Ebbets Field

[@davidmurray5399]

My first major league game was at Wrigley Field in 1966, the Cubs were playing the Dodgers The Dodgers won, of course, but the green expanse of the field was so beautiful, it took my breath away. It was one of the best days of my young life, something I'll never forget.

[@daveinmilwaukee]

Michael -- Wow, what a beautiful and poignant moving story. Thank you for sharing it. I'm sorry you lost your Dad at such an early age, but it sounds like the memories he left you were a treasure for a lifetime. He was a true hero, both to you and your Mom and also to our country. If you were 8 years old in 1941, you must have been born the same year as my Dad (1933), who grew up at Avenue T and E. 18th Street and was a huge Dodgers fan like everyone else. I believe he also became a fan and went to his first game around 1941. He said he was fortunate to be in Navy recruit training in the Fall of 1951 because they kept everyone so busy that he was insulated from the heartbreaking loss to the Giants. He also said that when the team moved to L.A. it made him "grow up" and realize that baseball and other pro sports were nothing but a business. From then on, he never looked at sports the same way again.

[@lakemichigan6598]

I was once talking to a guy of a certain age originally from Brooklyn and I asked him if he'd been a Dodgers fan and the question immediately turned his friendly demeanor to sadness. He told me the move had torn his heart out, something he'd never gotten over, and he found it impossible to ever root for the Dodgers again.

[@aaronwilliams6989]

And who could have blamed him? Not me.

[@billhaywood3503]

could have been me

[@jpsned]

My dad grew up in Brooklyn and saw the Dodgers at Ebbets Field many times. When I was growing up in the 1960s and was becoming aware of baseball history, I asked him if he had any sentimental attachment to the Dodgers even though they were now in LA. He simply said no and that once they left Brooklyn, he had no use for them. (Thankfully we both became Mets fans and saw many games together both at Shea and Citi Fields.)

[@WilliamFlickinger-qv3us]

Stan the. Man love ebbett field he ALWAYS hit at the ebbett field

[@ChristopherORourke-s7g]

Great comment. My late parents,both sets of my grandparents, my late wife, myself & our children were/are Dodgers fans. I was at the last Dodgers baseball game at Ebbets field in 1957 with my late father,late grand uncle. Years later I was at Dodger Stadium in 1976 they were playing the Houston Astros and had won 3 to 1. Most of hte baseball games I went to in San Diego were when the Dodgers were playing them in the mid 1970’s, also seen many on television, listened to many Dodgers games radio.

[@christopherhoran2041]

Thank you my father love Brooklyn Dodgers he told me he had no team when move he was very hurt then the METS was his new team I was born 1963 He & Mom my Sister and Brother We all went to the 1969 World Series MET fan to this DAY

[@davel3895]

Thank you for this Michael. You did an amazing job and quite a story about your dad. When you open in 1941... I instantly thought of WWII.

[@pedrorodriguez8512]

What a beautiful and bitter sweet story Thank you for sharing just know in my book your Father was a True Hero . May Jesus bless you 🙏

[@LENTHEGOAT]

Amazing story of love, family, and baseball. All 3 are connected more than most will ever understand

[@NYNick49]

Great story.....very sorry about your dad. May he rest in peace, with the other heroes of WWII. The abandonment of NY by the Dodgers and Giants broke many game's hearts, one of whom was my uncle. After the Giants left he was never the same. He took me to a few Yankee games, but his heart wasn't in it.

[@spacerazer]

There was a time when going to your first baseball game with your father was a lifelong memory.

[@mikekinsella2822]

I remember the 1st time my dad took my 2 brothers and I to a Reds game in Cincinnati. It was Vs St Louis in 1975 when I was 11 years old.

[@mikeforte7585]

@@mikekinsella2822 the Cincinnati Reds the 1975 World Champions....winners of 108 games during the year plus 7 more in the playoffs...arguably one of the best team in baseball...not mention they were the last great small market team....even after 1976 they were competitive but there was no wild card teams back then. I really miss those days....

[@TheBatugan77]

Now it's a lifelong bill on your credit card statement.

[@mattdon2164]

@@mikeforte7585 I remember those great Reds teams. Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Jack Billingham. Don Gullett, Pedro Bourbon and of course Ken Griffey, Sr. Sparky Anderson was the perfect manager for that team. I recall Game One of the NLCS, Mets v Reds. Tom Seaver shut down the Reds for eight innings, then Pete Rose hits a home run to tie it and Johnny Bench walked it off with a home t=run in the bottom of the Ninth. Then after the game, both Rose and Bench were guests on Kiner's Korner, the Mets post game show with Ralph Kiner. I was only nine years old at the time. I asked my Dad how both Rose and Bench knew Ralph so well. His reply was "When Pete Rose and Johnny Bench were boys, they knew Ralph Kiner as one of the best home run hitters oh his time." I was still too young to grasp the history of the game. Cincy was and will always be a great baseball town and looking back I was fortunate to have experienced live those great Big Red Machine teams.

[@wburt926]

You are so correct! I remember going into Tiger Stadium in September of 1971 for a game with the NY Yankees with my father and younger brother. I was so awestruck by how green the grass was seeing it in person.

[@vinnymarine6967]

Great video and story. Correction at end......Ebbets Fiels was torn down in 1960, not 1957. 1957 was the Dodgers last year there.

[@andykapsar4667]

it all started with dodging trollies

[@Narragansett55]

Worst thing ever to happen in baseball was O'Malley moving the Dodgers out of Brooklyn. LA deserved a club for sure but not at the expense of the good fans of Brooklyn.

[@georgecapria8285]

You have Robert Moses to thank For that. The same for the old Giants fans!

[@Narragansett55]

@@georgecapria8285 nah Robert Moses did a lot of bad but he didn't move the Dodgers out of Brooklyn. That was all Walter O'Malley, and besides, there wasn't anything wrong with Ebbets Field that a little maintenance couldn't take care of. Just look at Fenway and Wrigley.

[@georgecapria8285]

@@Narragansett55 Niel, maybe Moses denied O'Malley work permits allowing any renovations.

[@Narragansett55]

@@georgecapria8285 to me that is all moot because there was nothing wrong with Ebbets Field.

[@anthonymarengo6228]

@@georgecapria8285 90% of the blame lies with Moses. O'Malley wanted to stay in Brooklyn, he wanted the Atlantic/Flatbush location right by the Long Island Railroad. After WW2 many Brooklynites moved to Long Island. The Atlantic/Flatbush location was perfect. O'Malley offered to build the ballpark at the Dodgers expense. He needed NYC to provide the land and approvals. Moses wanted to move the Dodgers to Shea Stadium in Queens.

[@paradiseroad6405]

...thank you for posting this video...a great story...

[@eddielicona2083]

Really enjoyed this thank you so much for helping me step back in time. Cheers!

[@danielf2945]

You did make me tear up man!!!!!

[@osagiee.guobadia-secondytc4624]

I did not know that Ebbets Field was the official ballpark arena for baseball. I mean, it is close to Medgar Evers College (a CUNY College in the 1970s). Wow.

[@mikehunt8997]

Ebbets Field was demolished in 1960, early in the year. The Brooklyn football Dodgers played there too. NFL and AAFC leagues.

[@erock6908]

Beautiful heartwarming story.

[@mattdon2164]

What a beautiful story.

[@larryashmore489]

Thanks for the magic.

[@varj7]

Great video! Actually Dodgers last played in 57 and Ebbets was knocked down in 1960

[@aaronwilliams6989]

DAMN! that is DEEP!!

[@maxB2262]

It’s nowhere close to the polo grounds

[@aaronwilliams6989]

I know. They were each in a different borough.

[@kevinmiller6324]

This guy needs to get his facts straight. Ebbets Field was torn down in 1960. The Dodgers played their last season there in 1957.

[@carter-rm9js]

you need to chill

[@trolojolo6178]

It's not real, it's just a story he wrote or read. This guy is way to Young to have been living in the 50s

[@TheBatugan77]

You need to shove it, Kevin. Quit being a pissant.

[@aaronwilliams6989]

​@@trolojolo6178Maybe he was reading somebody else's story and got a few things mixed up, like when the stadium was leveled.

[@nasirmcintosh5452]

amazing!

[@georgecapria8285]

it was not Walter O' Malley's fault! It was Robert Moses! He just about kicked The Dodgers out of Brooklyn . He blocked O'Malley from constructing a new ballpark on Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. He also did the same thing t the Giants!

[@trapezemusic]

Very good comment and little known fact.

[@elhijodelchupacabra]

Thank you George for mentioning this fact. 99% of the times government is the problem.

[@billhaywood3503]

maybe that is disputed-- wish Bob Caro had talked about it in his book

[@99somerville]

It was a little more complicated than that. MLB was going to move west at some point and both NY teams wanted to get there first. Dodgers were not making much money in the mid 50s.

[@kevinmiller6380]

Ebbets Field was torn down in 1960, not '57. '57 was the Dodgers last year in Brooklyn.

[@TheBatugan77]

You again? Shove your torn down comments.

[@ronduz1281]

👍👍👍Wow great story

[@TheJoumal]

Awesome Page

[@heresdaddy3142]

Thank you and your father

[@cantinerosvp]

Let's make baseball great again

[@mikekinsella2822]

1st step get rid of the ghost runner in extra innings

[@mikeforte7585]

@@mikekinsella2822 that's to shorten the game so the players managers and umpires can get the hell out of there asap......every year players salaries go up admission prices go up cable rates go up and in return we get less baseball....that has to be changed by collective bargaining with the players union....u can bet the farm the players won't budge on that..

[@TheBatugan77]

MBGA!

[@cmorales5]

Beautiful video. Heart touching story.

[@brandongrenier436]

Long live the bums of flats ,

[@dreck32]

That last photo of them tearing up the stadium makes want to throw up

[@victoriamarin5718]

Hello Mr. DiPietro! I'm doing a story about the community around Ebbets Field and the apartments that were later built on its site. Would you give me permission to use some audio from this video, of course citing that it's your content?

[@michaeld946]

Victoria Marin Sure! Let’s email to confirm what the story is though. Would like to learn more

[@victoriamarin5718]

Sure thing-you can email me at victoriaam at me dot com. The piece is for BRIC's (www.bricartsmedia.org) podcast Brooklyn, USA.

[@lonniestephens6254]

I could only imagine if the Dodgers did not move out of Brooklyn, NY.

[@TheErniebarela]

Great story!

[@MichaelGunner123]

Great video! Go CARDINALS!

[@MichaelGunner123]

Thought it was demolished in 1960 & not 1957? Didn't Dodgers leave for LA in 1958?

[@99somerville]

Interesting sign at 3:38.

[@lucianolorenzo8395]

It's so nice 2B a Brooklyn Dodger

[@robertadams5107]

Excellent

[@mikekinsella2822]

Imagine the humiliation you must feel living your whole life as a Dodgers fan.

[@MichaelGunner123]

Another reason to be a ST LOUIS CARDINALS Fan! 2nd MOST World Series Trophies @ 11.

[@sdmarwan]

Could be worse. You could be a Giants fan.

[@mikekinsella2822]

@@sdmarwan There is nothing lower on this earth then a dodger fan. Pond scum is higher on the evolutionary scale then a dodger fan is.

[@sdmarwan]

@@mikekinsella2822 I'd hate them too if I was stuck rooting for the Giants. Especially after they knocked them out on their home field last year and ended Posey's career.

[@carter-rm9js]

@@MichaelGunner123 bro literally no one cares

[@carter-rm9js]

Guys we know what year ebbets field was knocked down, this was an incredible story that all you are ruining cuz of ONE error

[@scarecrowninja]

Wasn't the owner a jew

[@mikeforte7585]

O'Malley was an Irish catholic....

[@TheBatugan77]

One, Jew is capitalized. Two, idiot, which you are, is not.

[@WilliamFlickinger-qv3us]

Branch rickee would never left Brooklyn

[@WilliamFlickinger-qv3us]

What a. Job paid watch baseball game