Dodgers to Take Dodgertown

Dodger Owner Frank McCourt said that the “Dodgers will not leave Dodgertown; we will take Dodgertown with us to Los Angeles.”

Club may leave Vero, but will save the beauty of their Spring Training site     McCourt made the revelation on the day of the club’s final Florida home date in 2008. The club celebrated its 60th anniversary in Vero Beach, FL, this spring.   

“This complex, with its history of the Dodgers, overwhelms you. You can’t fathom leaving it behind.   

Yet at the same time, it breaks our hearts to know that so many in Los Angeles cannot make the cross-country trek with their families to see it first hand.   

And make no mistake, that is the driving force behind the move to Arizona.   

“As our family prepares to move from this neighborhood, it strikes us that we can incorporate so many elements of this place in our home in Los Angeles. After all, Dodger Stadium is Dodgertown, and for that matter, LA is Dodgertown.”   

Some elements may well move to the club’s new Spring Training site in Arizona.   

“Some elements may transfer well there, but, that said, Arizona has its own style, its own feel,” McCourt said.  “The copper and cactus and Camelback culture has a western feel all its own.   

We’ll start a new history there, one that comfortably welcomes families who can make a five-hour drive or catch a one-hour flight.   

“But the stories and the legends live in Dodgertown’s lounge, dining room, photos, street signs, and even in the light posts with those baseballs on top.   

It would be wonderful to capture the friendliness, the spirit, and the love of the game that is inherent here and bring it home with us.  

“It’s a real estate opportunity, which I of course love. We can create a plan to make this happen before too long.”