Dodger Fan Base: 1958-2025

                              The Dodgers moved west in 1958 and the fan base they once had was gone. Now they had to entice new fans to come see them play at the coliseum. There were probably a few Brooklynites who had come to California who might have been happy to see the Dodgers in the west. I know one personally who was not happy, and quite frankly, he despised O’Malley for moving the team out of Brooklyn, even though Walter tried hard to keep them there and get a new stadium.

Julian Antonio Chavez 1808- 1879

                             Their move was not all peaches and cream for some. When it broke that the City of Los Angeles was ” trading” Chavez Ravine to O’Malley and the Dodgers for the land he owned around Wrigley Field, many residents were not happy. Especially the people living in the ravine who had expected it to be used for public housing when it was purchased by LA from the original owners under eminent domain with federal funds. Most of the people who still lived there were of Hispanic descent. The ravine had been named for Julian Chavez, who was the first recorded owner of the ravine. 

                         What followed was not pretty. Most of the original homeowners refused to sell. So, developers, representing the city and the housing authority, resorted to offering immediate cash payments, distributed through their Spanish speaking agents. Once the first sales were completed, it is said that the remaining owners were offered less money, allegedly to create a sense of community panic that people would not receive fair compensation. Some residents continued to resist, despite the pressure they were under. Finally, the remaining holdouts were evicted with the help of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department. 

                        While many might not think so, it would be years before the Hispanic community would finally come together and join the throngs of fans going to Dodger games. There was a lot of bitterness there. What changed was the arrival of the native of Mexico, Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. Before that, when you went to the coliseum, you would find a mix of all types of fans. Transplanted citizens of the existing MLB teams would go to the coliseum to see the Cubs or Giants play.

                         Crowds in the late 50’s and early 60’s were mostly just happy to have major league baseball in Los Angeles. The Dodgers attendance that first season proved that O’Malley had made a wise financial decision. The Dodgers had the second highest attendance in the league, 1,845,556. A full 800,000 more than they had in Brooklyn the year before. O’Malley kept the prices family friendly. They drew 93,000 for an exhibition game prior to the season against the Yankees on Roy Campanella night. 

                         Transistor radios became the fans sidekick since the action was hard to follow in some of the more distant coliseum seats. Vin Scully became the eyes of the fans. The biggest crowd in 1958 came on the 3rd of July against the Cardinals. 66,000 came to watch the game. The team finished 7th. Many of the stars from Brooklyn were getting older, and the dimensions were not great for any left-handed power hitter. Duke Snider’s power game was greatly influenced by that.

                       1959 would be a pennant and World Series winning year. Attendance reflected that as the Dodgers drew more than 2 million for the first time. All three World Series games drew more than 92,000. Setting a series record that most likely will never be broken. LA drew over 2 million again in 1960 but fell under that number their last year in the coliseum. Occasionally you would see a celebrity at the coliseum, but that changed when they moved into Dodger Stadium in 1962.

                     Attendance the first year at the new home of the Dodgers was 2,755,184, good enough to lead the majors. To reach that number, LA drew an average of 33,195 fans for each home game. And their total payroll that year for the players, 293,700$. The Yankees, who drew almost 1.5 million fans were a distant second. Celebrities started showing up regularly. Doris Day, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye were semi-regulars. In 1967, the Dodgers began hosting a special day when Hollywood stars would play prior to the scheduled game. Dean Martin and James Garner model the uniforms worn. 

                 Attendance dropped off slightly in 63, when the Dodgers would win their second championship in LA. They were still the only team in the league averaging more than 20,000 fans a game. The Giants, who finished with 1.5 + fans, averaged just 19,000. The crowds were mostly Caucasian at this time. White shirts during day games were a staple. That white shirted background caused Joe Pepitone to lose a ball in the crowd which led to a Dodger run in game 4 of the sweep over New York. 

             LA suffered another drop in attendance in 64 but still led the majors. The Dodgers led the majors in attendance 8 straight years, 59-66, when St. Louis had their first year drawing over 2 million. The fan base was pretty strong. Winning 4 pennants and 3 World Series helped a lot. But it would be 8 years, 1974, before they made it back to the big dance. It was 1973 before they led the majors in attendance again.

             In 1977, they fell just short of 3 million. 2,995,087. In 1978, they became the first team in major league history to draw 3 million or more, 3,347,845, averaging 41,331 fans a game. Another record. They went over 3 million again in 1980. But things were about to change. A young man from Mexico would burst on the scene in 1981. And even though the season was shortened due to a strike by the players, the Dodgers drew almost 2.4 million fans to their 56 home games. An average of more than 42,000 a game. Fernando Valenzuela single-handedly changed the dynamic of the teams’ fan base seemingly overnight. 

             When Fernando pitched at Dodger Stadium, it was once estimated that an extra 10,000 fans were in attendance, and many of those fans were Hispanics, who for the most part did not attend Dodger games in great numbers. That changed dramatically.  The O’Malley’s recognized that and used it to their advantage. Because of the demographic of the population immediately surrounding the stadium, they kept admission prices very reasonable and most importantly, family friendly. They wanted to present the Dodgers to the public as a family. 

             The face of the game was changing and changing a lot. The Dodgers looked for other ways to bring new fans to the ballpark. In 1994, they signed Korean pitcher, Chan Ho Park. Park was the first Asian born player to sign with LA. Since Los Angeles has a Korea Town, it brought new fans to the Stadium. It happened again in 1995 when they went out and signed Hideo Nomo. Nomo would win the ROY, the fourth of five in a row for LA. Now Japanese fans began to frequent the stadium more often.

              In 2009, a fan named Alex Soto, a season ticket holder in the left-field pavilion, asked a bunch of fans around him about taking a road trip up to San Francisco to see the Dodgers play the Giants. For about 4 years, that is all it was, a bunch of fans traveling north together. But in 2013, he and some friends decided to make it official. They wanted to name the group, but did not want anything that might be considered gang related. Soto was just about to give up after 3 months of trying to come up with a name.

            He realized he needed a new Dodger cap, since his was beat up pretty bad, and it just hit him, he went online and looked up the official color of the Dodgers. It turned out to be Pantone 294. The group talked it over, and that became their official name. Now the group makes several road trips a year. Most notable was their trip to New York last season. Many of the members are Hispanic, but anyone can join. Photo above, Pantone 294 at Yankee Stadium down the left field line. 

            The Dodgers after being sold by McCourt, realized they needed to bring another Hispanic star to town, so they traded for Adrian Gonzalez. Before he arrived, the last Hispanic star they had was Manny Ramirez, and that worked really well his first half year with the team as left field was turned into Mannywood. Since Guggenheim bought the team, they have led the Major Leagues in attendance every single year. 

             Only in 2021, did they draw less than 3.7 million fans. Dodger fans are if nothing else, very loyal, and over the last several seasons, extremely avid. Today if you go to the stadium, you will see all different kinds of fans. Celebrity’s still attend games. Larry King was a regular behind home plate prior to his passing. Mary Hart and her husband attend almost every game. Jacklyn Smith was a regular up until a couple of years ago. Prices are not so family friendly anymore, but that hasn’t stopped the die-hard fans from attending. 

          One thing that changed dramatically last season, was the number of Japanese fans in the crowd. With the signing of Ohtani and Yamamoto, and then the addition of Sasaki this year, bringing a genuine superstar into the fold, brought a huge influx of Japanese fans to Dodger Stadium. It is estimated that close to 80% of Japanese tourists who visit Los Angeles, come specifically to go see Ohtani play. The fan base is strong, the commitment by Guggenheim to field competitive and championship caliber teams is a huge reason for that strength.