BrooklynBallParks.com

In our sun-down perambulations, of late, through the outer parts of
Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing "base,"
a certain game of ball. We wish such sights were more common among us.

-- Walt Whitman, Brooklyn Eagle, July 23, 1846

Nowhere has the now National game of Base Ball, taken firmer hold
than in Brooklyn, and nowhere are there better players.

-- Henry Chadwick, Brooklyn Eagle, May 10, 1860

Largely as a result of Chadwick's influence, Brooklyn became one of the cradles of organized baseball. The borough saw teams in five different major leagues and in the Negro Leagues, with nicknames ranging from the Gladiators to the Royal Giants to the Hartfords to the Bridegrooms to the Mutuals. So we went in search of Brooklyn's professional baseball history, past and present. This is what we have found.

What's New?

• We had an essay published in Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game. An unedited version is here.
• We admit to theft of a single brick in the Park Slope Patch.
• Reorganized things, adding separate pages for important ancient, semipro, public, and scholastic parks.
• Added a ton of photos from the city's magnificent new map resource, NYCityMap, featuring complete overhead views of the city in 1924 and 1951.
• We are still working through the large backlog of parks we have found but not written up. Maybe a hundred to go - every time we research a field, it seems we find two more.
• In the meantime, we have some spectacular new photos to enjoy, including one of the Excelsior and Knickerbocker Clubs at Red Hook in 1859, a completely unique shot of Edison Field in 1911, and many recently unearthed player photos.

Ancient Parks

• Union Grounds
• Capitoline Grounds
• Other ancient ballparks of importance

Professional Parks

• Washington Park and the Washington Park wall
• The Parks of Ridgewood
• The Parks of Maspeth
• Eastern Park
• Ebbets Field
• MCU Park

Semipro and Leading Amateur Parks

• Dexter Park
• Erasmus Field
• Crescent Athletic Club Grounds
• Many more amateur and semipro parks

Public and Military Parks

• The Parade Ground
• Other military fields
• Other significant public parks

Scholastic Parks

• The renovated school grounds of Take The Field
• Many more college and high school fields

Many More

• Hundreds of other parks worth mentioning, from vacant lots and racetracks to immaculate little league complexes
• Parks that never were
• Leaving Brooklyn

The Teams

• Prehistoric clubs
• Negro League clubs
• The Dodgers
• The orphan teams of 1890
• The Bandits
• The semipro teams
• The Tip Tops
• The Cyclones

Our Travels

• The Big Day Out
• Team-Up Special
• The Spalding Collection

Our Favorite Games

• A lack of base balls at the Long Island Grounds
• Chadwick chooses the better skaters at Washington Park
• A phenomenal inning at Ebbets Field
• A ridiculous inning at the Atlantic Ground
• The Eckford's finest hour at the Union Grounds
• A giant upset at Wallace's Ridgewood Grounds
• Base ball's greatest game at the Capitoline Grounds
• A home run bunt at Keyspan Park
• The first and last pro ball game at the Parade Ground
• Baseball by candlelight at Washington Park
• The Superbas play sand lot ball at Washington Park
• Lovett no-hits the Giants at Eastern Park
• And more to come...

If you'd like to read our minds a little, and see credit where it's due, please check our research notes, guest essays, and our history of base ball in Brooklyn from 1845 to 1870.

You Can Help

• A few of the Ball Clubs of Brooklyn
• Views of Washington Park II
• A packed house at the Capitoline Grounds
• 1889 American Association Champions in light or dark versions
• Want the Dodgers back in Brooklyn? Wear the BRING THEM BACK shirt with pride

BrooklynBallParks.com is brought to you by
Andrew Ross (wonders@brooklynballparks.com)
and David Dyte (tiptops@brooklynballparks.com).
Please contact us with any corrections, additions, or requests.