In I S90, the Brooklyn Trolley [)odgers professional baseball team joined the
N ati nal League. Over the following years, the Dodgers would have considerable
difficulty competing with the other baseball teams in the New York City area.
Those teams, principal among them the New York Yankees, were much better fiminced
and generally stocked with players of higher caliber. In 1958, after nearly
seven decades of mostly frustration on and off the baseball field, the Dodgers
shocked the sports world by moving to Los Angeles. Walter O’Malley, the flambovant
owner of the Dodgers, sawan opportunity to introduce professional baseball
to the rapidly growing population of the West Coast. More important,
O’Malley saw an opportunity to make his team more profitable. As an inducecn
t to the Dodgers, Los Angeles County purchased a goat farm located in
Chavez Ravine, an area two milesnorthwest of downtown Los Angeles, and gave
th~ property to O’Malley for the site of his new baseball stadium.