Brooklyn Says Good-Bye to the Dodgers and Ebbets Field!

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  “Scenes from Ebbets Field” Photo Gallery

Brooklyn Says Good-bye to Ebbets Field

“We are the Brooklyn Dodgers, not the Queens Dodgers!” –Walter O’Malley, to the New York City Commissioner, who wanted the next park built in Queens instead of in Brooklyn

Sixty-eight years ago this week, September 24, 1957, was a sad day in Dodger history. On that day Dodger fans had their hearts broken forever, as the Dodgers played their last game at historic Ebbets Field, their home since 1913. The featured photo above is a scene from Ebbets Field in the 1950s. 

The first game in Ebbets Field was actually an exhibition game between the Superbas and their crosstown rivals, the Yankees. It was played on April 5, 1913. The featured photo below is from that game with Ray Caldwell on the mound for the visiting New Yorkers.

The first regular season game was played four days later on Opening Day of the 1913 season, Wednesday, April 9. The game was between the Brooklyn Superbas, managed by Bill Dahlen and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, managed by Red Dooin, with Brooklyn losing 1-0. It’s estimated that over 4,500 games were played at Ebbets Field over the ensuing 44 years of its existence.

The Last Game

The last game resulted in a 2-0 win against the Pirates in front of just 6,700 fans. It was a night game and was played in a snappy 2:03. Danny McDevitt was the last pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers as he tossed a complete game with nine strikeouts while allowing only five hits. Long time Ebbets Field organist Gladys Goodding played ”Am I Blue?” ”Memories,” ”Don’t Ask Me Why I’m Leaving,” ”So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You” and, of course, ”Auld Lang Syne.”

The Dodgers finished their 68th and last National League season in Brooklyn in third place with an 84–70 record, eleven games behind the National League and World Series Champion Milwaukee Braves. During the season, the Dodgers played eight home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, as part of owner Walter O’Malley’s continued attempts to pressure Brooklyn to allow him to build a new stadium in Brooklyn, his preferred location.

Our “senior” readers will remember many of the names from that last game. The Dodger lineup featured Junior Gilliam leading off and playing second base, Gino Cimoli in center, Elmer Valo in right, Gil Hodges at third, Sandy Amoros in left, Jim Gentile at first, Roy Campanella catching, and Don Zimmer at short. Pee Wee Reese also entered the game at third. The Pirates lineup included such familiar names as Dick Groat, Bill Mazeroski, and Roberto Clemente. Bennie Daniels, making his first major league start, has the distinction of being the last opposing pitcher in Ebbets Field.

And what a nostalgia-inducing umpiring crew for that last game! Augie Donatelli at home, Vic Delamore at first, Vinnie Smith at second, Jocko Conlon (HOF) at third, and Ed Sudol in left field.

The vacant stadium survived until 1960, when it was torn down and apartment buildings – originally called Ebbets Field Apartments but later renamed Jackie Robinson Apartments – were built in its place. The new Citi Field, the ballpark for the New York Mets in Queens, features replicas of Ebbets exterior facade and entryway. The photo below gives a hint as to why the team was once known as the “Trolley Dodgers!”

Interesting tidbits about the Dodgers and Ebbets Field:

• Ebbets was also home to Negro league Brooklyn Eagles, numerous professional and collegiate football teams, soccer teams, and nearly 90 fight cards between 1915 and 1947.
• The first night game was played on June 15, 1938, the game in which Johnny Vander Meer of the Reds pitched his second consecutive no-hitter.
• In 1938, Hilda Chester, one of the first sports “super fans,” became a regular attendee at Ebbets Field after Dodgers president Larry MacPhail brought Ladies Day to Ebbets Field, welcoming women for only ten cents.
• After pennants in 1916 and 1920, the team slid into hard times for two decades until the arrival of MacPhail in 1938.
• Branch Rickey’s arrival in 1943 resulted in his historic signing of Jackie Robinson, who played his first game on April 15, 1947.
• Rickey’s baseball savvy produced results that made the Brooklyn Dodgers “Bums” a perennial contender through their exit to California after the 1957 season.
• In addition to pennants in 1916 and 1920, the “Boys of Summer” won pennants in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956. They won the 1955 World Series, their only World Series championship at Ebbets Field.

So today we gladly shine our baseball spotlight on one of the game’s great lost ball parks, historic Ebbets Field. 

Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: Most of the photos are from “The Brooklyn Dodgers Photographs of Barney Stein;” the others are from public domain

Information: Excerpts edited from the Ebbets Field Wikipedia page.

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Information: Excerpts edited from

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