This day in Los Angeles Dodgers history saw the team become the first in MLB history to purchase their own aircraft for player travel on Jan. 4, 1957.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers, who were in Brooklyn at the time, purchased a Convair 440 two-engine airplane for more than $700,000, which had room for 44 passengers.<\/p>\n
Before the Dodgers bought their new team plane, they primarily used trains for transportation between cities. They also owned a 20-seat DC-3 given to them by Bud Holman, who was a director for the team in Brooklyn and L.A.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers owned the DC-3 from 1949-1957 but it was primarily used for transporting team executives from Vero Beach, Fla. \u2014 their Spring Training complex at the time<\/a> \u2014 to New York until they decided to experiment to see if flying was a viable form of transportation for an MLB club.<\/p>\n Harry Holman, the Dodgers\u2019 former pilot and son of Bud Holman, said O\u2019Malley tasked him with determining if the team should switch to airplanes, he told the Museum of Flying<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cIn 1954, Dodger executives came to me and said pick one of these (minor league) ballclubs and go see if you can fly one for a season. See if the airplane is dependable enough, if we can overcome the weather problems and all the obstacles to see if we can fly a ballclub all year. So, we picked out the St. Paul (MN.) ballclub in the American Association. I flew them all that summer. We made all the games. We didn\u2019t have any problems \u2014 no breakdowns, no mechanicals and no weather issues.<\/p>\n From there, the O\u2019Malley decided it was time to upgrade and purchased the Convair 440 new from the factory and made Holman the first team pilot.<\/p>\n On this day in 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers purchased a 44-passenger plane to fly the club during the season. They were the first Major League team to own their own plane. pic.twitter.com\/f5QbC8eEVz<\/a><\/p>\n