Once a Navy and Marine flight training school, the land at 3901 26th St. in Vero Beach, Florida is hallowed ground for Dodger fans. Dodgertown became the team's spring training camp in 1948.
When not in use by the other Boys of Summer, Dodgertown was a camp for boys.
Dodgertown caught the attention of Life magazine in 1948 and became a featured cover story.
The media praised the Vero Beach locale for its quiet, clean and friendly community. Of Dodgertown, everything was described as high-quality and new. Jimmy Powers of the New York Daily News wrote, "The Dodgers have an excellent rookie camp in Vero Beach. The kitchen and equipment rooms are first class."
The players and other residents of Dodgertown didn't share these opinions. "Amenities? If we were lucky, they'd feed the spiders so they wouldn't be hungry at night and crawl all over us," remarked Duke Snider.
At times, hundreds of players called the grounds home, all dreaming of a future with the Dodgers. Players were split into several teams. The best players played on Field One, the nicest field on the facility.
If you were a fringe prospect and particularly unlucky, you might be stuck at Field Seven, furthest away from "civilization," through a swamp and bog, and home to no small number of water moccasins.
However, navigating this same swamp under the cover of night was necessary for almost all players. It was the solitary path to Lennie's, the closest bar to grab a drink. Getting caught meant a violation of curfew, which may have been a fate worse than the snakes.
