Blackstock: Yo-yo king once offered Dodgers free land to build stadium in Etiwanda

From Joe Blackstock at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on October 23, 2017:

Just imagine if this was true for tonight’s game:

“It’s time for Dodger baseball! Welcome to the first game of the 2017 World Series here at Dodger Stadium in beautiful Rancho Cucamonga!”

It probably never came close to actually happening, but there was a move afoot 60 years ago to convince the Los Angeles-bound Brooklyn Dodgers to build their stadium in today’s Rancho Cucamonga. And the price was right.

“Dodgers Offered Free Site for Stadium in Etiwanda” was the headline of the Ontario Daily Report on Sept. 11, 1957.

The Dodgers, set to play their first season on the West Coast in 1958, had run into some difficulty getting approval for building a stadium in Chavez Ravine.

Thus appeared an offer sent to Dodger owner Walter O’Malley from Charles R. Latimer, real estate broker and future Ontario mayor. He represented landowner Donald F. Duncan, chairman of the Duncan Parking Meter Corp. of Chicago and, among other things, maker of Duncan yo-yos.

Read the full article here: http://www.dailybulletin.com/2017/10/23/yo-yo-king-offered-dodgers-free-land-to-build-stadium-in-etiwanda/



Originally published: October 24, 2017. Last Updated: October 24, 2017.