Friday, April 12, 2024- THE DAYS OF THE BROOKLYN TEAMS…
APRIL 12, 2024
OPENING DAY
AT EBBETS FIELD
ISSUE # 1219
NEW YORK ALMANACK
Opening Day at Ebbets Field: Making Baseball History in Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a historic place, but a special history-making event took place on April 5, of 1913: Opening Day at Ebbets Field.
By the end of the 19th century, baseball had become a very popular sport in New York State as well as elsewhere in the nation. There were organized amateur or semi-professional teams in just about every New York city. Thousands of people attended games. Big cities had professional teams.
The New York Giants traced their origins to 1883, the Yankees to 1903. Brooklyn, an independent city until it merged with the city of New York in 1898, had its own team, organized in 1883, which had gone by various names, and in the early 20th century was called the Superbas.
Charles Ebbets, team owner, believed that an outstanding team deserved an exceptional field. In 1913, he opened Ebbets Field, at the time one of the most modern and largest in the nation.
It was the pride of Brooklyn. The Superbas debuted in their new home on April 5, 1913, beating their cross-town rivals, the Yankees, in an exhibition game before a cheering crowd of about 30,000 people.
The Superbas soon changed their name to the Dodgers, which became one of the most famous teams in history. The Dodgers were beloved in Brooklyn but also a source of pride in the rest of the city. Ebbets Field was one of the best-known baseball venues in the nation.
The spacious new stadium was filled to capacity for home games for many years. But interest began to wane and attendance fell off in the 1950s. The Dodgers left Brooklyn and moved to Los Angeles in 1958 and Ebbets Field was torn down two years later to make way for apartments.
Here is how Opening Day was reported in the New York Tribune on April 6, 1913:
“Ebbets Field is the last word in the way of a baseball park. Charles H. Ebbets, owner and president of the Brooklyn club, has spared neither money nor constant care to add to the comfort and convenience of the ‘fans’ and players. Nothing has been overlooked. From the grandstand to playing field, every modern improvement has been made and the home of the Brooklyn Superbas who, according to one of their most ardent rooters, “are first in well-wishers, first in enthusiasm, and only seventh in the National League pennant race,” stands out as the most complete field in the country today.
“Erected at a cost of $750,000, the park includes everything that could be thought out by the fertile mind of a master in baseball. The grandstand is the pride of Mr. Ebbets and he has good reason to be proud, as he practically designed it himself. The entrance to the stand is more like that of some vast theater than of a ballpark and the ‘fans’ have never seen anything like it. The main gate is located at the corner of Cedar Place and Sullivan Street, named after General Sullivan of Revolutionary War fame.
“The lobby of the entrance is more than eighty feet in diameter and is resplendent with its marble and glazed brick walls, its glass plate windows in the ticket booths and brass railings. There are a dozen ticket windows placed about the rotunda, and enormous crowd can be handled with little trouble. Since all stairs have been done away with, and inclined runways installed in place, the ‘fans’ will have no trouble in finding their seats quickly.
“The holders of unreserved seats will enter through the stile, which will be marked, and, ascending the short incline, will come out in the center of the stand, from which they make take the best seats procurable. The holders of box seats and seats in the reserve section will proceed through the proper stile under and through the front of the stand and to their proper seats.
“There will be no unnecessary intermingling of the fans. Those who old tickets on the upper tiers will ascend the runways at the rear of the stands and so up to their seats. The bleacherites [sic] will find ticket booths at convenient points. Only one point is lacking to add to the comfort of all. There is not a single knothole in the whole blooming fence for what with the great still girders and solid concrete, the small boy will have to draw his own conclusions from the volume of noise that will arise from the inner battlements.
“The park is centrally located and easy of access to all. For the benefit of the New York “fans” who will make the trip, be it noted that the fastest and shortest way of reaching the park is by taking the Brighton Beach ‘L’ train to Consumers’ Park station and walking across the block to Cedar Place, arriving right at the entrance to the rotunda.
“The admissions rates will be as follows: general admission, 75 cents; reserved seats (lower tier) first nine rows, first nine rows on Saturdays and holidays (four rows on other days), $1; box seats, $ 1.50; exchange rates from upper to lower tier, 25 cents. Upper tier admission $1, box seats $1.50. Pavilion general admission 50
cents, north end pavilion 25 cents….
“Among the conveniences which may be found at the new park are a ladies’ suite, which is located on the lower tier of the main grandstand, consisting of a parlor, private retiring room with maid, telephone and writing desk; a checkroom where all articles may be checked free of charge, incoming telephone messages received and umbrellas loaned at the nominal charge of 10 cents.
“Brooklyn owes the fact that she can boast of the finest ball park in the country to Charles H. Ebbets, after whom the park is named. [After construction delays] now all is ready and Brooklyn has one of the most magnificent monuments to the great national game.”
WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
Frederick Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt
From Ed Litcher
This heroic-sized bronze bust by Gustaf Blaeser (1813–1874) depicts German scientist, explorer, and naturalist Frederick Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859). Humboldt made an expedition into Central and South America in 1799, exploring the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers and portions of the Andes to learn more about meteorology and plant life. His later expedition to Siberia in 1829 furthered his study of ocean currents and magnetism. Gustav Blaeser knew Humboldt and used his death mask as a reference as he sculpted the bust. In 1981 it was moved to its current location at Explorer’s Gate on Central Park West and 77th Street, across from the Museum of Natural History.
Joyce Gold also got it right
Eid-al-Fitr Visitors
A couple visiting the kiosk celebrating the end of Ramadan.
Welcome to Roosevelt Island !
Gloria takes on the garden
Gloria Herman groomed our garden for it’s springtime
cleanup including tackling the ivy and other invasive weeks
with the magic weed puller!
CREDITS
Photos, from above: Ebbets Field in ca. 1913; and in 1956.
JUDITH BERDY
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
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THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
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