The Trolley takes us to South Slope, as it's beginning to be called.
Commonly it's called the Gowanus section, and before they built a highway through the neighborhood way back, the community was still considered part of Red Hook.
WASHINGTON PARK
3rd Ave & 1st Street ~ 4th Ave & 4th Street,
Brooklyn, N.Y.
(pic - 100 Years of Baseball, Beekman House)
Home of the Brooklyn Dodgers before Ebbets Field was built;
Now, Then and the Debate
In 1898 the Dodgers played their first game here, in a newly constructed version of Washington Park. The previous one was done in by a fire. There are a lot of details I will be leaving out for the purposes of this post. But you should know there were 3 versions of Washington Park at two locations diagonal from each other, hence the two different intersections I stated above. The Dodgers played here till their last game in 1912, then moved into Ebbets Field. But this isn't about the Dodgers, not this time. This is about teams that precede even the Dodgers....kinda.
On September 13, 2009, I attended 3 Baseball Games at today's NYC Washington Park (public park).
It was a 3 game round robin involving the Brooklyn Atlantics, Newark Eurekas and
the New York Gothams.
(click the pamphlets, check out these rules.)
Not these BROOKLYN ATLANTICS.
(pics-Brooklyn Dodgers by Mark Rucker)
Baseball's first true dynasty, the Brooklyn Atlantics Baseball Club
Champions of the United States in 1864, 1865, 1866, 1868 and 1870
(as THEY claim ~ some of it is debatable)
..and not these NEW YORK GOTHAM,
a team founded in 1852 playing out of Manhattan
NO, I'm talking about these Brooklyn Atlantics.
..and these New York Gothams of 2009.
I'm talking about
the VBBA
the VINTAGE BASE BALL ASSOCIATION
(VBBA.ORG)
Member of the Flemington BBC
These guys are regular me, and you(s) who have a passion for baseball played the way it was in the 1860s and 1870s. They adhere to the day's rules and don't use gloves. One of the rules worth mentioning is if you field a batted ball on one bounce, the batter is out. The pitcher still pitched underhanded back then. One of the most excellent tools of the pitcher was being allowed to fake the runner and quick pitch the batter. He was able to slow or fastpitch as he chose as long as it was an underhanded delivery. I can't explain my joy watching these games play themselves out and witnessing the differences with today's game.
It was pure enjoyment, but not just because of the game. These were a collection of some outstanding individuals. They made so much time for me to just ask questions and photograph them. There was a moment when I asked 4 players to come together for a pic. One guy scattered, another whistled in the direction of the dugout, and I turned around to see the whole team coming towards me with bats in hand for a complete team photo (the one you see above). No smiles! No one smiled in pictures in the late 1800s. They had all the details covered and were such personable fellows. I am sorry that I'm having trouble putting a name to the face in some of these pictures. This file has been sitting in a Zip-File since November. I'm sorry for that because I enjoyed the day so much. I do not have WinZip software, and I'm scared to death of downloading WinZip software from anywhere for fear of the dreaded Blue Screen of Death.
The Atlantics get in some practice.
The house in the background is
The Old Stone House.
It has been re-assembled here at Washington Park from its original location,
using the same exact materials.
This was George Washington's headquarters during the Battles of Brooklyn.
Hence, Washington Park.
.jpg)
The game is about to start.
Gothams vs. Atlantics
the Gotham Nine and the Atlantic Nine
(Shakespeare on the left)
I have no doubt about the Atlantic's 3rd baseman, Frank "Shakespeare" Van Zant. I was sitting along 3rd base and was chatting it up with him all day long. If I remember correctly, he is an English professor. Frank, please accept this belated expression of gratitude, and can you share the sentiment with the team for me? Ed "Pigtail" Elmore was the pitcher for the Atlantics this day. Thank you all for "...one of the finest displays of skill and gamesmanship, in a gentlemanly manner of play."
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PigTail makes a pitch.
The contest is over, and they shake hands like gentlemen.
I kept the score of the game based on an improvised system to accommodate the rule differences. I don't expect you to understand it, but this is what it looked like. This is the Atlantic side of the book.
Everything they do for the love of this game is an out-of-pocket expense. Road trips and even the baseball they have specially made come out of their pockets. I asked Shakespeare if I could have a ball. He educated me on how they operate and offered a ball for $25 to cover their expense. Fuggedaboutit!!... You kiddin' me?! It is one of my prized possessions today and the best $25 bucks I EVER spent! Thanks again, Frank!
One of my new prized possessions; an 1860's replica baseball marked
as the ol' Atlantics Base Ball Club decorated all their awarded baseballs
before entering the storied display case.
The Newark Eurekas salute the Gothams before their game.
An unfortunate reality about the modern park may limit the team's appearances in Brooklyn. These guys are taking real hacks and usually play on regular-sized fields. This day's contests were played in a modern city park where the right fielder could whisper to the first baseman.
We'll see. I would love to have the Atlantic BBC back.
Be well, fellas!
I hope to drive out to Smithtown, Long Island, this summer to take in another game of Vintage Baseball.
Thanks for all your friendliness.
Now let's take a few minutes to talk about Washington Park itself. The park had been in use since the early 1880s. The Dodgers, like I said, didn't move in till 1898. On December 31, 2009, an article appeared in N.Y. Daily News that revisited an age-long debate. There is only one portion of the wall that remains from Washington Park of the past. It's the wall on 3rd Avenue, from 1st Street to 3rd Street. The wall was definitely in place by 1914.
The debate had always centered on whether or not that wall existed when the Dodgers played there. That would have to have the wall in place in 1912 or before. If it is indeed proven this wall was in place before the Dodgers moving to Ebbets, obviously, it raises concerns about its preservation. A few years back, the present owner of the lot, Con-Edison, raised eyebrows when they announced plans to demolish the wall. Brooklyn baseball fans freaked out, and Con-Ed has since been committed to its preservation. Naturally, I am interested in whether this wall can be dated to the Dodgers as any other Brooklyn Dodger enthusiast.
But the wall is preservation worthy regardless as it was home to Brooklyn's Federal League team, the Brook-Feds, or as they became more commonly referred to as the Tip Tops.
The owner of the team was the owner of the Brooklyn Tip Top Bread Company.
If you didn't know, and I assume you do,
The debate had always centered on whether or not that wall existed when the Dodgers played there. That would have to have the wall in place in 1912 or before. If it is indeed proven this wall was in place before the Dodgers moving to Ebbets, obviously, it raises concerns about its preservation. A few years back, the present owner of the lot, Con-Edison, raised eyebrows when they announced plans to demolish the wall. Brooklyn baseball fans freaked out, and Con-Ed has since been committed to its preservation. Naturally, I am interested in whether this wall can be dated to the Dodgers as any other Brooklyn Dodger enthusiast.
But the wall is preservation worthy regardless as it was home to Brooklyn's Federal League team, the Brook-Feds, or as they became more commonly referred to as the Tip Tops.
(150 Years of Baseball. Beekman House)
(BrooklynBallparks.com)
If you didn't know, and I assume you do,
the Federal League was a rival to MLB and played the 1914-1915 seasons.
Wrigley Field is a remnant of that League.
It was built to house the Chicago team of the Federal League.
This is what the Brooklyn Tip Tops looked like.
I took this picture at Yankee Stadium in 2008
when I spotted this guy wearing a Tip Top Jersey.
I asked him if I could snap a pic of it.
I've never seen anyone with one before.
I'm not making insinuations about the guy,
but he didn't realize what the jersey represented.
He thought it was another Dodger jersey.
I politely informed him otherwise.
He thought it was another Dodger jersey.
I politely informed him otherwise.
The following pictures show the wall in the background during these Federal League festivities. There's a lot of significance to this site. I'd like for the city to place a commemoration plaque in honor of Washington Park. There currently is none. What history is being held- you can credit NYC Parks & Rec and staff at The Old Stone House. It's inexcusable the city isn't doing more.
Getting back to the wall, some cases are being made for the pre-1912 existence. Most, to include the self-proclaimed Brooklyn resident historians, claim otherwise. They don't believe it is so.
(Opening Day Festivities 1914)
This is the interior view of the wall pictured at 3rd Ave and 1st Street.
All the capstones are still in place, making the wall recognizable when comparing these pictures with today's remaining structure.
(brooklynballparks.com)
...that concludes today's TROLLEY RIDE to
Washington Park, Brooklyn
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