August 11, 2024 • 7 mins
Peter talks to DV on the day his father, Walter O'Malley, is inducted into the Dodger Stadium Ring of Honor. Peter talks about his father's legacy, their special relationship, and the bond he had with Vin Scully.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I want to share a very special conversation we had
(00:03):
tonight with Peter O'Malley. The O'Malley family is synonymous with
the Dodger family and certainly great to have Peter here
and his sister Terry Sidler. And this was a very
candid and intimate conversation I was able to have with
the great Peter O'Malley after the special pregame ceremony which
(00:25):
honored his father, Walter O'Malley. And in case you don't
know the backstory, Walter O'Malley passed away in nineteen seventy nine,
but Peter O'Malley became the president of the Dodgers in
nineteen seventy one, so the transition was in place. And
as a young man, Peter O'Malley started from the very
(00:46):
bottom and worked his way throughout the organization to really
know the ins and outs. And here's what mister O'Malley
had to say about that and many other things surrounding
the O'Malley family, Walter O'Malley, and the Dodgers.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And that's the key word that if you're responsible for
your family or for driving a car with the kids
in the car, responsibility and that always kind of stuck
in my mind that if you realize, Hey, Peter, you're
responsible for this franchise, You're going to get up early,
you're going to work late, You're going to come in
here Saturdays and Sundays in the wintertime. So I nobody
(01:25):
ever asked me for advice, but that's kind of on
my mind.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Do you realize how much the O'Malley family meant not
only to your players, to the staff and the organization,
but to the city.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I think I do. I think I'm talking to tell
you the luncheon. Were you with the luncheon today? No? Okay, Well,
I had a chance to visit with all them who
I knew on my watch. I didn't know the fellows
that came after, but they truly appreciated it was a
special time. It's going to get greater. The stadium is greater,
(01:59):
the teams are going to be greater, the players are
going to be greater. But when we had it, it
was a special, unique time that everyone looks back at
with fun. Even living in the barracks at Dodgertown Old
Navy Barracks, everybody complained no heat, no air conditioning, no telephones,
the fuse would go. Nobody had electricity. But the next
(02:19):
morning everybody laughed and said, I survived the night or mosquitoes,
but you know when it gets hot. No, the reviews
of that fifty years are pretty good.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
What was Walter O'Malley the father like?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
He was great? You know, he fished together, we hunted together.
He was honest. He we disagreed, maybe a couple of
times on something minor. He would hear me out, Okay,
well why do you want to do that? I would
tell him and he might say, yeah, I think you're right,
or well think about this. No it it was a
frank relationship.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
It seems like you not only took the torch, but
you ran with it.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Well. Yes, I thought about going to law school when
I was an undergraduate at Penn and then I thought, hey,
I'd like to run a farm team. And the fell
in Spokane. Spencer Harris, the GM he passed away in
the winter suddenly and there's an opening General Managers of Spokane, Washington,
(03:22):
and my dad and Buzzy said would you want to
do that? And I said sure, So I go to Spokane.
That was great experience running the tripa a farm team
in the Coast League. So and then came here vice
president stadium operations, dealing with the maintenance, the unions, that
(03:43):
ticket takers and everybody else. So the pattern, if you
look back at the path, it wasn't by design. It
just happened to follow the different areas of responsibility, and
so it worked out.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Mister O'Malley, the history lesson. We've gotten his, of course
from the great Vin Scully about not only the Dodgers,
but your father. And I remember interviewing Vin for the
first time and he said his two wishes before he left.
In his words, this mortal coil was that Gil Hodges
and your father, Walter O'Malley, would get into the Hall
(04:19):
of Fame.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
That's very true. Well let's take Vinnie first. He really
wanted Gil in the Hall of Fame, and Gil Vinnie
wanted Gil to get in the Hall of Fame. And
I think Vinnie helped. And if you look back at
Gil's record when he played, his numbers were up there.
(04:43):
But then after he retired, new numbers, new circumstances. But
Gil's numbers, in my opinion, should have put him in
the Hall of Fame quicker before other numbers got not inflated.
They were earned for different reasons. As far as my goes,
I think Vinnie lived to see my dad go in
(05:03):
the Hall of Fame. Yeah he did. Yeah, he was
alive then. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
He told me that he appreciated when the team was
moving to Los Angeles that your father did not have
a secretary call him. He called Vin Scully directly.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Sure, fifty six trip to Japan. Everybody's got a roommate,
every ballplayer, doctors, trainers, everybody on the trip. That's the
way it was in those days, to to a room.
So my dad says that Peter's going to go with
us to the fifty six trip to Tokyo. Could he
room with you? Now? Ever, gracious Vinnie would never say no,
(05:40):
even if he felt like he's are you kidding, mister Omanley.
Of course. Now that's where Vinnie and I bonded on
that fifty six. He wasn't in the room a lot.
He used in two beds in the room. He was
out doing his thing. He was a single guy. He
wanted museums and places of art and drama and all that.
But yeah, fifty six, that's a long time. That's someone
(06:03):
he and I are really connected.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
That's amazing Vinny telling.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
That to my dad. Imagine my dad's saying it to
Vinnie and Vinny saying, of course, mister o'meal you no problem,
just like what else is new?
Speaker 3 (06:13):
So you mentioned that your dad was somewhat of a
father figure to Vinnie. So were you Did you have
a brother type of relationship with him, especially after that trip, I.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Would say, yeah, brother, Vinnie was ten years older, but yeah,
brother works, brother works, A good friend works, honest relationship. Vinnie.
I talked about things that he may not have talked
to too many people about, honest because he knew me,
and I think we trusted each other. He told me
something I'm never going to repeat it.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I could sit here all day with you. You just mean
so much to the city and to Dodger fans. The
O'Malley family is synonymous with Dodger baseball, and family is
synonymous with the O'Malley So, thank you so much for
your time, and rightfully so, your father and the O'Malley
family will always be remembered here.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Thank you. Just one quick note, my sister and I
were blessed with great parents. I don't say that too
often because not everyone is fortunate to have that experience.
You know, a lot of families are split, divided and
everything else. But my sister Terry and I grew up
in a perfect mother, father for people, home support, fun.
(07:28):
It was remarkable. So I would give my sister Terry
and I talk about it a lot. I'd give that
a lot of credit. And I'm lucky. That's a blessing.
Not everybody else can say that. Sadly, thank you for
your time, all right, good to be with you.
I want to share a very special conversation we had
(00:03):
tonight with Peter O'Malley. The O'Malley family is synonymous with
the Dodger family and certainly great to have Peter here
and his sister Terry Sidler. And this was a very
candid and intimate conversation I was able to have with
the great Peter O'Malley after the special pregame ceremony which
(00:25):
honored his father, Walter O'Malley. And in case you don't
know the backstory, Walter O'Malley passed away in nineteen seventy nine,
but Peter O'Malley became the president of the Dodgers in
nineteen seventy one, so the transition was in place. And
as a young man, Peter O'Malley started from the very
(00:46):
bottom and worked his way throughout the organization to really
know the ins and outs. And here's what mister O'Malley
had to say about that and many other things surrounding
the O'Malley family, Walter O'Malley, and the Dodgers.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And that's the key word that if you're responsible for
your family or for driving a car with the kids
in the car, responsibility and that always kind of stuck
in my mind that if you realize, Hey, Peter, you're
responsible for this franchise, You're going to get up early,
you're going to work late, You're going to come in
here Saturdays and Sundays in the wintertime. So I nobody
(01:25):
ever asked me for advice, but that's kind of on
my mind.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Do you realize how much the O'Malley family meant not
only to your players, to the staff and the organization,
but to the city.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I think I do. I think I'm talking to tell
you the luncheon. Were you with the luncheon today? No? Okay, Well,
I had a chance to visit with all them who
I knew on my watch. I didn't know the fellows
that came after, but they truly appreciated it was a
special time. It's going to get greater. The stadium is greater,
(01:59):
the teams are going to be greater, the players are
going to be greater. But when we had it, it
was a special, unique time that everyone looks back at
with fun. Even living in the barracks at Dodgertown Old
Navy Barracks, everybody complained no heat, no air conditioning, no telephones,
the fuse would go. Nobody had electricity. But the next
(02:19):
morning everybody laughed and said, I survived the night or mosquitoes,
but you know when it gets hot. No, the reviews
of that fifty years are pretty good.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
What was Walter O'Malley the father like?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
He was great? You know, he fished together, we hunted together.
He was honest. He we disagreed, maybe a couple of
times on something minor. He would hear me out, Okay,
well why do you want to do that? I would
tell him and he might say, yeah, I think you're right,
or well think about this. No it it was a
frank relationship.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
It seems like you not only took the torch, but
you ran with it.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Well. Yes, I thought about going to law school when
I was an undergraduate at Penn and then I thought, hey,
I'd like to run a farm team. And the fell
in Spokane. Spencer Harris, the GM he passed away in
the winter suddenly and there's an opening General Managers of Spokane, Washington,
(03:22):
and my dad and Buzzy said would you want to
do that? And I said sure, So I go to Spokane.
That was great experience running the tripa a farm team
in the Coast League. So and then came here vice
president stadium operations, dealing with the maintenance, the unions, that
(03:43):
ticket takers and everybody else. So the pattern, if you
look back at the path, it wasn't by design. It
just happened to follow the different areas of responsibility, and
so it worked out.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Mister O'Malley, the history lesson. We've gotten his, of course
from the great Vin Scully about not only the Dodgers,
but your father. And I remember interviewing Vin for the
first time and he said his two wishes before he left.
In his words, this mortal coil was that Gil Hodges
and your father, Walter O'Malley, would get into the Hall
(04:19):
of Fame.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
That's very true. Well let's take Vinnie first. He really
wanted Gil in the Hall of Fame, and Gil Vinnie
wanted Gil to get in the Hall of Fame. And
I think Vinnie helped. And if you look back at
Gil's record when he played, his numbers were up there.
(04:43):
But then after he retired, new numbers, new circumstances. But
Gil's numbers, in my opinion, should have put him in
the Hall of Fame quicker before other numbers got not inflated.
They were earned for different reasons. As far as my goes,
I think Vinnie lived to see my dad go in
(05:03):
the Hall of Fame. Yeah he did. Yeah, he was
alive then. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
He told me that he appreciated when the team was
moving to Los Angeles that your father did not have
a secretary call him. He called Vin Scully directly.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Sure, fifty six trip to Japan. Everybody's got a roommate,
every ballplayer, doctors, trainers, everybody on the trip. That's the
way it was in those days, to to a room.
So my dad says that Peter's going to go with
us to the fifty six trip to Tokyo. Could he
room with you? Now? Ever, gracious Vinnie would never say no,
(05:40):
even if he felt like he's are you kidding, mister Omanley.
Of course. Now that's where Vinnie and I bonded on
that fifty six. He wasn't in the room a lot.
He used in two beds in the room. He was
out doing his thing. He was a single guy. He
wanted museums and places of art and drama and all that.
But yeah, fifty six, that's a long time. That's someone
(06:03):
he and I are really connected.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
That's amazing Vinny telling.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
That to my dad. Imagine my dad's saying it to
Vinnie and Vinny saying, of course, mister o'meal you no problem,
just like what else is new?
Speaker 3 (06:13):
So you mentioned that your dad was somewhat of a
father figure to Vinnie. So were you Did you have
a brother type of relationship with him, especially after that trip, I.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Would say, yeah, brother, Vinnie was ten years older, but yeah,
brother works, brother works, A good friend works, honest relationship. Vinnie.
I talked about things that he may not have talked
to too many people about, honest because he knew me,
and I think we trusted each other. He told me
something I'm never going to repeat it.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I could sit here all day with you. You just mean
so much to the city and to Dodger fans. The
O'Malley family is synonymous with Dodger baseball, and family is
synonymous with the O'Malley So, thank you so much for
your time, and rightfully so, your father and the O'Malley
family will always be remembered here.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Thank you. Just one quick note, my sister and I
were blessed with great parents. I don't say that too
often because not everyone is fortunate to have that experience.
You know, a lot of families are split, divided and
everything else. But my sister Terry and I grew up
in a perfect mother, father for people, home support, fun.
(07:28):
It was remarkable. So I would give my sister Terry
and I talk about it a lot. I'd give that
a lot of credit. And I'm lucky. That's a blessing.
Not everybody else can say that. Sadly, thank you for
your time, all right, good to be with you.
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