Dodgers move from Brooklyn New York to Los Angeles

Sep 6
18:36

2008

Rich Stephenson

Rich Stephenson

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Dodgers move to Los Angeles California when Walter O'Malley a real estate businessman in 1950 acquired a majority ownership of the Dodgers, When then co-owners Branch Rickey and the late John L. Smith sold the shares to Walter O'Malley.

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After the Dodgers being at Ebbets Field Walter O'Malley started looking to buy new land in Brooklyn and would make it more suitable as Ebbets Field was old,Dodgers move from Brooklyn New York to Los Angeles Articles even if the Dodgers were to make it to the pennant their would be no way to sell out a game even after the Dodgers were dominating the league from 46 to 57.

Robert Moses a New York Construction Coordinator, wanted to force Walter O'Malley into using a area in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Which later became Shea Stadium. Robert Moses wanted a city owned park as well as city built., which was not the idea of of walter O'Malley. When O'Malley was not able to find land in Brooklyn that would be suitable for a park, he started to think of other options.

The years since the Second World War their was routine non-stop transcontinetal air travel, and baseball teams no longer had to wait for the slow railroad timetables. Due to the advancement of transportation, they were able to locate baseball teams further apart. Even as far west as California while being able to have the same baseball schedules.

During the 1956 World Series Los Angeles officials attended the game in the hopes of a baseball team moving to the City of Angels, the Dodgers was not even a thought on their minds. The Los Angeles officials target was the Washington Senators but in 1961 they moved to Bloomington, Minnesota where they would become the Minnesota Twins. Walter O'Malley was looking for other options in case New York politicians and Robert Moses would not let him build a stadium in Brooklyn that he wanted, O'Malley started talking to the Los Angeles officials leting them know that he was interested in moving the baseball team to Los Angeles. New York would not offer O'Malley a ballpark that was suitable for building stadium and Los Angeles offered O'Malley a chance to own the ballpark, which would give him complete control of all the revenue that would come in.

Horace Stoneham the Giants owner was having the same problem finding a home stadium for his baseball team, then located at the Polo Grounds. Giants owner Stoneham was thinking of moving the baseball team to Minneapolis, but officials instead persuaded the Giants to move to San Francisco, which would cause two rival teams in the National league the Giants and Dodgers. It would bring them closer then thier previous location of St. Louis, so both baseball teams after the 1957 baseball season moved to the West Coast together.

On September 24, 1957 the Brooklyn Dodgers would play thier final baseball game at Ebbets Field, where the Dodgers played the Pittsburgh Pirates in which they defeated the Pirates by a score of 2-0.

The Los Angeles Dodgers on April 18, 1958 played their first baseball game in Los Angeles against the San Francisco Giants the former New York team in front of 78,672 baseball fans at the new Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum the Dodgers defeated the Giants by a score of 6-5.