Dodgers History: Walter O’Malley Announces Move to Los Angeles
By David Hill
The Dodgers were a part of the fabric of Brooklyn, a key part of the identity of the borough. That was ripped away on this day in 1957, when it was announced that the team would move to Los Angeles for the following year.
Most teams represent a city, a region, or even an entire state. That was not the case with the Brooklyn Dodgers – they represented a collection of neighborhoods within New York City. They were part of the family, entrenched in the fabric of the borough.
However, there were signs of trouble. Team owner Walter O’Malley realized that although the Dodgers were successful, they needed something more than what they currently had. So, he sought to replace Ebbets Field, looking to get a new stadium, ideally a dome, near the terminus of the Long Island Railroad. The city rejected the proposal and offered to build a stadium at the future site of Shea Stadium, an area O’Malley doubted as being viable for the long term.
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Around the game, teams were moving. The Athletics left Philadelphia and went to Kansas City. The Browns changed their name to the Orioles and moved to Baltimore. The Dodgers even began to imagine life outside of Brooklyn, scheduling a few games in New Jersey. Meanwhile, Los Angeles was looking to bring a Major League team out west, reaching out to O’Malley to gauge the Dodgers interest in switching coasts.
The only problem would be finding another team to join him on the West Coast. With that in mind, he reached out to Horace Stoneham, who was about to move the Giants to Minnesota. Instead, he got Stoneham to agree to move to San Francisco in September, preserving the rivalry. With that in place, O’Malley announced on this day in 1957 that the Dodgers would be moving to Los Angeles, putting Major League Baseball on the West Coast.
This move stunned the community. Now, the Yankees were the only team in town, and generations of residents in Brooklyn suddenly had their team ripped away. This was not just a baseball team moving cities; with the closeness of the community, this was the loss of a dear friend or family member. To this day, there are still people who either root for the Dodgers due to their time in Brooklyn, or revile the team because of what is considered their betrayal of the neighborhood.
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The Dodgers, in a lot of ways, were Brooklyn during their time there. That changed on this day in 1957, when the Dodgers prepared to head to the West Coast, and would take their rivals with them.