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With the World Series underway, a guide to Brooklyn Dodgers history in NYC
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Oct 25, 2024
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By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Oct 25, 2024
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In a sense, there are two New York City teams in the World Series.
As the New York Yankees prepare to face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night, it’s clear that one team represents the Big Apple.
But long before the Yankees were formed in 1903, there was another New York City team: The Dodgers were Brooklyn’s darlings until 1958, when they moved to Los Angeles.
My 91-year-old grandfather, Kenny Frishberg, is still upset about losing “Dem Bums,” as the team was once fondly nicknamed.
“My love for the Brooklyn Dodgers started, I'm going to guess, in 1939 when I was 6 years old,” he told me recently. When they left, “I felt betrayed. Heartbroken.”
But nearly 70 years after Dem Bums last played in New York, relics and tributes to their time here still remain — if you know where to look.
Ebbets Field (Crown Heights)
The Brooklyn Dodgers’ legendary final home was completed in 1913 and demolished in 1960, shortly after the team went west and broke the borough’s heart.
In its place rose the Ebbets Field Apartments complex, a sprawling rental development that looms where there used to be a ballpark (and before the ballpark, a garbage dump named Pigtown).
There’s little to remind passersby of what once was at the Bedford Avenue address, except the name and, for those who know to look, two plaques. One, in the shape of a base, marks home plate, and the other simply states “This is the former site of Ebbets Field” beneath a baseball inscribed with the number 1962 — the year the apartments were completed.
The Old Stone House (Park Slope)
Before the Dodgers were even the Dodgers, this Brooklyn landmark in Washington Park in Park Slope served as their original clubhouse. At the very beginning of the team’s history in the late 19th century, the “Brooklyn Baseball Club” (as they were then known) were based out of the original 1699-built Old Stone House. It was destroyed in 1897, and the current replica of it was built in 1933. Starting in 1883, the Dodgers played in the adjacent Washington Baseball Park.
The Jackie Robinson Museum (SoHo)
April 15, 1947 is a historic day for the Brooklyn Dodgers and American history: It's the day Jackie Robinson first played on Ebbets Field and broke the color line in Major League Baseball.
That, among Robinson's many other superlative achievements, is commemorated at a Downtown Manhattan museum dedicated to his legacy, including his years as a Brooklyn Dodger. Opened in 2022, the Jackie Robinson Museum is located at 75 Varick St. It’s open Thursday through Sunday, and tickets start at $15. Children 5 and under can get in for free.
The Dodgers' former office (Brooklyn Heights)
From the 1930s until they defected to California, the Brooklyn Dodgers had an office at 215 Montague St.'s Mechanics Bank building in Brooklyn Heights. The building was demolished in 1958, shortly after the Dodgers played their first game in Los Angeles. The Brooklyn Savings Bank was erected in its place in 1962, and a plaque acknowledging the address's historic importance was added in the late 1990s. (It reads: “Where The Dodgers Made Baseball History And Jackie Robinson Changed America.”) The plaque was removed in 2019, but was later reinstalled after the Brooklyn Heights Association was alerted to the fact, Brownstoner reported.
Dodgers Triangle (Staten Island)
On Staten Island, a little spit of park quietly commemorates Hall of Fame Dodger (and later, Mets manager) Gil Hodges. The itty bitty green space — which contains "a tree and two shrubs" according to its devotedly detailed NYC Parks bio — is located on Dongan Avenue and Hodges Place. The cross street, however, is named for another Hodges from Staten Island. Still, the three-sided parklet is named Dodgers Triangle, in honor of the home run legend.
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new york city
brooklyn
history
Hannah Frishberg
Hannah Frishberg covers New York City arts and culture. Got a tip? Email Hannah at [email protected].
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