About Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
When the Brooklyn Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles in 1958, the city had no baseball-specific venue ready, and the ancient Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — built for the 1932 Olympics — became the team's temporary home. The football configuration created baseball dimensions that defied all logic: the left-field foul pole was a ludicrous 251 feet from home plate, prompting the installation of a 40-foot screen to reduce cheap home runs (it worked only partially). Right-center field, meanwhile, stretched to 440 feet, making a genuine power alley almost unreachable.
Despite the bizarre geometry, Los Angeles fell instantly in love with the Dodgers. The team drew 1.8 million fans in 1958 and won the World Series in 1959, defeating the Chicago White Sox in six games. The championship was celebrated with a city-wide euphoria that cemented baseball's place in the Los Angeles cultural fabric forever.
The most staggering attendance figure in baseball history occurred here: 115,300 fans attended a 1959 tribute game for catcher Roy Campanella, who had been paralyzed in a car accident. The lights in the Coliseum were turned off and fans lit matches, creating one of the most emotional scenes in baseball history. The Coliseum continues to host occasional special events — the Dodgers have played exhibition games there in recent years — making it the rare historical venue that still sees big-league action.
Fun facts
- The left-field screen — called the "Chinese Wall" — was only 251 feet from home plate, the shortest in modern MLB history.
- A 1959 tribute game for Roy Campanella drew 115,300 fans — still the MLB single-game attendance record.
- The stadium hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games, making it the rare venue to serve both Olympics and MLB.
- Fans turned off the lights and lit matches for the Campanella tribute — one of the most emotional scenes in baseball history.
- The Dodgers have returned to play occasional exhibition games here, making it the rare demolished-era park still in use.
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