'Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles' by Michael D'Antonio
BOOK REVIEW
To Brooklynites of a certain age, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was a money-grubbing weasel who ripped the soul from their community when he announced he was moving the team to L.A. in 1957. Many Angelenos, however, view O'Malley as a pioneering saint for bringing Major League Baseball to the West Coast, thus heralding the seismic shift of professional sports beyond the Mississippi, while a group of vocal critics believes that the stadium deal O'Malley struck with the city of Los Angeles destroyed the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood of Chavez Ravine.
In "Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles," Michael D'Antonio notes that O'Malley was not easy to write about because he was "not the type who would reflect aloud on his motivations or reveal his innermost thoughts." But unprecedented access to the family's archives gave D'Antonio an insider's perspective; in this nuanced, but decidedly pro-O'Malley work, he concludes there's much to admire about the owner, just as much remains misunderstood about his actions.
The son of a Tammany Hall pol, O'Malley parlayed his family connections, an Ivy League education and a Fordham law degree into substantial wealth, even during the Depression. His legal work for the Brooklyn Trust Co. introduced him to the Dodgers' business machinations, and he purchased shares of the team beginning in 1944.
Dem Bums had long been perennial cellar-dwellers. Under O'Malley and co-owner Branch Rickey, they became perennial contenders. Their post-World War II lineup featured Rickey's masterstroke: former UCLA star Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier. In 1955, several years after O'Malley bought out Rickey, Brooklyn whipped the juggernaut Yankees to capture their lone World Series.
O'Malley next faced the issue that would define his career. The Dodgers played at Ebbets Field in Flatbush, but white flight to Long Island was decreasing attendance at the 1913 relic. O'Malley wanted to build a new stadium, with more parking spaces for his suburban-based fans. His good-faith efforts to keep the Dodgers in the borough included an offer to finance a domed ballpark.
He lacked one element: land. At every turn, D'Antonio writes, New York City power-broker Robert Moses stymied O'Malley by refusing to allow him to buy public property. Building on research from two excellent books, Neil Sullivan's "The Dodgers Move West" and Michael Shapiro's "The Last Good Season," D'Antonio concludes that Moses "condemned the Brooklyn stadium idea" and was the true villain.
