brooklyn dodgers started in park slope?

That is correct, but I never heard it was where the school is now. I thought it was on 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street.

yep. and i agree about it being on 3rd & 3rd.

That postcard looks pre-Gowanus canal. When was the Gowanus Canal created?

Subject: The remaining wall

The wall from 3rd to 5th street is still there - if you drive by and look for it, the fact that it was a field of some sort becomes obvious. True treasure into some historic Brooklyn...

the Old Stone House on 4th ave 4th street
a)was fought over during the battle of brooklyn
b) was the clubhouse for the Brooklyn Excelsiors baseball team.

I cannot recall if the brooklyn atlantics became the brooklyn excelsiors and then became the dodgers. but am pretty sure about the excelsiors being the "original" dodgers,
the same way the highlanders are the original yankees.
(the highlanders were the OLD baltimore orioles so the yankess are a transplanted team BTW)
Id swear i remember a building near court st with a sign on it stating it was the original home of the atlantics.

there were several teams in brooklyn in the 1880's.
"elysian fields" in hoboken was another hot spot for 19th century baseball

anyways ...
LETS GO METS

Yes it is interesting.
i was always wondering why the clubhouse was situated there.
i hadnt been aware of fields in the immediate area other then prospect park until the previous posts.

prodigalson wrote: Woops, I partially erred in my earlier post:

There was a different league (the American Association - then considered a major league) which featured the Brooklyn Bridegrooms - these became the Superbas of the National League. Eventually, they became the Dodgers (from 1911-1913). That was the team who played at Washington Park before playing at Ebbets Field. Interestingly, they were called the Robins from 1913 to about 1930 when Wilbert ROBINson was the manager. Thereafter, they became the Dodgers.

8)

the bridegrooms

Bridegrooms:


http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nl/bdodgers/brooklyn.html


Good site for news on the Dodgers and their predecessors.

Here are some of the facts & figures for Washington Park:Location: Left field (NW), 3rd Avenue; third base (SW), 3rd Street; first base (SE), 4th Avenue; right field (NW), 1st Street.

Dimensions: Left field: 335 ft. (1898), 375.95 ft. (1908), 300 ft. (1914); left center: 500 ft. (1898), 443.5 ft. (1908); center field: 445 ft. (1898), 424.7 ft. (1908), 400 ft. (1914); right center: 300 ft. (1898); right field: 215 ft. (1898), 295 ft. (1899), 301.84 ft. (1908), 275 ft. (1914); backstop: 90 ft. (1898), 15 (1908).

Fences: Left and center field: 12 feet; right field: 42 feet (13 feet brick topped by 29 feet canvas).

Trivia


This was the third ballpark to stand on the site. Other versions were in use between 1884 and 1890.
Part of the clubhouse wall still stands. It is now the 3rd Avenue wall to the Con Edison yard at 222 1st Street in Brooklyn.

Hi Garfunky. Tell something funny. There was a ballpark on the Queens/Brooklyn border called Dexter Park. The Bushwicks played there. I saw a few games there and there were former major league players playing under assumed names as well as some on the so called "Injured List". It not only had the Flag Pole in center field but a genuine Cemetary and sometimes the ball if hit well enough would rattle around the grave stones. The cemetary was considered in play but by the time they got the ball into the infield most runners had a homer!

YankeeFan wrote: okay. so i heard wrong about the exact spot. still interesting to know

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Park_(baseball)

actually both answers are correct.

Washington Park #1

Washington Park in the 1880sThe first Washington Park was bounded by 3rd and 5th Streets, and 4th and 5th Avenues. The property contained an old building then called the Gowanus House *, which stands today, albeit largely reconstructed. It was used as an impromptu headquarters by General George Washington during the Battle of Long Island, during a delaying action by 400 Maryland troops against approximately 2000 British and Hessian troops that allowed a good portion of the Continental Army to retreat to fortified positions on Brooklyn Heights. Those events inspired the ballpark's name.

The ballpark was the home of the Brooklyn baseball club during 1883-1891, with a slight interruption by a destructive fire during the 1889 season. The team, then called the "Atlantics", had started in a minor league in 1883, joined the then-major American Association in 1884, and then switched to the National League in 1890. Trolley tracks ran near the ballpark, inspiring the one of the team's many nicknames that ultimately stuck: Trolley Dodgers.[1]

In 1891, the team split its time between Washington Park and a newer facility called Eastern Park. moving there full-time in 1892. That might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but the park was a little too "eastern" for the fans' convenience, and was abandoned after six poorly-attended seasons.

Washington Park #2

Washington Park ca.1909The second Washington Park [1] was bounded by 1st and 3rd Streets, and 3rd and 4th Avenues. It was located at 40°40′30″N 73°59′10″W / 40.675°N 73.98611°W / 40.675; -73.98611. The park sat 18,800. It consisted of a covered grandstand behind the infield and uncovered stand down the right field line. The Brooklyn National Leaguers, by then often called the "Superbas" as well as the "Dodgers", moved into this new ballpark in 1898, where they would play for the next 15 seasons. On April 30, 1898, the Dodgers played their first game at new Washington Park and 15,000 fans attended.

Meanwhile, owner Charlie Ebbets slowly invested in the individual lots on a larger piece of property in Flatbush, which would become the site of Ebbets Field once he had the entire block. So in 1913, the Dodgers, at that time most often called the "Robins" for their manager Wilbert Robinson, abandoned Washington Park.

Washington Park #3
The Brooklyn Tip-Tops or "BrookFeds" of the Federal League, possibly the only major league team ever named for a loaf of bread, acquired the ballpark property in 1914, then rebuilt the second Washington Park in steel and concrete. The old park took on a modern appearance; in fact, it was nearly a duplicate of the initial version of another Federal League park in Chicago that would become Wrigley Field. However, with the Dodgers in a new and somewhat more spacious steel-and-concrete home already, Ebbets Field, there was no long-term need for Washington Park, so it was abandoned for the final time after the Federal League ended its two-year run.

Part of the wall of the last Washington Park, on 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn, can still be seen.


* note GOWANUS house not Park Slope House

well the Nets are eventually moving here,
so if we can just find a way to steal away the Islanders
between the 2 franchises,
one should win a championshipby the end of the century
...statistically speaking...

til then ...

GO CYCLONES !!!

Step #1 to return Brooklyn as a sports mecca would be for every Brooklynite, present and past ones, to curse the existence of Walter O'Malley. The bum who took "Dem Bums" away. Then pick on Horace Stoneman's soul for listening to O'Malley and he moved the Giants. Of course the big difference was the Dodgers were one of the highest drawing teams in baseball while the Giants weren't drawing flies to the Polo Grounds. It was all about Real Estate. Location, Location, Location. O'Malley sold his soul to the devil for a piece of what was soon to be downtown L.A. Instead of Beer & Hotdogs they munch on Sushi & white wine. That is okay at a cocktail party but NOT at a baseball game! While none of these actions may bring back the glory once known, it will make you feel better that you "did something about" that awful travesty of justice that took place in the late 50's. Thank goodness for 1955!!!!

Hi Warren ....just want to send some love from your old friends from our old neighborhood .....
Franny asked about you tonight ....and I just want to make sure all is well ....but your chatting about Sports,
Sushi & Wine .....I say your doing just fine! LOL (wink)

Suzie