Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers?

Question

What was the reason for them moving to LA?

Answer 1

The westernmost team in baseball was Kansas City

The Dodgers wanted to stay in Brooklyn.  Ebbet's Field had been their fourth Stadium, all in Brooklyn.  They picked a site in downtown Brooklyn, Between their then present location and their former one of Washington Stadium on third Ave, but the city vetoed it and gave them the chance to build in Queens (Heresy!) at the spot that ultimately became Shea Stadium.  They rather moved 3,000 miles than 10.  Decades later the city approved a similar project for the site and it will be the new home for the NBA Nets.

Many people say that the team wanted to go west and deliberately picked a site that the city would reject in order to deflect the blame so they wouldn't come out the bad guys.  Almost worked.

Answer 2

They weren't drawing fans in Brooklyn and the owner saw an opportunity in L.A. He was hated but right to make the move.

Answer 3

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Answer 4

No, Ebbets Field was old, and the Dodgers didn't draw because the neighborhood was deteriorating, and the fans didn't want to bring their families in from the suburbs to see the Dodgers. When the city wouldn't build him the stadium where he wanted it, he took a better deal from LA.

.....and now the scum bag is in the HOF, and the "Big Dodger in the Sky", Gil Hodges didn't get in.

Answer 5

After World War II there was a big movement out to California.  Los Angeles was growing very quickly, and Walter O'Malley saw a place to move his team.

The Brooklyn Dodgers had been looking around for seveal years for a new location.  They tried to stay in the New York Metropolitan area, playing some home games in Newark, New Jersey.  He felt he needed to do something as his current stadium, Ebbets Field was too small and old to make as much money as he thought was needed.

When he decided to move, he convinced the New York Giants owner Horace Stoneman to move out west as well.  Up to that point the furthest west team (in the National League) was the St. Louis Cardinals.  Travel for the other teams would be too expensive to have only one team as far west as California.  Since the NY Giants were also looking for a way to get a better ballpark, they too moved out west.

Answer 6

Many of the answers given so far are correct, but don't forget the success of the PCL (Pacific Coast League).  Teams in LA, San Francisco, Sacramento, Portland, etc. drew as many fans annually as MLB teams back east. Prior to the Dodgers move, the PCL was manuevering to become the 3rd major league and/or merge with MLB. Of course, after the Giants and Dodgers came, the deal fell apart. But the league's success convinced O'Malley that the move made good financial sense.  

Answer 7

Go west young man.