April 16, 1958
By Keith Thursby
Times Staff Writer
After all the months of planning,
negotiations and expectations, the Dodgers played their first game on the West
Coast and were shut out in San
Francisco, 8-0.
Frank Finch, reporting for The Times,
might have been a little rough on Los
Angeles’ new team. Here’s how he started his game
story:
California’s
long-awaited entry into big league baseball became a reality today, but it was
a colossal flop if you happened to be a Los
Angeles rooter.
At
least Giants fans hadn’t started chanting “Beat L.A.” yet.
The New York Times took a different
approach, given their place on the other coast. One headline: Giants Beat Dodgers in Coast Debut; Games
Everywhere But Here
Some familiar names played big parts
in the opening game. Don Drysdale started for the Dodgers but was replaced in
the fourth inning. Willie Mays drove in a couple runs and Orlando Cepeda hit a
home run.
Below, an old-fashioned lunatic–really crazy–is on trial in the killing of his ex-wife, who used to sleep with a knife under her pillow. He uses the “everything went black” defense … The Police Board appoints a committee to study scam artists who specialize in the occult: “slate writers, trance mediums,” etc. … Quong Wai, who is fighting a deportation order, says he is an American born in San Francisco. He says immigration officers arrested him at a streetcar station without reason. 
