Walter O'Malley Finally Gets His Due

This weekend's Baseball Hall of Fame induction includes a man who deserved to get in years ago. Dodger owner Walter O'Malley was revolutionary in his thinking by expanding baseball west beyond Missouri. He has been hated for 5 decades in Brooklyn for taking their Dodgers away, and he has often been portrayed as the evil in the whole situation. The truth is that Brooklyn politician Robert Moses had much more to do with it by thwarting every effort to replace outdated Ebbets Field. (Moses' only "solution" was to offer swampland in Queens- the exact spot where the expansion Mets later built the beyond-horrendous Shea Stadium)

Regardless, O'Malley was a man who took care of those around him and ensured continuity in his organization. From 1953 through 1996, with Walter and later son Peter running the team, the Dodgers had 2 managers and 4 general managers. Some teams go through that in one year. With that consistency came much success, as the Dodgers won 6 World Series in that time, and were always a contender for pennants and divisions. It's no surprise, then, that since the O'Malley's sold the team in 1997, the Dodgers have gone through 7 managers and 6 GMs, and have won 1 playoff game.

O'Malley was also the driving force for building Dodger Stadium, considered one of the finest in all of baseball. He also had drawn up plans for a dome and pay(cable) TV decades before they came to fruition. Walter died in 1979, and it's good to see that 30 years after his death, he is getting his rightful induction into Cooperstown.