From the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, to Jackie Robinson's integration of baseball in 1947, explore how two communities 3,000 miles apart were destroyed by the capitalism of baseball.
I was in DC last week to watch the Dodgers and Nationals. I gentleman sat near me. He had a Brooklyn jacket and hat on. Told me he saw the Dodgers play in Brooklyn. Pretty cool to think of him watching games in Ebbetts field
Also, don’t underestimate the reason for the move to the west coast by Major league baseball at the time. Walter O’Malley’s former nemesis with the Brooklyn Dodgers, a.k.a. Branch Rickey hated O’Malley. And after O’Malley ousted him from Brooklyn, he had come up with the idea to start a third major league on the west coast called the continental league. Major league baseball saw this as an affront to their authority and power, and we’re already plotting to move teams to California before the Continental league could get started. Branch Rickey wanted to take the Pacific coast league and basically transported into the third major-league a.k.a. the continental league. It would’ve worked except Ricky had no friends hardly in baseball anymore. Walter O’Malley seen to that. After the teams moved to California and the continental league was never going to get off the ground Ricky wound up in Pittsburgh and helped build a 1960 world championship team.
Rickey actually ended up in Pittsburgh after O'Malley ousted him. John Galbreath, one of the Pirates' owners, fired him after 5 losing seasons and it was after that that Rickey attempted to form the Continental League.
Here’s the way I analyze the Dodgers’ move to LA: all parties (eventually & essentially) received what they wanted. Yes I know the move caused generational pain for Brooklyn fans. But everyone still got what they wanted: *W O’Malley received his new ballpark for the Dodgers. They’ve been a gold mine ever since. *Robert Moses built the MLB ballpark he wanted WHERE he wanted it (Shea in Queens…and the current Citi Field sits there also) *MLB was desperate to get into Cali & the LA market, and they received TWO teams in 1958 and opened the eventual floodgates for populating the United States west of the Mississippi with MLB franchises (Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Wash State, more cities in Cali…and possibly Nevada soon) *Brooklyn received the Barclays Centre and received the NBA (and for a short time the NHL) *Brooklynites/Long Islanders received the NL replacement for the Dodgers in the Mets in 62 *And Brooklyn received their minor league Cyclones, in Coney Island, to get pro baseball back in the borough Everyone, despite blood sweat and tears, essentially, received what they wanted.
No O Malley wanted to Stay in Brooklyn Moses full of himself wanted power and more of it its my way or the highway OMalley got a deal from Los Angeles he couldn't refuse or a fool would free land use a field to play in ( small but ready for play) in until a more advanced suitable place was ready
Poor Jackie. All the abuse he took took to be baseball's first black player since Fleetwood Walker. He was also a Rickey boy, which is why O'Malley traded to the New York Giants, which is why he retired, rather than play for them. I feel that's what led to Jackie's premature death.
I always thought the stress led to the high blood pressure and diabetes that took his life at 53. Even then he was virtually blind, and had he lived, might have lost his legs. Jackie belongs on Mt. Rushmore. Not baseball's. America's.
Larry Doby took as much if not more abuse than Jackie being the first black player in the American League with NONE of the press coverage Jackie continually gets, no disrespect for Jackie intended. I mean does anyone know who Larry was, what team he played for, or who signed him?
I had a buddy from Brooklyn when I was in the service. He was a big-time Mets fan, hated the Yankees, and almost hated the LA Dodgers as much, kind of a generational thing handed down from his father and grandfather who grew up near Flatbush. I was totally in line with his hatred for the Yankees, a generational thing in my family, but I never had any hate for the Dodgers. I always wanted to get to their ballpark, but some bucket list items, like that and taking in a game and Fenway will remain just that, bucket list items.
for the record , specific to the intro mentioning sullivan ave and flatbush ave. sullivan ave is sullivan place . and it doesnt intersect with flatbush ave. here are the 4 steets that surrounded the field. bedford ave, sullivan place , mckeever place ,and montgomery st. main entrance was located at sullivan and mckeever. left field line was mckeever and montgomery. center field was montgomery and bedford. right field line was sullivan and bedford.
You're right. There was a ton of research I had to on this video and as soon as i uploaded i realized one of the only facts i got wrong was the first one i said🤦♂
@@baseballheirloomsJackie Robinson retired from baseball ⚾ after the 1956 season, not '55. Robbie retired rather than playing for the hated New York Giants, although it would have been fun to see him as a teammate of Willie Mays.
I’m still pissed off about this. No way they should have been moved. Rotten corporate b____s. When I was 12 years old, I had the honor of playing for a special league sanctioned by the the commissioner of baseball back in 1958. Yes, I’m dating myself. I managed to make the team, Brooklyn Dodgers. That team is sealed in my heart. Going to LA was a sacrilege. I’ll never get over it. I loved Dem Bums.
As much as the Brooklyn dodgers were such a great story, moving to LA was the best thing they could of done. It must be said, the way the stadium in LA came about is tragic. However, it was a product of the time and they wouldn’t of been treated differently in any part of this country. It’s wrong, and a stain on LA and this country, as many things are. But now the LA Dodgers and baseball itself are something that brings the community together. It’s their duty to continue to be a bright spot in LA to mend the troubled beginnings.
Couple mistakes in the documentary. First Horace Stoneham did not convince O’Malley to move to California. It was the other way around Stoneham already was going to move his Giants to Minnesota because he owned the AAA affiliate, but Walter O’Malley convinced him to move further west only because baseball had told O’Malley he could not move the Dodgers to California unless another team went with him, for the simple reason to travel would’ve been too much to go to the West Coast just for one city, needed at least two cities. And second off Jackie Robinson did not retired in 1955. He retired in 1957. Overall a very good documentary. Very interesting and very informative.
Weeks before he was murdered Martin Luther King Jr said that he was grateful to Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe for helping him in his struggle for Human Rights.
Robert Moses was the reason that the Dodgers moved. He was the reason for a lot of bad things that happened in postwar NYC. O’Malley didn’t want to leave
I don't use the term tragic to define sports teams, but the Brooklyn Dodgers may be that rare exception. For years of saying "there's always next year" with a WS, they finally get one. Then, three years later, they're gone.
This video omits the fact that the Dodgers did move immediately to Dodger Stadium upon moving to LA. The stadium was not built and ready until 1962. For four seasons, the Dodgers played in the LA Colosseum, a magnificent venue that was totally inappropriate for baseball. Like the Polo Grounds in New York, the Colosseum had field dimensions that would ruin the game of baseball. Yet, the Dodgers played there and actually won their first post move world series championship in 1959.
At their inception as an expansion team in 1962 the New York Mets adopted the representative blue color of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the orange of the New York Giants, the teams that had relocated to California seeking greener pastures. Some also say that the pinstripes used in the Mets uniforms were a tribute to the team that remained in the state, the New York Yankees of the American League.
It's mind-boggling to me how many of these videos, which are always well-done from a technical standpoint, end up getting the most basic of facts incorrect.
It's infuriating that the loss of one of sports' most iconic franchises and stadiums was all thanks to greedy businessmen. Walter O'Malley could've preserved Ebbets Field the same way Fenway Park and Wrigley Field have been preserved for over a century. Yet, that wasn't enough. He needed the big shiny stadium, or else. And then Moses ran him out of town by denying his Atlantic Terminal stadium and then trying to hog all the parking revenue for himself in Queens. It's so unfair. I don't even watch baseball, and even I'm annoyed by this.
Not true. He tried to keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn, proposing that domed stadium in New York. Robert Mosely, however, refused his proposal and that was that. Brooklyn fans should blame Mosely, not O'Malley.
@@ec6951 Moses denied the plan because he wanted the stadium in Queens instead. So O'Malley chooses to go to opposite end of the country? Between staying in New York, but in a different borough vs moving all the way to the West Coast, staying in New York was obviously the better option. At least the Dodgers would've stayed in New York where they belong and their fans could've still seen them.
Two huge inflexible egoists. I can add a little to the story that might clarify some things. The Giants were already looking to move to Minneapolis which housed their AAA team at that time. In order to get approval from the league owners O’Malley had to have another team out west for travel reasons and he talked Stoneham into going to San Francisco. O’Malley may have been a shrewd businessman but he was a sneak. He ran Branch Rickey out of Brooklyn by manipulating the widow of one of the former owners in order to accomplish that and gain control of the team. Moses was an arrogant bureaucrat who wouldn’t even try to be flexible. Result Brooklyn lost its baseball identity.
I read somewhere that while LA was courting the Dodgers, they were also talking with Calvin Griffith of the Washington Senators, who eventually moved to Minneapolis and became the Twins. I didn’t know the Giants could’ve potentially gone there. Yeah I thought that O'Malley talked Stonham into moving to San Francisco.
The Senators ended up in Minnesota, even though it wasn't necessary. D.C. Stadium (later named after Robert F. Kennedy), the very first of the cookie-cutter ballparks, was due to be ready in 1962. But Clark W. Griffith wouldn't wait. President Kennedy informed both the Senators and the Redskins that they would have to sign black players. Also, the stadium was owned by the National Parks Service. They would not put up with segregated seating. (Griffith wanted to restrict blacks to the worst seats: upper deck, center field.) Griffith said, "No way." In one of the worst mistakes in baseball history, the American League allowed the Senators to move to Minnesota, then put an expansion team in Washington. Griffith's reason for moving? "You have fewer blacks here." The worst part is that the 1965 World Series would have been in Washington, if the Senators had stayed.
The dodgers played at the LA Coliseum from 1958 to 1961 when they cleared the Mexicans from Chavez Ravine and built dodger stadium. Ironically, dodger stadium is the third oldest baseball stadium in America behind Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. I was a fan of the Pacific Coast League before MLB destroyed it.
While I understand the heartbreak of losing a professional sports franchise to another city (Seattle supersonics) baseball had to expand from the east coast to truly become the national pastime! Without the move by the Dodgers & Giants it’s hard to believe that we would have the Padres, the Angels, and the Mariners along with the Astros and later on the Rangers, so that our nation would have baseball coast to coast!
5/10/2024 - The Dodgers did not go from Ebbits field to Chavez ravine. They first played at the LA Coliseum until 1962, when Dodger Stadium was built in Chavez ravine. I don’t remember any big fuss about Mexican Americans being upset over the Dodgers building their stadium in Chavez Ravine. Mexican Americans Have ever since been the biggest fans of the Dodgers. Otherwise, good story.
I don't think the Giants decided to move west before the Dodgers did, Stoneham originally wanted to move to Minneapolis but was convinced by O'Malley to move the Giants to the West coast along with the Dodgers because MLB more or less told O'Malley he couldn't move out west unless the Giants agreed to go too.
Stoneham already had one foot out the door when O’Malley convinced him to move a little further west. O’Malley was a typical slick lawyer. He would have never cared if Stoneham moved to Minneapolis except the National League told O’Malley he had to convince another team to move to California with him or he couldn’t go. That way teams wouldn’t travel all the way to California for just one city road trip. So he hoodwinked Stoneham by taking him out to Candle Stick Point in the day when the wind was calm and warmer. He never let him see the location of the future Candle Stick Park location at night time. He probably would of said “He’ll No it’s freezing out here”. Good old Irish ☘️ O’Malley full of blarney.
@@superfly9173 Perhaps but then again he may have simply decided on another location in San Francisco, they could have even had their downtown ballpark much sooner.
@@superfly9173 Candlestick Point is the coldest location in San Francisco. When I visited SF in the 70s, the tour bus drove us right past Candlestick Park. The driver told us that after he attended his first game there, he purchased his first ever pair of thermal underwear the next day! Mark Twain was right when he said the coldest winter he ever spent was summer in San Francisco!
Whatever the reason the Brooklyn Dodgers left Brooklyn, it was the biggest tragedy in history, My Father took us to a game where the Mets were playing the LA Dodgers, I think that I was the only one in the stadium rooting for “ my Dodgers”! Old feelings never stop, I never did like the Mets, and never really rooted for them! But, I still am a big NY Giant fan!
No he had no intention of moving...Rosalind Wyman gave him everything the stadium the land the concessions.....wanted Moses to be hated forever and he is....
4:36 -- While most every baseball fan knows of this historical moment...I bet most of you don't know (without googling/wiking the answer) who happened to be waiting on deck when that famous home run was hit!
@@ichironcaIt doesn't take Google or a rocket 🚀 scientist 🥼 to figure out that it was indeed Willie Mays waiting in the on deck circle when Bobby Thomson hit the famous home run. As you know, Mays was a scared rookie who was hoping he didn't have to bat. Brooklyn had the 1951 pennant wrapped up, but collapsed down the stretch no thanks in part to Charlie Dressen's mishandling his pitching staff, played Gil Hodges behind the first base bag in the ninth inning of that game, and walking Thomson with first base open, and pitching to Mays, since Thomson homered of off Ralph Branca in Game 1. To me, Carl Erskine should have been brought in to pitch the ninth instead of Branca. And the Giants cheated by their sign stealing scandal, 66 years before the Houston Astros did it.
@@KevinMiller-xn5vuDodgers really didn’t collapse more it was the Giants won it. After completed games on Aug. 11, Brooklyn stood 13.5 games in front of NYG. Dodgers went 26-21 the rest of the way. Hardly a “collapse”. Meanwhile the Giants went 37-7 including a 16 game winning streak to start the comeback catching the Dodgers on final day. Leading 4-1 going to bottom of 9th in game 3 of the playoff and not closing the door was the crusher.
Get your facts straight. Stoneham wanted to move the Giants to Minneapolis but the League would not have only one team on the west coast. So the Giants went to San Francisco. Also, Jackie Robinson retired after the 1956 season, not 1955. And he decided to retire instead of being traded to the Giants.
Native2Florida-It'll never happen, so forget it. Now MLB has to resolve the situation on whether or not the A's move to Vegas. The Dodgers going back 🔙 to Brooklyn makes about as much sense as the A's moving back 🔙 to their original city, Philadelphia.
There are still some dodgers fans in Brooklyn, but that number has drastically dwindled since 1957. The changing demographics of the borough and time have made it so. I am from Long Island and my family is originally from Brooklyn. I am a Mets fan, but I love the Dodgers too. Ever since I was a kid and I learned their story, I loved the Dodgers. Since learning about it, I have always thought that the Dodgers belonged to NY and that something has been missing.
Most Dodger fans moved from Brooklyn to Long Island during the 1950s. Ebbets Field had a parking garage that could only accommodate 750 cars. They weren't driving in from Long Island, preferring to watch on TV. Ebbets Field was deteriorating as was the neighborhood surrounding the ballpark.
The Mets colors are orange and blue as a tribute to the Giants and Dodgers. Years ago I vowed to never return to Dodgers Stadium because of the fans and the overall poor experience. If I hadn’t stopped going back then I certainly would stop going now after the shameful recognition and “celebration” of the anti-religious Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence which is clearly a hate group.
Different topic, but the Yankees now aren’t the same as the Yankees of years past. Not making the World Series since 2009, despite having a total of 27 championships, I will never know when they will win number 28, especially as the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox have mostly owned them since 2017, in spite of the infamous scandal.
This is filled with historical inaccuracies. Robinson retired after the 1956 season, not 1955. The Giants were going to move to Minneapolis, and only went to SF because O'Malley convinced them; major league baseball didn't see an opportunity to expand in the National League; Bill Shea single-handedly forced them to do so by threatening to form another league and threatening them with congressional revocation of the baseball antitrust exemption. And O'Malley was concerned about not being able to call the Dodgers the "Brooklyn Dodgers" so he turned down Queens? He sure as hell didn't mind changing the name from Brooklyn to the LOS ANGELES Dodgers! This video is a piece of crap.