Former Dodgers Owner to be Feted at Dodger Stadium in August

J.P. Hoornstra | Jul 10, 2024

May 2, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers former owner Peter O'Malley and former Los Angeles City Councilmember Roz Wyman pose with members of the Guggenheim baseball management team at a press conference to announce their purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. From left: Stan Kasten and Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly and O'Malley and Magic Johnson and Wyman and Mark Walker and Peter Guber. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers' 15th member of the team's Ring of Honor was announced this week. The newest inductee is arguably the most important, in terms of his impact on franchise history.

Walter O'Malley is the owner who stewarded the franchise's relocation from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1957, and continued to own the Dodgers until his death in 1979. The Aug. 10 event to honor O'Malley comes amid Dodgers Alumni Weekend, a three-day celebration of many of the team’s key players since the club moved west in 1958.

Peter O’Malley, president of the Dodgers from 1970–98, will represent the O’Malley family at the event and accept the honor on behalf of his father.

O'Malley will take his place in left field alongside the retired numbers of players Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Jim Gilliam, Don Sutton, Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson (whose No. 42 is retired throughout baseball) and Don Drysdale, managers Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda, and broadcasters Jaime Jarrín and Vin Scully.

The Dodgers have historically reserved induction in the Ring of Honor to players or managers inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Valenzuela and Gilliam are the exceptions; O'Malley is not.

O'Malley was inducted in 2008. His Hall of Fame plaque notes his ownership of the Dodgers from 1943-79, and also his instrumental role in the Dodger Stadium design, which preceded Candlestick Park and Angel Stadium as the first permanent structures for an MLB team on the West Coast.