Advertisement

The 15 greatest L.A. Dodgers of all time, No. 13: Walter O’Malley

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Continuing our countdown of the greatest L.A. Dodgers of all time, as chosen by our readers.

No. 13: Walter O’Malley (157 first-place votes, 11,076 points)

Advertisement

O’Malley received the sixth most first-place votes but finished 13th because he was left off many ballots entirely.

Those who did vote for him mainly had the same reason: If he hadn’t moved the team here, there would be no L.A. Dodgers to vote for at all.

He made the decision to move the Dodgers from Brooklyn to L.A. in time for the 1958 season. He did not have a stadium ready for the Dodgers, so he rented the Coliseum for $200,000 per year for 1958 and 1959, plus 10% of the ticket revenue. They moved to Dodger Stadium in 1962, and the rest, as they say, is history.

O’Malley is not without his detractors, however, including many people in Brooklyn who still curse his name for moving the Dodgers away and some people in L.A. who feel they were unfairly forced from their homes to make way for Dodger Stadium.

-- Houston Mitchell

Previously

No. 14: Tommy Davis

No. 15: Kirk Gibson

Advertisement
Advertisement