Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame Inducts Walter O'Malley, O'Neill, Garvey, Sculley, Joyce And Lucas

First NYC Organization In Over 50 Years To Honor Owner Who Moved Dodgers Out Of Brooklyn

Longtime Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, sluggers Steve Garvey and Paul O'Neill, umpire Jim Joyce, veteran sportscaster Vin Scully, and Ed Lucas, a blind reporter who has covered the Yankees for more than 40 years, are the six newest members of the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hosted by Ed Randall of WFAN Sports Radio 660 AM, the ceremony included a stirring rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" by traditional Irish music group Girsa, the presentation of plaques and acceptance speeches by attendees Steve Garvey and Ed Lucas, as well as brief remarks by YES network announcer John Flaherty (accepting on behalf of Paul O'Neill), umpire Wally Bell (accepting for Jim Joyce).

The induction of Walter O'Malley marked the first time the longtime Dodgers owner was honored in New York City since moving the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles more than 50 years ago.

His son, Peter O'Malley, flew in from California to accept the plaque honoring his father's accomplishments, which included putting together 11 pennant winners and four World Series Champions, pioneering West Coast baseball, and privately building Dodger Stadium, one of game's most beautiful ballparks.

"My father was most proud of his Irish heritage and would have loved this honor, particularly since it is in New York, where he was born," said Peter O'Malley, son of the longtime Dodgers owner and a former president and owner of the team.

Born in the Bronx on October 9, 1903, Walter Francis O'Malley owned the Dodgers from 1950 until his death in 1979.

A self-made man with great Irish charm, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he trained as an engineer, and from Fordham University Law School.

Sometimes overlooked on his resume, O'Malley was co-owner, vice president and legal counsel for the Dodgers when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. He continued to promote African American players while it was still unpopular to do so, and his teams rewarded him with on-field success.

The Dodgers won National League pennants in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953, but lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series every time, frustratin their fandom.

In 1955, the team finally won the World Series for the first time in its history. However, attendance declined from a peak of 1.7 million in 1947 to just over one million per year in the mid-1950s.

The automobile, post-war prosperity, and the chance to own a home in the suburbs caused "white flight" from Brooklyn, and fewer fans seemed willing to travel back to the borough for games.

Meanwhile, Ebbets Field's physical structure deteriorated, and the ballpark had too few parking spaces to accommodate commuting fans.

O'Malley battled Robert Moses for nearly a decade to build a new stadium near the LIRR hub in downtown Brooklyn, but failed.

Finally, in 1958, he brought major league baseball to the West Coast, moving the Dodgers to Los Angeles while coordinating the move of the New York Giants to San Francisco. (At a time when there were no teams west of St. Louis.) For this, he was vilified by Brooklyn fans.

"While it would be an understatement to say the Dodgers' move from Brooklyn made Walter O'Malley unpopular in New York, he indeed opened up major league baseball to California, where the Dodgers set attendance records annually," said Shaun Clancy, founder of the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame and owner of Foley's NY Pub & Restaurant, where it is housed (18 W. 33rd St.) in Manhattan.

"We are particularly honored to have Peter O'Malley represent his father. One cannot deny that Walter O'Malley had as much impact on the game as any baseball owner in history," said John Mooney, curator of the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame. "Brooklyn fans never forgave him - although many of those fans themselves moved and established new lives outside the borough. New York's loss was LA's gain, and we honor those whose accomplishments are national."

About The Irish American Baseball Hall Of Fame

Created in 2008 with a blessing from Cooperstown, the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame recognizes current and former players, managers, executives, umpires, journalists and entertainers of Irish descent.

Five of this year's six honorees were selected by a panel of baseball experts and former players, while Paul O'Neill won the fan vote over four other players.

Inductees are chosen based on four factors: impact on the game of baseball, popularity, contributions to the community, and, of course, ancestry.

The game of baseball has welcomed immigrants from its earliest days - when an estimated 30 percent of players claimed Irish heritage - up to today as major league teams regularly sign players born in Latin America, Japan, Canada, and elsewhere.

Honorees are chosen based on a combination of factors: impact on the game, popularity, contributions to the community, and, of course, ancestry.

Many of baseball's biggest stars at the turn of the 20th century were Irish immigrants or their descendants, including Michael "King" Kelly, Roger Connor (the home run king before Babe Ruth), all-time ERA leader Big Ed Walsh and NY Giants manager John McGraw.

In fact, the large 1945 class of inductees enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame included nine Irish Americans: Roger Bresnahan, Dan Brouthers, Fred Clarke, Jimmy Collins, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Duffy, Hughie Jennings, King Kelly, and Jim O'Rourke.

Shaun Clancy, an amateur baseball historian, created the Hall after learning about the rich heritage of Irish Americans in the sport dating from its infancy - a legacy that has been overshadowed in recent years by other ethnicities.

He decided to celebrate his roots and those who helped make the game great by creating a shrine to Irish Americans in baseball in 2008.

Inductees include players, managers, team executives, umpires, journalists, broadcasters, entertainers.

In addition to giving each inductee a copy of his plaque, Foley's will make a donation to Umps Care and Ed Randall's Bat For The Cure in their names.

The 7x9 inch brass plaques feature the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame logo, an image of each inductee with a brief list of career and personal accomplishments, as well as Irish roots and/or connections and the date of induction. The plaques were designed by engravers Ashburns, Inc.

The "Starting Nine" inductees in 2008 were: the late Mets and Phillies reliever Tug McGraw, Yankee announcer John Flaherty, sportswriter Jeff Horrigan, NY Mets groundskeeper Pete Flynn, retired sluggers Mark McGwire and Sean "The Mayor" Casey, Kevin Costner, star of Field of Dreams and Bull Durham, legendary owner/manager Connie Mack, and longtime official scorer and columnist Red Foley.

A popular destination among baseball players, executives, umpires and fans, Foley's NY Pub & Restaurant is located on 18 W. 33rd St., across the street from the Empire State Building.

The "Irish bar with a baseball attitude" features walls adorned with 2,000 autographed baseballs, hundreds of bobbleheads, game-worn jerseys, stadium seats and other artifacts that make Foley's the best baseball bar in New York and one of the best sports bars in America.

Foley's (www.foleysny.com) features one of the country's most extensive public displays of baseball memorabilia outside of Cooperstown.