LOS ANGELES -- Peter O'Malley will accompany his sister, Terry Seidler, when she throws out the first pitch before Tuesday's Dodgers home opener in a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium, built by their father and christened when their mother threw out the first pitch April 10, 1962.

"It is very nice of Frank McCourt," said O'Malley, who, with his sister, ran the club, but more recently was critical of McCourt's leadership, then attempted to buy the club from the outgoing owner.

O'Malley said the anticipation of the ballpark's birthday is reminiscent of the anticipation leading up to its opening.

"If you go back 10 to 12 years before the club left New York, Dad tried to build a stadium on Flatbush," O'Malley said. "Then there was the anticipation of the move west, arriving here, the referendum and lawsuits that went all the way to the state Supreme Court. Finally, the groundbreaking and the construction, and Dad went to the site every day.

"There was so much controversy. People said, 'He'll put a bowling alley up there or a car wash.' He took the criticism so well. I remember talking in the car and he said, 'Don't worry, it will get good reviews.' He was an engineer and he could read the plans and could picture in his mind how it would look. And when it opened, it was like, wow."

O'Malley recalled that Opening Day.

"We got there early and Dad asked Mother to throw out the first pitch from behind the dugout," he said. "We walked down from the club level and stood next to the dugout and she threw the ball to (catcher John) Roseboro and we walked back up to the club level. We got our exercise that day. I remember everybody being so happy. Our family, of course, but the fans and the players, too.

"The day it opened was a beautiful day. This has been nostalgic, reflecting on the memories going all the way back to Brooklyn."