Well before the Los Angeles Dodgers started making their Spring Training home at Camelback Ranch in February 2009, they were entrenched at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla., for more than six decades.
This day in Dodgers history saw their first Spring Training game played at Holman Stadium when it opened on March 11, 1953. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the then-Philadelphia Athletics, 4-2.
The game was started by Carl Erskine, who famously returned to Dodgertown 55 years later to play the national anthem on his harmonica.
Erskine went 122-78 with a 4.00 ERA over 12 seasons with the Dodgers organization, which included pitching for the Los Angeles franchise in 1958 and 1959.