Greg Mitchell is the author of more than a dozen books including “The Tunnels” and “The Campaign of the Century” and now writer/director of three award-winning films aired via PBS, including “Atomic Cover-up” and “Memorial Day Massacre” (up for an Emmy).
Thanks for the history lesson; I never knew that about Chavez Ravine. My dad was born and raised in Brooklyn, and though he already was in the Army by the time the Dodgers moved, I think he never really got over their move to LA. I did make the mistake of asking him if he was pulling for the Yankees in the ‘77 series (I knew vaguely that he was from New York), which is when I got a stern lesson about where the Dodgers came from and the fact that Dodgers fans NEVER pulled for the Yankees.
After the Dodgers moved to LA, and before Dodger Stadium was built, they played in the Coliseum. My Mom and Dad lived in an apartment next to the stadium. Dad told me that he could watch a game there on tv, and whenever there was was a fly ball, he could look out his window and see the ball if it was high enough to clear the top of the stands.
In those years the left field stands were so close, maybe 260 feet, they had to put up a very high screen to make home runs at least a challenge. A lefty L.A. outfielder named Wally Moon became briefly famous for adjusting his swing to take aim at leftfield and when he or others launched one there it was known as "playing Screeh-o."
Just last week, on this very platform, LA native and former ABC broadcaster Ron Claiborne wrote a searing history of the destruction of three Mexican-American communities to basically build the world’s largest parking lot.
Thanks for the history lesson; I never knew that about Chavez Ravine. My dad was born and raised in Brooklyn, and though he already was in the Army by the time the Dodgers moved, I think he never really got over their move to LA. I did make the mistake of asking him if he was pulling for the Yankees in the ‘77 series (I knew vaguely that he was from New York), which is when I got a stern lesson about where the Dodgers came from and the fact that Dodgers fans NEVER pulled for the Yankees.
After the Dodgers moved to LA, and before Dodger Stadium was built, they played in the Coliseum. My Mom and Dad lived in an apartment next to the stadium. Dad told me that he could watch a game there on tv, and whenever there was was a fly ball, he could look out his window and see the ball if it was high enough to clear the top of the stands.
In those years the left field stands were so close, maybe 260 feet, they had to put up a very high screen to make home runs at least a challenge. A lefty L.A. outfielder named Wally Moon became briefly famous for adjusting his swing to take aim at leftfield and when he or others launched one there it was known as "playing Screeh-o."
Just last week, on this very platform, LA native and former ABC broadcaster Ron Claiborne wrote a searing history of the destruction of three Mexican-American communities to basically build the world’s largest parking lot.
https://open.substack.com/pub/ronaldclaiborne/p/chavez-ravine-and-the-sad-story-of?r=cwbv&utm_medium=ios