In the 1950s, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the Los Angeles Dodgers as the team made its significant move to the West Coast in 1958. Despite the change in location, the Dodgers conquered the National League, winning five National League pennants (1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1959) and World Championships in 1955 and 1959. In eight of the 10 years, the Los Angeles Dodgers never finished lower than second place while winning 913 games, the most wins in a decade in Los Angeles Dodgers history. As the decade started, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a new president, Walter O'Malley, who was originally appointed as the club's attorney in 1941. In October of 1950, O'Malley became president and chief stockholder of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a position he would hold for 20 years.

O'Malley saw his team take back-to-back pennants in 1952 and 1953 beneath Manager Charlie Dressen. In 1953, the Dodgers won a club record 105 games with the well-known "Boys of Summer," including Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo, Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, Jim Gilliam, Duke Snider, Preacher Roe and Clem Labine. Walter Alston became manager in 1954 and guided the Los Angeles Dodgers for 23 seasons, putting together a huge list of achievements: 2,042 wins, four World Championships, seven N.L. pennants, nine All-Star appearances and a Hall of Fame induction in 1983. In 1955, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Yankees and won their first-ever World Championship in a seven-game World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers took Game 7 at Yankee Stadium as Series MVP Johnny Podres shut out the Yankees, 2-0. The Los Angeles Dodgers repeated as National League champions in 1956 and once again faced the Yankees. In another heart-stopping World Series, the Yankees prevailed in seven games.

Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Don Newcombe made baseball history in 1956 when he became the primary player to win Cy Young and MVP awards in the same season. As the 1957 season rolled around, the Los Angeles Dodgers team on the field was overshadowed by the publicity of the team's possible move to the West Coast. Since the early part of the decade, O'Malley had wanted to build a more modern arena for his ballclub in Brooklyn. New York officials were not capable to come up with a suitable site.

On October 8, 1957, O'Malley announced that after 68 seasons in Brooklyn, the Los Angeles Dodgers would be moving to Los Angeles. In a move to bring baseball to all parts of the country, the Giants also decided to relocate from New York to San Francisco. On April 18, 1958, the Los Angeles Dodgers played their first game in Los Angeles, defeating the Giants, 6-5, before 78,672 fans at the Coliseum.

In their final season of the decade, the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team in transition, finished in a first-place tie with the Milwaukee Braves. Two days later, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the N.L. pennant as they swept the Braves in a best-of-three playoff. The Dodgers then faced the Chicago White Sox in their fifth World Series of the 1950s. Using timely hitting and outstanding pitching, the Los Angeles Dodgers brought their first championship to Los Angeles and beat the Sox in six games. Larry Sherry was striking, winning two games and saving two, earning MVP honors. Charlie Neal and Chuck Essegian had two home runs apiece.