The Brooklyn Dodgers were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) team to own their own plane for team travel, marking a major milestone in both baseball and aviation history. This move earned them the distinction of being the first MLB team airplane owners, ushering in a new era of sports travel.
But the honor of being the first team to fly to a game belongs to the Cincinnati Reds. On 8 June 1934, 19 Reds players boarded two American Airlines–chartered Ford Tri-Motors, while six teammates chose to travel by train. Reds General Manager Larry McPhail believed flying would give the team more time to rest between games.
Soon after, teams like the New York Yankees began chartering planes more frequently throughout the season. But it was the Dodgers who took the next leap by acquiring their own aircraft, becoming the first true MLB team airplane operators.
Fly Me Out to the Ball Game
In the 1940s, trains were the primary method of transportation for teams. However, Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey had his own Beechcraft, which seated five. Rickey had a business partner named Bud Holman, who worked at Eastern Airlines from Vero Beach, Florida. The two would fly between New York and Florida in the Beechcraft.
In 1948, the Dodgers were considered an elite team. However, they had 84 wins and 70 losses, a 10-win setback from the previous year, and lost the National League pennant to the 91-win Boston Braves. There was no playoff tournament at the time, and the American and National League leaders met at the World Series.
Brooklyn Dodgers Owner Walter O’Malley became interested in purchasing a plane for the team. He met with Holman about the possibility of buying a plane. Holman offered O’Malley a used Douglas DC-3 for free that O’Malley claimed he ‘won in a crap game.’ O’Malley quickly accepted the deal, only having to pay for new engines for the aircraft.
Thus, the DC-3 became the very first MLB team airplane in history.
The ‘Bump’ Brooklyn Needed
The Dodgers’ DC-3 had 20 seats, so with a 40-player roster, each trip required two flights. Despite the logistical challenge, this MLB team airplane strategy paid off. The team saw more wins and greater flexibility in scheduling—even if they didn’t always clinch the pennant.
In 1949, they won 97 games and lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series. The following year, the Dodgers won 89 games, two shy of winning the National League pennant. In 1951, the Dodgers tied the New York Giants for the best record but lost in a best-of-three series to advance to the World Series. 1952 saw the Dodgers return to the World Series with 86 wins but came up short to the Yankees in seven games.
During this time, the Dodgers employed several former Eastern Airlines pilots to fly the team.
In 1953, however, Holman’s son, Harry, also known as ‘Bump,’ graduated from Florida Southern College. Bump became the Dodgers’ chief pilot at the age of 21. As a teenager, Bump was flying crop dusters and later co-piloted during commercial flights at 18.
Bump went on to fly the Dodgers for 11 seasons, in which they won the World Series in 1955, 1959, and 1963.
The Dodgers also upgraded their plane to a Convair 440 in 1957.
O’Malley would become good friends with Eastern Airlines president and World War I pilot Eddie Rickenbacker. Rickenbacker ordered the 440 as part of a 20-plane bundle for the airline to save money on the plane. Rickenbacker then sold the 440 to the Dodgers for only $700,000.
The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles the following year.
The Holmans After Baseball
In 1964, Bud Holman passed away from a heart attack. The tragedy prompted Bump to leave the Dodgers to take over his father’s business ventures. The Dodgers won an additional championship the following year.
Bump would later become a Quiet Birdmen member, a Seacoast Bank director, and the CEO of Sun Aviation. On 17 January 2021, he passed away under hospice care in Vero Beach at the age of 89.
Credit: avgeekery.com
