walter turned over the presidency of the team to his son Peter, remaining as Chairman until his death in 1979. Peter O'Malley held the position until 1998 when the team was sold to Rupert Murdoch.[89][90] The team remained successful on the field under Peter and won the World Series in both 1981 and 1988. They remained successful at the box office as well: by the end of the 1980s, they had not only became the first franchise to draw three million fans, but also they had done it more times than all other franchises combined.[26] During the 1970s, O'Malley was credited for stagemanaging Lasorda's career. Lasorda become known for his die-hard Dodgers clichés, such as describing the color of his blood by saying "Cut me, I bleed Dodger blue."[91] It was even said that the reciprocal loyalty and respect between Lasorda and O'Malley was so high that O'Malley gave Lasorda a tombstone as a gift that had an inscription that read "TOMMY LASORDA, A DODGER".[87]

During 1975, the Dodgers franchise was embroiled in the Andy Messersmith controversy that led to the Seitz decision, which struck down baseball's reserve clause and opened up the sport to modern free agency. Messersmith and the Dodgers were unable to come to contract terms in part because of a then unheard of no-trade clause demand, and Messersmith pitched the entire season without a contract under the reserve clause, which stated that team has the right to extend the prior years contract one year if a player does not agree to terms. Teams had previously had the right to continue such resignings year after year.[8] This gave owners the right to issue "take it or leave it" offers to the players.[8] Although the Dodgers and Messersmith nearly hammered out a deal monetarily, they could not come to terms on the no trade clause. Supposedly Major League Baseball instructed the Dodgers not to surrender such a clause for the good of the game.[8] The Seitz decision limited the re-signings to one year, and since Messersmith performed quite well in 1975, winning a Gold Glove and leading the National League in complete games and shutouts, while finishing second in earned run average, he was a valuable talent. He earned offers from six different teams.[8] Messersmith became the first free agent, except for Catfish Hunter who had been declared a 1974 free agent by breach of contract. O'Malley felt the price wars would be the downfall of baseball because the fans only have so much money.[8] The scenario led to an eighteen-day lockout during spring training in 1976 over the prospect of dozens of players playing becoming free agents and the inability to redesign the reserve clause.[8]

[edit] Death and legacy

O'Malley was diagnosed with cancer, and he sought treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He died of congestive heart failure on August 9, 1979 at the Methodist Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[13][92] His wife Kay had died a few weeks earlier.[93]

At one time, Brooklyn Dodgers fans hated O'Malley so much for moving their beloved team that he was routinely mentioned along with Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin as the most villainous 20th century men;[26] one version of a joke went, "If a Brooklyn man finds himself in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and O'Malley, but has only two bullets, what does he do? Shoot O'Malley twice."[94][69] Some still consider him among the worst three men of the 20th century.[95] Much of the animosity was not just for moving the team, but robbing Brooklyn of the sense of a cohesive cultural and social identity that a major sports franchise provides.[55][5] Despite the long-standing animosity of Brooklyn fans and their supporters in baseball, O'Malley was posthumously elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on December 3, 2007, by the minimal number of "yea" votes necessary for acceptance.[7]

His legacy is that of changing the mindset of a league whose southernmost and westernmost team was the St. Louis Cardinals. Tommy Lasorda said upon hearing of his election to the Hall, "He's a pioneer. He made a tremendous change in the game, opening up the West Coast to Major League Baseball."[7] When asked how he wanted to be remembered, O'Malley said, "for planting a tree."[7] The tree provided the branches to open up the West Coast to baseball, but O'Malley's son remembers his father's 28 years on Major League Baseball's executive council as service that "was instrumental in the early stages of the game's international growth."[7] His contributions to baseball were widely recognized even before his Hall of Fame election: he was ranked 8th and 11th respectively by ABC Sports and the Sporting News in their lists of the most influential sports figures of the 20th century.[5]

O'Malley's detractors say that he was not a visionary for taking baseball west. They say the game was naturally heading toward geographical expansion and O'Malley just an opportunist. Rather than truly being a leader these detractors say his leadership was a manifestation of making the most money.[96]

[edit] Popular culture

O'Malley was mentioned several times in Danny Kaye's 1962 song tribute, "The D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song (Oh, Really? No, O'Malley!)", which spins a tale of a fantasy game between the Dodgers and the Giants. At one point, the umpire's call goes against the home team:

Down in the dugout, Alston glowers
Up in the booth, Vin Scully frowns;
Out in the stands, O'Malley grins...
Attendance 50,000!
So ....what does O'Malley do? CHARGE!!

Just before the St. Louis Cardinals began a series of games against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, in 1963, the Los Angeles Times published a large cartoon, drawn by artist Pete Bentovoja, modeled on the movies about the German submarine captain. The captain is Cards' manager Johnny Keane; his "lieutenant" is Stan Musial. They wear Cardinal uniforms with naval officers' caps bearing the "St.L" emblem. While Keane and Musial are speaking, other crew members load bats, like torpedoes, into torpedo tubes; the bats have players' faces (and names and batting averages) drawn on them. Keane looks through the periscope; the inset shows a battleship with a large head of O'Malley, wearing a naval officers cap bearing the "LA" emblem and puffing a cigar. Keane: "Achtung Shtan [Stan]! I zought ve sunk sem last year?" Musial: "Yavohl, Mein Kommander, Ve vill blast zem vit bigger und better torpedoes zis zeazon!" (The Cards made a terrific drive for the pennant but finished the season six games back of the Dodgers.)

O'Malley was featured prominently in the HBO documentary film, Brooklyn Dodgers: Ghosts of Flatbush, which chronicled his executive management of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. The documentary focuses on the post World War II glory years of the franchise and presents a compelling case that O'Malley truly wanted to keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn in a stadium near a railroad station, but he was unable to get the proper support from Moses.[94]

[edit] Timeline

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Walter O'Malley Biography: Early Years. O'Malley Seidler Partners, LLC. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. “Walter Francis O’Malley, son of Edwin Joseph and Alma Feltner O’Malley, was born in the Bronx, New York on October 9, 1903. ...”
  2. ^ a b "Baseball Club Holds Edge in Chavez Ravine Test.", The New York Times, June 4, 1958, Wednesday. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. "The proposal to give the Dodgers a 300-acre baseball stadium site in Chavez Ravine appeared to be winning in Los Angeles' municipal election tonight." 
  3. ^ Zimbalist, Andrew (1997-01-12). Not Suitable for Families. U.S.News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  4. ^ Hoffer, Richard (1994-05-09). Dark Days in La-La Land. Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  5. ^ a b c d e McGookin, Steve (2007-09-28). Fifty Years Of Loss. Forbes. Forbes.com LLC. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  6. ^ Stout, p. 334.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Gurnick, Ken (2007-12-03). O'Malley family rejoices in Hall election. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Phillips, B.J. (1976-04-26). A New Look for the Old Ball Game. Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  9. ^ Wulf, Steve (1997-01-20). Baseball's Blue Sale. Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Walter in Wonderland", Time, Time, Inc., 1958-04-28. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  11. ^ a b c d Shapiro, p. 22.
  12. ^ a b c d e (October 1998) in Dorinson, Joseph and Joram Warmund: Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream. M.E. Sharpe, 166. ISBN 0765603179. 
  13. ^ a b "Walter F. O'Malley, Leader of Dodgers' Move to Los Angeles, Dies at 75.", The New York Times, August 10, 1979. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. "Walter F. O'Malley, the man who took the Dodgers out of Brooklyn and opened the West Coast to major league baseball, died yesterday in Rochester, Minnesota. He was 75 years old. The son of a commissioner of public markets, he attended Jamaica High School in Queens and Culver Military Academy on Indiana, where he played on the baseball team until a broken nose finished his playing career. ..." 
  14. ^ a b c d Golenbock, p. 85.
  15. ^ a b c Boxerman, Burton A. (2003). Ebbets to Veeck to Busch: Eight Owners Who Shaped Baseball. ISBN 0786415622. “... the Board of Education and the New York Telephone Company. After the partnership dissolved, Walter O'Malley started WF O'Malley Engineering Company. ...” 
  16. ^ Shapiro, p. 23.
  17. ^ 1931 New York City Marriage Index
  18. ^ "Daughter to Mrs. W.F. O'Malley.", The New York Times, May 24, 1933. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  19. ^ "Terry O'Malley Seidler. Mother of 10, She Manages to Get By.", Los Angeles Times, April 15, 1981. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. "Terry O'Malley Seidler, mother of 10, is a transplanted Brooklyn woman who owns half of the Dodgers. She is known in the National League as the other O'Malley. Her brother Peter, who also owns half, is the president of the club and runs it." 
  20. ^ "Son Born to Walter O'Malleys.", The New York Times, December 25, 1937, Saturday. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. 
  21. ^ "Kay O'Malley, 72, Wife of Dodgers Owner, Dies", Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1979. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. "Kay O'Malley, wife of board chairman Walter F. O'Malley of the Los Angeles Dodgers, died at her Hancock Park home Thursday evening of acute cardiorespiratory arrest." 
  22. ^ a b c Shapiro, p. 20.
  23. ^ Shapiro, p. 21.
  24. ^ a b c Shapiro, p. 24.
  25. ^ Shapiro, p. 25.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i Walter O'Malley. BaseballLibrary.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-23. “Under the ownership of Walter O'Malley, who became the National League's most influential owner, the Los Angeles Dodgers became the most prosperous and most stable franchise in major-league baseball.”
  27. ^ a b c Dodgertown. O'Malley Seidler Partners, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  28. ^ Stout, p. 120.
  29. ^ Golenbock, p. 84.
  30. ^ Golenbock, p. 203.
  31. ^ (October 1998) in Dorinson, Joseph and Joram Warmund: Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream. M.E. Sharpe, 172. ISBN 0765603179. 
  32. ^ a b c Golenbock, p. 105.
  33. ^ Golenbock, p. 249.
  34. ^ Golenbock, p. 250.
  35. ^ a b (October 1998) in Dorinson, Joseph and Joram Warmund: Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream. M.E. Sharpe, 168. ISBN 0765603179. 
  36. ^ Stout, p. 164-7.
  37. ^ Golenbock, p. 251.
  38. ^ "O'Malley Elected To Succeed Rickey As Dodger President. Rickey Congratulates His Successor.", The New York Times, October 27, 1950. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. "Branch Rickey, baseball's 69 year-old wizard, "resigned" the presidency of the Brooklyn Dodgers yesterday and Walter F. O'Malley, 47-year-old Brooklyn lawyer, was elected to succeed him." 
  39. ^ Golenback, p. 302.
  40. ^ Prince, p. 23.
  41. ^ Prince, p. 62-63.
  42. ^ Prince, p. 30.
  43. ^ Prince, p. 31.
  44. ^ Golenbock, p. 270.
  45. ^ Stout, p. 160.
  46. ^ Golenbock, p. 373.
  47. ^ Golenbock, p. 385.
  48. ^ Golenbock, p. 424.
  49. ^ Hey King. Time. Time, Inc. (1952-08-25). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  50. ^ Mr. Cool & the Pros. Time. Time, Inc. (1965-10-22). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  51. ^ Double Trouble. Time. Time, Inc. (1955-06-06). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  52. ^ Prince, p. 64-65
  53. ^ September Habit. Time. Time, Inc. (1955-09-19). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  54. ^ Kahn, Roger (1972). The Boys of Summer. Harper & Row. ISBN 06-012239-0.  pp. xv–xvi.
  55. ^ a b Sam Anderson. "Exorcising the Dodgers", New York, September 17, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-08. 
  56. ^ Prince, p. 63
  57. ^ Corliss, Richard (1992-08-24). Build It, and They (Will) MIGHT Come. Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  58. ^ a b Golenbock, p. 432.
  59. ^ "The Dodgers Settle Down at Last in Chavez Ravine", The New York Times, April 10, 1962, Tuesday. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. "Los Angeles, April 9, 1962 (United Press International) Eager citizens, proud civic leaders and jubilant baseball dignitaries today joined to dedicate the Los Angeles Dodgers' new multimillion-dollar 56,000-seat stadium in Chavez Ravine." 
  60. ^ Prince, p. 108.
  61. ^ Prince, p. 145.
  62. ^ Veterans elect five into Hall of Fame: Two managers, three executives comprise Class of 2008. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. (2007-12-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  63. ^ Worldwide Timetable. American Airlines (2007-11-01). Retrieved on 2007-11-24.
  64. ^ Identifying Locations. colostate.edu. Retrieved on 2007-11-24.
  65. ^ Metropolitan Stadium / Minnesota Twins / 1961-1981. Ballpark Digest. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
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  71. ^ Relief Pitcher. Time. Time, Inc. (1958-06-16). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  72. ^ "Charge!". Time. Time, Inc. (1959-08-03). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  73. ^ Golenbock, p. 442.
  74. ^ Samuelsen, Rube. "L.A. Council Invites Bums To Play Ball.", The Sporting News, October 16, 1957. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
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  76. ^ "Mayor Is Blamed For Dodger Move. City Administration Scored By G.O.P. O'Malley Tie To Transit Unit Cited Authority Defends Contract.", The New York Times, October 10, 1957. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  77. ^ Whiting, Robert (2001-04-30). Batting Out Of Their League. Timeasia.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
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  79. ^ Off to Splitsville. Time. Time, Inc. (1968-06-07). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  80. ^ Boss of the Babes. Time. Time, Inc. (1973-08-06). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
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  82. ^ Managers Are Expendable. Time. Time, Inc. (1953-10-26). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  83. ^ a b Golenbock, p. 370.
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  89. ^ "Peter O'Malley, 30-year old son of the president, Walter F. O'Malley, was promoted today to the post of executive vice president of the Los Angeles Dodgers.", The New York Times, December 19, 1968. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  90. ^ "Baseball's Blue Sale", Time (magazine), Monday, January 20, 1997. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. "By transplanting the beloved Bums to California in 1958, the unsentimental Walter O'Malley had ushered the era of Big Business into baseball; last week Peter claimed that the current game's corporate-scale economics were forcing him to sell." 
  91. ^ "The Dodgers: No Longer Seeing Red", Time, Time, Inc., 1977-05-23. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  92. ^ a b "Walter O'Malley, Owner of Dodgers, Dies at 75. Considered One of Baseball's Most Powerful Men, He Brought His Team to Los Angeles in 1958.", Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1979. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. "Walter Francis O'Malley, the man who brought the Dodgers to Los Angeles, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 75." 
  93. ^ "Walter O'Malley, chairman of the board of the Los Angeles Dodgers, was admitted to Methodist Hospital in Rochester.", Associated Press in The New York Times, February 24, 1978. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  94. ^ a b Starr, Mark (2007-07-11). The Bums Are Still a Rush. Newsweek. Newsweek, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  95. ^ Coatney, Mark (1997-01-07). No Breaks in Brooklyn. Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.
  96. ^ Stout, p. 334-5.

[edit] Further reading

  • (October 1998) in Dorinson, Joseph and Joram Warmund: Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream. M.E. Sharpe, 166–168. ISBN 0765603179. , accessed online at google books on 2008-01-24
  • Golenbock, Peter, Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1984, New York, ISBN 0-399-12846-8.
  • Prince, Carl E., Brooklyn's Dodgers: The Bums, The Borough and the Best of Baseball 1947-1957, Oxford University Press, 1996, New York, ISBN 0-19-509927-3.
  • Shapiro, Michael, The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers, and Their Final Penant Race Together, Doubleday, 2003, New York, ISBN 0-385-50152-8.
  • Stout, Glenn (Richard A. Johnson photos and editing), The Dodgers: 120 Years of Dodgers Baseball, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004, Boston/New York, ISBN 0-618-21355-4.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Branch Rickey		 President of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
1950-1970		 Succeeded by
Peter O'Malley
Preceded by
none		 Chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers
1970-1979		 Succeeded by
Peter O'Malley
v • d • e
Los Angeles Dodgers
Formerly the Brooklyn Robins and the Brooklyn Dodgers • Based in Los Angeles, California
The Franchise
Ballparks
Culture
Rivalries
Important Figures
Retired Numbers
1 • 2 • 4 • 19 • 20 • 24 • 32 • 39 • 42 • 53
Key Personnel
Owner: Frank McCourt • General Manager: Ned Colletti • Manager: Joe Torre
Minors
Championships (6)
1955 • 1959 • 1963 • 1965 • 1981 • 1988
League Pennants
American Association: 1889 • National League: 1890 • 1899 • 1900 • 1916 • 1920 • 1941 • 1947 • 1949 • 1952 • 1953 • 1955 • 1956 • 1959 • 1963 • 1965 • 1966 • 1974 • 1977 • 1978 • 1981 • 1988
Division Titles
Western: 1974 • 1977 • 1978 • 1981 (first half) • 1983 • 1985 • 1988 • 1995 • 2004 • Wild Card: 1996 • 2006
v • d • e
Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2008
BBWAA Vote
Goose Gossage (85.82%)
Veterans Committee
J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Ford C. Frick Award


Persondata
NAME Walter O'Malley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Major League Baseball Owner, Business Executive, Lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1903(1903-10-09)
PLACE OF BIRTH Bronx, New York
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 1979 (aged 75)
PLACE OF DEATH Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota