1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: This is the business of sports where in the situation 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: that we haven't dealt with in modern times, pandemic here 3 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,479 Speaker 1: has really accelerated the investments that we've been advocating for 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: for years. From a macro standpoint, I think our sport 5 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: industry is really forced to look at the business a 6 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,639 Speaker 1: little bit differently. In depth conversations with the leaders in 7 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,759 Speaker 1: the sports industry. Who wants to be the sacrificial lambs 8 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: that shows up at the first big major sporting event, 9 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: a part of something much bigger than the sports right now, 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: and the health and sastry of our stakeholders that books 11 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 1: much important every moment. I think we're all from the 12 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: business respective thinking about the impact that the virus is 13 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: having a across the country. In Bloomberg Business of Sports 14 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Radio, Hello, I'm Jason Kelly, and I'm Mike 15 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,480 Speaker 1: Lynch and I'm Michael bar And this is the Bloomberg 16 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: Business of Sports podcast, where we explore the big money 17 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: issues in the world of sports today. We have a 18 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: special guest joining us, Eric Nesbaum. Eric is a writer 19 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: and former editor Advice and he's also the author of 20 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: Stealing Home Los Angeles, The Dodgers, and the lives Caught 21 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: in Between a great book and l a native himself. 22 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: Eric tells the story of the Mexican American communities uprooted 23 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: by the construction of Dodger Stadium. Eric, thank you for 24 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: joining us, Thank you for having me. I appreciate it 25 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: all right. So I am the guilty party here because 26 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:21,679 Speaker 1: I read this book and just couldn't get enough of it. 27 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: I read it cover to cover on vacation and how 28 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: do our guys reach out to? Eric? So really glad 29 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: to have you here, I have to say, Eric, I 30 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: started the book and I sort of thought it was 31 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: gonna be one thing, and I thought it was going 32 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 1: to be sort of a small story. It is a big, 33 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: sprawling story in many ways, a complicated one. You draw 34 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: out some amazing characters. I guess I would start by 35 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: asking you, what is the core story here of stealing home? Sure? 36 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: So the core story is stealing home? To me? Is 37 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: I mean, if you want to put it at a 38 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: very simple, most basic level, it's how Los Angeles got 39 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: Dodger Stadium. But that's kind of misleading, and I think 40 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: it maybe gives the wrong impression. So really the book 41 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: is about It's about a family, that immigrates from Mexico 42 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: to the United States and they end up buying a 43 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,519 Speaker 1: plot of land in Los Angeles pretty close to downtown. UH. 44 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: And over decades and they build a house, have a family, 45 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: and it's the story about how they kind of are 46 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: thrown up against the rocks of history. Their home is 47 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: slated to be part of a massive public housing project, 48 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: so their their neighborhood gets ruled a quote unquote slum, 49 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,119 Speaker 1: and I mean that in the legal sense by sort 50 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: of progressive pro housing urban renewal politicians in Los Angeles 51 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: in the forties. And then before the public housing project 52 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: can get built and before they actually leave their home, 53 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: the red Scare comes into play, and sort of devious 54 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: private development advocates in l A use the red Scare 55 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: to end the public housing program, and in that process 56 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: they ruined a bunch of other lives and they're this 57 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: land is left mostly empty except for a few families 58 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: like this one family. They edgy guys that I write about, UH. 59 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: And it's the story about their their fight to preserve 60 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: their home as they're kind of swayed by all these 61 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:24,959 Speaker 1: great forces in America. This story made me think there 62 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: was a lady who everybody else gave up their their 63 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: land except one lady who had her house. Uh and 64 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: I forgot exactly where, because they wanted to build a freeway, 65 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: but she wouldn't give up the house. So what they 66 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: wound up doing is building the freeway on top of 67 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: her around the house. And this story made me think 68 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: of this because this is a fight against people trying 69 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: to protect their land. Uh something it works well and 70 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: sometimes it does not. Can you take us more about 71 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: this family and the battle that they faced. Yeah, absolutely so. 72 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: So the neighborhood they lived in was called Beloved and 73 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: it was one of three communities that was in l 74 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: a Um in these hills north of downtown. There was 75 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: a main one. There was also Valoma and Bishop and 76 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: so these were sort of you know, working class communities 77 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: you could say, you know, some of them were pretty rough, 78 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: some and them were really nice, you know, with beautiful 79 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: houses and cars, and they were always a little bit 80 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: ignored by the city. And when um, when the city 81 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: decided to put public housing basically to remove these cities, 82 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: to raise them and to build a massive public housing 83 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: project there in the late forties, the communities resisted, and 84 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: that resistance was not completely unified, like I never Some 85 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: people were like, well, we'll sell out, We'll give up 86 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: our homes, and other people said, we're never leaving. Uh. 87 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: The matriarch whose sounds like the woman you were talking 88 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: about and and my book I'm stilling Home Avanna refused 89 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: to leave. You know, she had buried a son there, 90 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: she had raised grandchildren there. It was her home and 91 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: she had worked very hard for it. So it becomes 92 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 1: this sort of private first public battle. Right is it 93 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: is it fair for the public to say you're not 94 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: living right, We're taking your home to somebody else comes here? Um. 95 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: And then it becomes a sort of private private thing 96 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: where the Blend had returned to the city and the 97 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: city wanted to make a baseball stadium. And it's not 98 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: very fair in my opinion, It's not even really that 99 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: questionably fair to kick out families to build a ballpark. 100 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: But that's ultimately when it ended up happening, and the battle, 101 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: I mean, it was really complicated, and it thence and 102 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: lots of legal twists and turns, but it sort of 103 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: trace as the city's priorities shifting from the forties to 104 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: the fifties, and ultimately it's a story that reveals a 105 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: lot of who has power in Los Angeles and unfortunately, unfortunately, 106 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,239 Speaker 1: depending on your point of view, the people with power 107 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: are the people in city hall or the people who 108 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: are you know, funding the campaigns with the people in 109 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: city hall. Eric, This is Mike lynch Up in Boston. 110 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,600 Speaker 1: Congratulations on the book. By the way, um, I just 111 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: want to read the first Paragraph's very brief. Anybody that's 112 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: considering buying this book is going to run out and 113 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: buy it when I just read these three or four 114 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: sentences right here. And here's how it starts. On May nine, 115 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: a Brenna Richie got stood in the entryway of her 116 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: home as Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies broke down her door. 117 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: This was the end. She watched as strange, silent men 118 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: loaded her furniture onto waiting trucks. She wailed as deputies 119 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: carried her adult daughter by the wrists and ankles down 120 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: the front stairs. Outside, she bent and picked up a rock, 121 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 1: feeling the weight of it in her hand. Finally, she 122 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: sat helpless as a bulldozer plowed into her living room. Now, 123 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: when I read that there were key there were tears 124 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: on my keyboard and on my notebook and fum me 125 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,679 Speaker 1: right here, how did you continue writing this book after 126 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: that opening paragraph which just gripped me? And he's going 127 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: to grip every single reader who buys this book. Thank you? Um, 128 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: you know it was. This book has meant a lot 129 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: to me for a lot of years. I I think 130 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: I've been wanting to write it since I was eighteen. 131 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: I I feel really strongly about the story. And as 132 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: I was researching it and writing it and I got 133 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: to know Aboutanda's family, you know, her grandchildren, great grandchildren, cousins, 134 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: I became even more convinced that it was it was 135 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: just a crucial, vital story, and that she was a 136 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: person who, you know, people should get to know. I 137 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: think there's a lot of people who get you know, 138 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: attention as American heroes, as sort of iconic figures in 139 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: our culture, and there's a lot of people who lived 140 00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: lives that are worthy of that who never get never 141 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: get written about. Um no, this is not my story. 142 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: I was not from this community, but I found it 143 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: to be so compelling and I found myself wrapped up 144 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: in it emotionally and personally. Um, what's crazy is that 145 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: that you know, that's scene is sort of the end 146 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: of the bookcase towards the end, it's well, it's the prologue, 147 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: but the book flashes back and you start off and 148 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: you re re arrive at that point where sheriff's deputies 149 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: are are forcibly evicting her family, and that happened on 150 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: live television, and I was just so curious about what 151 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 1: it was about her and her husband done well and 152 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: their children that made them so willing to fight. You know, 153 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: a lot of neighbors are theirs sold their homes, A 154 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 1: lot of neighbors are there, sold their homes under duress, 155 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: but almost none of them were violently evicted. And why 156 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: why was it that they had that just need to 157 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: see it through to the end. And even after that 158 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: day when they were forcibly evicted from their home, stayed 159 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: in camped at the site of their home amongst the rubble. 160 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: So you get a sense of that the people are 161 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: and Eric, you know what's so interesting too, And I 162 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: think for anybody who reads this book, and this was 163 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: the case for me, is you go in, you know, 164 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: understanding that ultimately it is going to be about baseball, 165 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,199 Speaker 1: and it's going to be about a team that many 166 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: of us know many of his have followed, and um, 167 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: you know, many of us have been fortunate to be 168 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: at Dodger Stadium. I actually went for the first time 169 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: just a couple of summers ago with my sons, and 170 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 1: it is, i think you would agree, a pretty magical 171 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,479 Speaker 1: place in many ways, and the way it was constructed, 172 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 1: you know, and the way that it is built on 173 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: the land that you so well described and that you 174 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: just described you know, who was living on it. This 175 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: is also a story of a team and of a 176 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: city and sort of how they came together. Uh, tell 177 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: us about that part of it, because, as you pointed 178 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: out earlier in the conversation, the use of the lancer 179 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: that takes a turn, and we'll set that aside for 180 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: a second, because there's another great character who's deeply involved. 181 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: But the move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles is a 182 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: huge part of this and is a huge part of 183 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: the story of Los Angeles too. It is so I've 184 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: read a lot of books, probably all of them about 185 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,560 Speaker 1: the Dodgers and moved to l A and almost all 186 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: of them are written from the perspective of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Um, 187 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: and I understand that it was a traumatic thing for 188 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: the Dodgers to leave Brooklyn, and there's a whole literature 189 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,319 Speaker 1: of people, you know, really sad about that. There's a 190 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: famous jokes about Walter O'Malley the owner being you know, 191 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: horse and Hitler and Stalin. There's a whole sort of 192 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: genre of Brooklyn Dodgers nostalgia. But I always felt like 193 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: it was weird that this story never talked about l A, 194 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:53,839 Speaker 1: where they moved, and why they went to l A, 195 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,199 Speaker 1: and what the consequences were in my hometown. Um, perhaps 196 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: I'm a little biased. Uh So, l A in the 197 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:07,079 Speaker 1: fifties was a huge, booming city at that time. Already 198 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: it was by then the third largest city in the 199 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: States after Chicago, New York, and the city had, as 200 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: it probably still does, a little bit of a chip 201 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 1: on its shoulder in terms of how it's portrayed in 202 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: the East Coast and perceived by the world. And a 203 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 1: lot of l A leaders really wanted Major League Baseball. 204 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: They felt, and this was the fifties, rights of baseball 205 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,839 Speaker 1: was still by far the biggest sport, you know. They 206 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: felt like if l A had a major League team, 207 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: it would be a big league city. That was even 208 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: the language they used you know, we need to show 209 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: that we're a big league city, as if it wasn't already. 210 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: So you had all these civic leaders really really pushing 211 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: to get major league baseball. And this had started in 212 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: the forties and even earlier. But there's this sort of 213 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: ongoing effort and these all these failed attempts to recruit, 214 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: to recruit clubs, you know, um St. Louis Brown's Washington Senators. 215 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: But there's also a sense that l A doesn't want 216 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: a lousy Washington Senators. They want a great team. So 217 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: they started in the early fifties as Walter Romelle in 218 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: Brooklyn is having problems trying to trying to replace Abbitts Fields, 219 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:16,839 Speaker 1: bringing his ear come to l A, Come to l A. 220 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 1: And it's this sort of courtship that feels very one sided, 221 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,840 Speaker 1: like like it's a shot in the dark, until O'Malley 222 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: reaches a point where he's realizing that he's not gonna 223 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: sort of outwit Robert Moses, the big power broker in Brooklyn, 224 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: and he sort of jumped ship, and it all happened 225 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: slowly and then very fast. I want to go back 226 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: to something that Mike said earlier. We're talking and I 227 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: read that same passage that Mike brought up earlier in 228 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:50,320 Speaker 1: this conversation, and what really rattles my cage is that 229 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: it shows, for lack of a better term, the racial 230 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: injustice uh that had taken place through this And like 231 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: you said, ebbotts Field here in New York, Yeah, people 232 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,319 Speaker 1: got the one side of ebbotts Field, but nobody was 233 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 1: getting the other side of what was happening in Los 234 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:12,640 Speaker 1: Angeles and what was happening to these families. Can you 235 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: expand more on that, especially now in a time where 236 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:22,199 Speaker 1: we have racial strife that's going on today. Sure, So 237 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 1: I think it's important to zoom out a little bit 238 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: more and talk about sort of the history of these communities. 239 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: So the community is where Doctor Stadium now sits existed 240 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: because of redlining and racism. In the first place, there 241 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: were a place where if you were Mexican American, if 242 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: you're a person of color, you could buy a house, 243 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 1: you could buy land, you could rent. It was a 244 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: place where you could pretty much live unbothered, relatively in 245 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 1: part because the city was going to ignore you. These 246 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: were parts of l a that were really underserved. They 247 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: did not have public services that they needed, and that 248 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:59,199 Speaker 1: was not because they didn't want them. You know, the 249 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: theseighborhood has had to fight at city hall to get 250 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: a bus line, you know, into their neighborhood. They had 251 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 1: to fight to get paved streets in some places. They 252 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: had to fight to get street lights in some places. Um. 253 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,200 Speaker 1: So it was the part of the city that even 254 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: though the houses we're fine and belevated it, um the 255 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: infrastructure around them was not. And that was because of racism. 256 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: L A was an extremely racist city in the first 257 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: half the twentieth century and deeven today. But then it 258 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: was I mean just really, really veherently conservative and racist. 259 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: I can't say that enough. So when you have these 260 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: progressives coming to build public housing, especially after World War Two, 261 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: but also a little bit before, they're looking at things, 262 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: even if they are well intentioned from a white sort 263 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: of white savior perspective. We we see the lack of 264 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: housing in l A, they might say, and that we 265 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: have a solution for it, and that's to build public 266 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: housing and sort of funnel poor people, people of color 267 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: into a certain way to live. And there was a 268 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: big sense that, you know, great architects and great planners 269 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: could sort of guide the perfect city life. UM, with 270 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: no regard for what people who were living in those 271 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: communities who are being evicted really wanted or what they 272 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: already had. It was a very UM what I'm looking for. 273 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: They didn't appreciate the resources that were already in front 274 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: of them. So so that was even you know, people 275 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: who would have been considered progressive at the time, you 276 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: know it was it was pretty racist. And then later 277 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: on when you have this fight over the land, it's 278 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: just it's you can go back to the old newspaper articles. 279 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: You can look at the language that was used by 280 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: by members of the CEA Hall. There's no way that 281 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 1: the addeducate family would have been treated a way if 282 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: they are white. And there's no way that this would 283 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: have happened at all if they were white, because their 284 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: land never would have been taken to build a public 285 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: happening project. Eric Is Michael just said that that the 286 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: timing is right for this book, certainly with the racial 287 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: injustice climate in this country today. UM, is there any 288 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 1: chance for any reparations Dodger apology, UM, it's city apology, 289 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: county apology for what happened more than sixty years ago. UM. 290 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: I'd like that you mentioned city and county apology too. 291 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, so far the Dodgers in 292 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: the city in the county have not proven to be 293 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: interested in acknowledging what happened. Um, this was definitely not 294 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: just the Dodgers coming in and taking out communities. It's 295 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: important to say that they were complicit and they eventually 296 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: took the land. And I think they inherited a lot 297 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: of the responsibility when they when they bought that land 298 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: and built that stadium. But you know, this was an 299 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: injustice that was decades in the making, pozzible centuries. So 300 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:07,480 Speaker 1: I think there should be a possibility of I don't 301 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 1: know about reparations that there should be. There should be 302 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 1: at the very least. And it's first of all, it's 303 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: not my place to say it's the descendants of those communities. 304 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 1: They're the people who have to decide, and there's there's 305 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 1: groups of them who are I think having those conversations 306 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: right now. There's one group called Buried under the Blue 307 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,439 Speaker 1: um and one of the founders of that group is 308 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: the great granddaughter of a Banana yea. So it's really 309 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: it's really on them and it's up to them. But 310 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: I would love to see the doctors in the city, 311 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: in the county make amends, begin the process of acknowledging 312 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: what happened. Even just a mirror acknowledgement would be a 313 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: huge step forward. Right now, the Dodgers don't talk about it, 314 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,239 Speaker 1: the city doesn't talk about it, the county doesn't talk 315 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: about it, which is crazy because it's something that happened 316 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: not that long ago at perhaps to move the iconic 317 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:56,119 Speaker 1: place in Los Angeles, it is incredible and and to 318 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: think about, you know, what the Dodgers have become in 319 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:03,399 Speaker 1: many ways, and what an iconic team they are to 320 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: to think about and and to really understand this history, Eric, 321 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: I do wonder just sort of on that note, as 322 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: we think about the Dodgers and sports in Los Angeles, 323 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: you know this better than we do. Uh, sports and 324 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,640 Speaker 1: professional sports and to some extent college sports, but especially 325 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: professional sports have become so woven into the recent history 326 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:31,920 Speaker 1: of the city. You understand sports and cities more holistically 327 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: that than most. What does sports ultimately mean? What do 328 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: teams like the Dodgers ultimately mean to Los Angeles? Because 329 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: this is really a book ultimately about a place in 330 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: many ways, Yeah, I mean sports mean a lot. You know, 331 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:46,040 Speaker 1: I think one of those things the book Traces is 332 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: right is how how meaningful baseball became. And I'd go 333 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 1: back to Admi double Day and and this is his 334 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: founding baseball. And we give a lot of meanings sports. 335 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: Sports are collective activities. Sports are a place where we 336 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: come together. I love sports, obviously, you know. I think 337 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: that they're extremely powerful. And I also think it's okay 338 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: to be critical of our sports institutions when they're not 339 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: reflecting the values we want them to. I don't think 340 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,119 Speaker 1: we need to be critical only as armchair gms. I 341 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 1: think we can think about the team in a more 342 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 1: holistic way, the same way we are critical of our politicians. Um, 343 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 1: we can we can love something like sports and also 344 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:34,399 Speaker 1: be willing to say that's not right. Or let's reflect 345 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: on this a little bit. At the very least, let's 346 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 1: think about what we're supporting here. The Dodgers in l A, 347 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: the Lakers in l A. I mean, these these are 348 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: just huge fundamental parts of the city, you know. There 349 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:52,919 Speaker 1: their institutions that bring people together, their institutions that that, 350 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 1: in my opinion, do a lot for the city. But 351 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:58,959 Speaker 1: I think that also gives them great responsibility and an 352 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:05,160 Speaker 1: obligation to be, you know, good corporate citizens. I'm an 353 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:09,920 Speaker 1: old geezer newsman who got his start back in Detroit, 354 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: and I bring it up because there was a story 355 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,400 Speaker 1: out of Detroit and I covered it in ham Tramic, 356 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: which is an enclave of Detroit, where they were going 357 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:23,200 Speaker 1: to build an auto plant with those two words eminent domain, 358 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 1: and they were going to take away some houses to 359 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,679 Speaker 1: build this plant. And I remember thinking of myself. I 360 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,359 Speaker 1: was angry. Then these poor people had their house and 361 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,119 Speaker 1: they were all set and they thought life was good, 362 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 1: and then wow, it's taken away, and it's just like 363 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: this family today. If you're going to build a new stadium, Uh, 364 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: there's no way in Westell this would happen because back 365 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: then you didn't have social media. And yes you had 366 00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 1: television and you had newspapers coverage, but you didn't have 367 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: the social media and the immediacy that you have today. 368 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: Take us through that, because there's no way in the 369 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: world that's would happen today. This was such a specific 370 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: situation right where we had a community to get pretty 371 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 1: much raised to make way for public housing. And I 372 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 1: didn't talk about that too much. So there the book 373 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,960 Speaker 1: also centers around a public housing advocate named Frank Wilkinson. 374 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: And Frank was the number two guys in the l 375 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: A Housing Authority. He was an idealist and he was 376 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: also a member of the Communist Party, and he was 377 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 1: outed as such at a an eminent domain hearing in 378 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: and that was really what sort of killed the project 379 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: and where the kind of tailspin began. And this land 380 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,720 Speaker 1: that had been confiscated by the city with eminent domain 381 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: to build a public good, arguably but certainly publicly owned good, 382 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:58,359 Speaker 1: and this housing project um sort of sat in limbo 383 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:02,160 Speaker 1: after after Frank was address a communist and the project 384 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: was killed, and when the city stoled it to Walter O'Malley, 385 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: and it was a pretty plumb deal for O'Malley, there 386 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,960 Speaker 1: was a huge outcry saying, wait a minute, you can't 387 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: take land with eminent domain and then give it to 388 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: a private enterprise. It was legally questionable, and it was 389 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: popularly questionable to people. People weren't happy about it, even 390 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,800 Speaker 1: doctor fans in l A, to the point where it 391 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 1: almost went to the US Supreme Court, and to the 392 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 1: point where the city had to vote on it. And 393 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: right after the doctors came to town. Despite all the 394 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 1: resources that baseball had, all the popularity of baseball. It 395 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: was a very close election it was for the deal 396 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: to go forward. So there was a possibility even then 397 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: that Dodger Stadium wouldn't have happened because of the unpopularity 398 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: of eminent domain, even in an era without social media, 399 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,880 Speaker 1: even in an arrow and you know, the people who 400 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:10,360 Speaker 1: are mostly being affected were poor people of color. Eric Um, 401 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: if if I'm correct, the Eric Jagas family house, many 402 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: other houses and even an elementary school are buried underneath 403 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,439 Speaker 1: parking lots and Dodger Stadium. And I'm thinking I've been 404 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,360 Speaker 1: there many many times. I was there for the World 405 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 1: Series with the Red Sox a couple of years ago. 406 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: Now I'm thinking back, I feel like I was being disrespectful, 407 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: almost walking across someone's grave. Is this true, that that 408 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 1: that that their home and an elementary school is under 409 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 1: the parking lot. I don't think there's any homes under 410 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 1: the parking lot, but the elementary school is certainly there. 411 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 1: They took off the roof under center field, but the 412 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 1: school was and filled it up in dirt. It's pretty 413 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: pretty remarkable there. There are a lot of people who 414 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: would say that that Dodger Stadium is sort of great 415 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,920 Speaker 1: for their communities. There's no question, you know, and that's 416 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: not something that everybody agrees on. Some them of them. 417 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: Those families have been some Dodger fans over the years 418 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: and they've made their peace with the team. Um, there's 419 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:11,119 Speaker 1: not one answer. But there's certainly other people who wouldn't 420 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: want to hear the word Dodgers, and it's people who 421 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 1: wouldn't want to go to the ballpark or go near it. 422 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: And there's people who consider the whole thing, you know, 423 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 1: an insult to their families and to their communities. Well, 424 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 1: congratulations on the book. It is really a terrific read 425 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: and highly recommended. It is, as we have discussed amazingly 426 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,359 Speaker 1: timely as well, because it really delves into the complicated issues. 427 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: And Eric, I loved what you said about the way 428 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,639 Speaker 1: we view our sports teams because obviously, in this entire 429 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,159 Speaker 1: series of conversations that we have on this show, we 430 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 1: talk a lot about sports and we try and do 431 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,280 Speaker 1: move past the the armchair gm NG and get into 432 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:55,400 Speaker 1: some of the economic and and UH and issues that 433 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,120 Speaker 1: delve into to the social UH. And certainly we've been 434 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 1: doing that a lot more over the past few months, 435 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: So congratulations again. The book, pick it up. It's called 436 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: Stealing Home Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the lives caught 437 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: in between. This was a bit of an emotional one. 438 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: Here for this Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, I'm Michael Barr, 439 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: along with Mike Lynch and Jason Kelly, and we're here 440 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: each and every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday exploring the world 441 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: of money in sports. Join us. At the end of 442 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,360 Speaker 1: the week, we're going to speak with Washington Football Team 443 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: president Jason Wright. He's a former NFL player, former partner 444 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: at Mackenzie and Company. He's the league's first black team president. 445 00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:33,960 Speaker 1: He's got a big job. You're listening to Bloomberg Business 446 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: of Sports on Bloomberg Radio around the world and online 447 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:38,679 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.