Cramped but colorful
Ebbets Field, in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, was home
to the Dodgers in their lean times and glory years, until the franchise was transplanted
to Los Angeles. Built by Dodger owner
Charlie Ebbets for the 1913 season, the widely
anticipated park opened without a press box, and no one brought the key to the bleachers
for the first game. Originally the double-decked grandstand stood only along the
foul lines, leaving the left field corner 419' distant, and center 477'. The grandstand
was extended to left and center in the 1930s, however, making the park a hitter's
paradise. The left-field power alley was 351' and center became a very comfortable
388', made even shorter by the upper deck, which hung over the playing field. The
right field wall was a sight in itself. A patchwork collection of local advertisements,
a scoreboard, and a large black screen that was in play, it was 38' high and abutted
Bedford Avenue. The screen made up the top 19', sending balls rebounding at unpredictable
angles, while the wall itself was concave, angled in the middle. The large black
scoreboard featured the famous
Abe Stark "Hit sign, win suit" advertisement on the
bottom, and a Schaefer beer ad on top which gave the official scorer's ruling on
hits and errors by lighting up the appropriate letter (h or e).
Renowned
for its laughable Dodgers in the 1920s and 1930s, Ebbets Field was also known for
its vocal and boisterous fans. Hilda Chester would attend each game with her clanging
cowbell, while the Dodgers Sym-Phony, a collection of musically inclined fans, played
other instruments. In the 1940s, the Reds' Lonny Frey hit an inside-the-park home
run when his drive to right hit the screen and fell straight down, coming to rest
on top of the lower half of the wall, 19' above the field. And on October 3, 1947
Cookie Lavagetto broke up Bill Bevens's World Series no-hit bid with two out in the
ninth.
By 1957, however, Ebbets Field had grown too old to satisfy Dodger owner
Walter O'Malley, and in 1958 Brooklyn's beloved Dodgers were in Los Angeles. Only
6,673 fans attended the final game, and the park was demolished in 1960. The Jackie
Robinson apartment complex now stands on the site.
(SCL)
Ebbets Field
