It was almost everything Branch Rickey could have hoped for... with the exception
that there wasn't any sort of baseball park to use. Though nearly every team would
have considered the lack of a proper ballpark, the most important issue...
it was the least important to Branch Rickey. What the Vero Beach U.S. Naval Airbase
did solve, was Rickey's #1 necessity... getting Jackie Robinson in and out
of the facility safely without ever touching a city street. |
When Rickey bought the Naval Airbase in Vero Beach Florida, he was able to fly Jackie
and the Dodgers in and out of the training camp without ever stepping foot
outside of what would become "Dodgertown". In terms of worrying where Robinson
and the 600 other Dodgers (Majors and Minors) would sleep... the Naval Airbase
had enough barracks to sleep a perfect 600. Dining and Mess halls were plentiful
so they didn't have to leave the base to eat. Sleeping, eating and transportation
to and from the facility, without setting foot in any other part of Florida
outside the base... all accounted for. The only thing missing was a proper
place to train and a proper ballpark to play in. From these early photos,
you can see that most of the training took place in and around the barracks but
in the next photo you can see how a playing field was developed and the Dodgers
at least had a place to regulation diamond and outfield to train in. |