Saying Goodbye Ebbets Field

[1985OldSkool]

Wasn't that the same wrecking ball that would demolish the Polo Grounds four years later?

[cam21fr]

could have been one of the cathedrals of baseball. instead all we have now is fenway and wrigley. not even yankee stadium anymore

[pac401]

Walter O'Malley is not entirely to blame. Robert Moses who was the construction czar of NYC wanted to build them a new stadium in the location where Shea Stadium ended up. O'Malley wanted the city to sell him land for a new stadium at the Atlantic rail yards, where there was easy access to trains and was IN Brooklyn. Of course O'Malley could have bought the land himself but he figured if Moses wanted to pay for the land in Queens then... Moving to LA was a smart business decision.

[theeasybeats]

Bye Hilda, bye symphonie, bye vince gully, bye NYC baseball, Don't It Make You Want To Go Home Joe South

[Water4Jeremiah]

It sure is cool seeing videos of all dead people.

[tomitstube]

this will continue to happen as long as the public continues to give millions to private owners. if the public is going to subsidize sports teams then they should get the revenue and partial or whole ownership.

this will never happen in green bay where the team is owned by the citizens.

the first thing to do is get the courts to stop sports owners from blocking the sale of teams to it's rightful owners. the fans and the cities they belong.

[fuggetabodit]

I was 9 when they left. It made me cry and turned me into a Yankees fan

[kisscactus]

Looking back, it is still quite a disgrace that baseball allowed the Dodgers to leave Brooklyn. Thanks for the video!

[bigvandave]

You never know they might come back!

[nicrocks123]

@bigvandave na L.A. brings in too big of a crowd every game

[buffalobraves9]

Taken from the Ken Burns Baseball documentary.

[TH3Omaster]

Fuck brooklyn you guys can have the angels take the clippers while your at it.

[retrokid62]

@TH3Omaster fuck LA

[tommusicfan19]

Baseball's never been the same since the Dodgers left Brooklyn. And the Giants left the Polo Grounds.

[Boomer1947]

@tommusicfan19 maybe have been the death of baseball when it was game

[summerof1994]

Reminds me totally of Yankee Stadium, how the hell could you tear these type of ballparks down, the day I saw Yankee Stadium come down I was 14 years old and thats when I realized that money is the only thing these owners care about, its why yankee stadium is gone and its why the dodgers are wasting their time in Cali, they have never been the same team, I dont care what anybody says.

[espinoaguila]

I will never forget this old ballpark. It is the most popular past ballpark.

[vivascargill]

There are no Dodgers there is no baseball anymore--hasn't been for a long time

and what the hell is Chrystal a Yankee fan going on this video?

Take steroids play with I pods--what a world!

[ShawShank503]

Los Angeles disgraces the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinsons legacy along with Pee Wee Reese.

[Supersonicsfan12]

Fuck los angeles, they already have the angels. send them back to brooklyn where it was meant to be.

[peterpamanez]

ebbets field shulda been kept there as a monument

go DODGERS!

[mrceebees14]

Those 200 fans that watched were Yankee fans, no Dodger fan would have been able to endure this.

Up yours O'Malley.

[GilHodgesFan]

@mrceebees14 I can't figure out either why anyone would want to watch the destruction of such a memorable ballpark. Had to be Yankee fans!! Ebbets Field could never be duplicated in Dodger Stadium in LA, or elsewhere for that matter. It never had the intimacy of Ebbets and the tight-knit community like Brooklyn. It never had a Hilda Chester or a Sym-phony or a Gladys Godding the organist, or a Happy Felton and the Knothole Gang. Traitor O'Malley is in the HOF and beloved Gil Hodges isn't!

[alonenjersey]

@GilHodgesFan Judging by the look on their faces, those

Dodger fans turned out to say goodbye to the cathedral that Ebbets Field was. Something to tell kids about years later.

[MrMojoRisinII]

@GilHodgesFan Amen Brother!!! Of course O'Malley ( spit on floor) was born in the Bronx

[huskyjerk]

I loved the centerfield upperdeck stands and the famous rightfield scoreboard. Would love to have seen it in person. Anger fills me as I watch the destruction of this sacred turf.

[MegaObserver1]

They should have held off tearing down Ebbets Field for a few years. I'm sure the Mets would have much preferred to play there than the decrepit Polo Grounds while waiting on Shea. Besides, Ebbets in Brooklyn was much closer to Shea Flushing than the Polo Grounds in Harlem was

[MrMojoRisinII]

@MegaObserver1 Walter O'Malley ( spit on the floor) sold Ebbetts Field after the 1955 season. He had no intention of staying in New York.

Him and his son Peter are real pieces of you know what and hopefully will have adjacent piles of feces to shovel in hell.....

[thndrct218]

@MrMojoRisinII Robert Moses also deserves his fair share of the blame - He should of let O'Malley have the piece of land at Atlantic and Flatbush that he wanted to build a new stadium, but like a super-douche offered him what would eventually become Shea Stadium - which would of sorta defeated the purpose since the Dodgers were Brooklyns team, not Queens, "Queens Dodgers", "New York Dodgers" or "Long Island Dodgers" just doesnt work you know?

[MrMojoRisinII]

@thndrct218 Oh Moses does get some of the blame. The fact is the land O'Malley wanted would have been in a bad spot. Bad roads and not enough parking. The funny part is the perfect place would have been Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. Its by the Belt Parkway and near the trains. The bottom line was that O'Malley wanted the land given to him. Had Moses given him the land in Queens he would have still stayed. By the way the Jets and Giants still wear the NY's on their helmets but play in N J.

[TexasMan77]

Where exactly was Ebbets field located in Brooklyn?

[sovetskii52]

@TexasMan77 Go to Google maps, type in "ebbets field, Brooklyn". It does not give you the exact location, but it's surrounded by Montgomery Street, Bedford Avenue, Sullivan Place, and Mc Keever place. It's a big housing complex now. A few blocks north and east of the Prospect Park station on the B,Q trains.

[GilHodgesFan]

This is sad. LA Dodgers are just not the same. Alot of Brooklyn fans personally knew Brooklyn Dodgers players as they lived in the same neighborhoods as many of their fans and worked second jobs in baseball's off-season in the community. You can't recreate superfanHilda Chester or the Sym-phony or the Knot Hole Gang. Ebbetts Field's size made it a very cozy chummy ballpark and the seating was such that fans were very close to players on the field. A one of kind era that can't happen again

[nbafreak41]

This is all O'Malley's fault! You suck Walter O'Malley!!! Brooklyn Dodgers rule forever! L.A. Dodgers suck at existence. Go Brooklyn.

[Boomer1947]

Ebbets Field and the Brooklyn Dodgers was BASEBALL

[Wehategod]

This is sad it really it is my cousins who lived in Brooklyn said it was like losing a Mother or a Father thats how much the Dodgers meant to them and My Grandfather whom was a Die hard Giants fan Said well after 57 I gave up on Baseball and the Mets could never replace my Giants to hell with Baseball

[Umusic4]

Ebbets Field Was A Shine

[razraz222]

yorkers should be proud of themselves - they've allowed 3 classic & beautiful ballparks to be removed forever....Ebbetts, Polo Grounds and yankee stadium....soooo typical....

[MrMojoRisinII]

Don't think Brooklynites and New Yorkers in general aren't gleeful that the 49ers are leaving San Francisco for Santa Clara and Los Angeles lost both the Raiders and the Rams. Now they both know how it feels to be abandoned. By the way anyone want to swap the Mets for the Dodgers?????

[happyguy215]

I grew up watching the dodgers in L.A. but Frank McCourt should move the Dodgers back to Brooklyn, Los Angeles has nothing to do with the team. O'Malley rot in hell.

[MSavage59]

At least they made Citi Field look similar

[phildgoldman77]

Well if like baseball and are old enough to remember Ebbets Field this will move you.

[trapezemusic]

The problem facing the Dodgers in the mid-1950's was not so much an aging Ebbetts Field but its location. As stated in Inning Seven of Ken Burns' "Baseball", white fans no longer felt comfortable going to night games in what had become a black neighborhood. The same was true about the area surrounding the Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan. When Robert Moses insisted that the new stadium be in Queens it opened the door for Walter O'Malley to abandon NYC. Sadly, he took the Giants with him.

[knoxjay]

I cant imagine what it would have been like for the people of Brooklyn , its heartbreaking , probably the most loyal fans in history.

[dmc081]

i heared in nyc back then there was alot of baseball fields is that true?

[BOOGE64]

Yesterday the Nets broke ground on their new Brooklyn Arena. I know it won't compare with the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn, but it is better than nothing.

[ninjaworshipper]

brooklyn deserves another team, but nothing can take away what the dodgers meant to brookyln natives

[BootPatrol]

This is so sad - that Walter O'Malley had to do this to the borough of Brooklyn.

My heart weeps for Brooklyn, and I only wish I could have gotten to see the Brooklyn Dodgers play at Ebbets Field.

Thanks for posting, friend.

[Boomer1947]

Ebbets Field Forever

[EvanescentIcee]

u guyz make mi feel so bad 4 moving here....

[Fredconto]

Strange fact. The Dodgers have been playing in Dodger Stadium longer than they played in Ebbets.

[Heidibear76]

Stranger Fact: You're a dick.

[Fredconto]

@Heidibear76 Um I wish I was as great as you. Your comment is uncalled for.

[LetDaShowBegin3]

Sometimes places and parks envoke more pleasant memories then associations with other people. Sadly one might enjoy things more at a ballpark then any other place. I felt the same Dodger fans felt when Milwaukee County Stadium was demolished then if a close relative had passed. Then to have the team leave due to greed, must really hurt. But fans did not want to come to Ebbetts field because it had turned to a ghetto and they felt unsafe which is unfortunate.

[LetDaShowBegin3]

Wow...great piece here. Baseball and it's ballpark's are so romantic sometimes. I am in love with old ballparks. This is the taj mahal of them all...Ebbetts Field! Wish they had this park in EA or 2k sports video games! One of you live ontop of the very site of Ebbets!? How cool... thanks a million for this! Good times...

[alhassane1742]

i actually live on top of ebbets field i live in the building on top of ebbestfield

[mrceebees14]

I don't know how any Dodger fan could have sat their voluntarily and watched their heart and soul ripped out of them.

They must have been the casual Dodger fan, but I never thought they had any.

[Wehategod]

It sad it really is !!!!!

[TankDempsy1]

The dodgers should have stayed in brooklyn

[mokos23]

what movie is this from?

[Futtan]

It's from Ken Burns Baseball inning-7.A series in 9 parts.

Let's Go Mets!

[prausch65]

The House That Ruth Built ,Yankee Stadium, is now being demolished,a travesty indeed. Have we not learned from this video?

[mrceebees14]

Only the Yankees aren't moving 3,000 miles away.

Idiot.

[prausch65]

Indeed, but the most recognized sports venue in the world, where many historic events happened, is being razed. Moron.

[mrceebees14]

That is just it, you missed the entire point of this video slow one.

This was about THE TEAM LEAVING you dolt, something Yankees fans didn't have to say goodbye to when they ripped down Yankee Stadium.

You sir are a total and complete idiot.

[hermanglimsher]

Actually the Dodgers made a smart move going to Los Angeles.

The Giants would have been better off staying in New York and getting a new ball park

[walrustusks]

Agreed to what you said hermanglimsher.

[kaplanr]

O'Malley originally wanted to. He couldn't get Robert Moses to agree to find a location in Brooklyn that would have parking and that people in the burbs would come to. Moses wanted a park in Queens - what eventually became Shea. Was O'Malley sincere? Who knows.

[mrceebees14]

It was only a smart move for O'Malley IF he could convince the Giants to move also.

That was the huge part of the deal, if the Giants say "no, we are staying" then there is no way O'Malley moves that team. Why should he? He was making very good money with the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Ebbets feild was still a very good ballpark.

But the Giants were the 3rd sister in this town and the Polo Grounds was a total dump. It didn't help that they didn't draw well either.

[jimihendrixhof]

o'malley should rot in hell

[NYYCutie3]

I watched that documentary about the brooklyn dodgers on HBO. It was really sad how the fans were talking about how they felt about the ball park being destroyed. Even though I'm a Yankee fan I was happy they won that world series.

[KickMeAndCancel]

My grandpa was a die-hard Brooklyn Dodgers fan. I can't imagine how much this must've hurt him to watch his team get sent thousands of miles away so suddenly.

[prausch65]

This is a very sad video for any New York baseball fan, seeing the hearts of the most loyalest fans in baseball , being torn apart. It is done in a very dignified manner, playing Auld Lang Syne slowly, while the fans look in horror, while the wrecking ball starts its work.

[jimmynjdevils]

I wish the dodgers would come back to brooklyn, sadly that would probably never happen

[ringbolt9]

In europe buildings are around for 100s of years...... you dont have to live very long in america to say  " I remember when..."

[pannoni1]

And the current Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles is now the third oldest MLB ballpark still standing today.

[thangg3x]

sad very sad

[SonofGospa]

My childhood in Brooklyn was all about the Dodgers and Ebbet's Field. This stadium should have been preserved as a monument to Brooklyn's history. I stood oputside the player's gate for hours just to see and maybe shake hands with "Campy", Don Hoak and other Dodger greats. It was like the death of an old friend when the Dodger's left Brooklyn and when the Stadium was destroyed it was the worst day in the lives of a lot of the faithful.

[manaray10]

lol that wrecking ball is tiny. they should've used explosives

[jfalu80]

if cr ap like wrigley and fenway still stand. bc theyre part of american history, why the heck knock down bldgs like ebbets?? same for yankee stadium. its part of american history. shame

[thndrct218]

They should of held off the demolition of ebbets field and let the mets use it while construction of shea stadium was ongoing, so at least than the borough could of given the stadium a proper send-off into history when the mets moved onto shea

[prausch65]

They did play in the former home of the New York Giants , the Polo Grounds, from 1962 until 1964.

[flamingfrancis]

Very sad, such a disgrace.

These churches of sport should be enshrined as memorial parks for the players and fans.

[loyaldude10]

@flamingfrancis ---u r so right. I live in Baltimore and was so pissed that they did not preserve the facade of of Memorial Stadium. Instead they have an ugly YMCA on the site, and some apartment building. A foolish decision made solely in the interests of the developer..

[mattyboyems]

One of the greatest parks.. alot of history in that park.. now there sits housing projects???? just like the polo grounds.. what a way to respect these two great parks. throw up some housing projects... SAD

[treytg]

ha ha my buildin sitz there now wow its not every day u get to say dat

[JimR541]

As a Mets fan that has now seen the ballpark he loved (it may have been a dump but it was our dump) torn down I think I can now identify with those old Brooklyn fans that were sad to see Ebbets Field go.

[MrMojoRisinII]

I hear ya pal. Shea was our dump, but it was home to some good baseball teams, and lot of good memories over the years. The Mets are the living legacy of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants..

[martcogis]

50 years later, the Nets gain building rights for their arena.

[Signal337]

Mr. Robert Moses, New York City Developer, made it very real that "The Dodgers" were no longer at home in Brooklyn. Moses refused to give Dodger President & Owner, Walter O'Malley, the land on Flatbush Ave & Atlantic Avenue after the 1957 Baseball season. The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles for the start of the 1958 seadon to this present day. "Too Bad Brooklyn".

[HFHCSJUMC]

It is a poignant moment to feel the pain of those 200 fans that day. Those of us who have grown up at Shea have similar feelings, although tempered by the reality that "our team" is moving 10 feet away and not across the country.

[ikvsabre]

Ironically, moving into a stadium that looks a lot like Ebbets Field (at least at the main entry).

Also, both Shea and Ebbets lasted 45 seasons.

[romancitoG]

i would'nt have liked being there during the destruction. extremely sad for a fan losing not just their ballpark but their team.

[dennis040404]

to this day i would give anything to see ebbets field, now that shea is gone i have started to remember many older ball parks

[AmericanRuffian]

The Dodgers never really moved to Los Angeles. They are just on one helluva extended road trip.

[b0bbyf0rd42]

wrecked it cus there wasn't enough parking

and kes1963, ur a fuckin idiot. the new mets stadium is modeled after ebbets field.

[alcd35]

What is the title of this Video? I would love to rent it from netflix if its available.

[EdselGuy1959]

This is from Ken Burns' PBS series, "Baseball." It's available widely.

[kes1963]

I always wondered were there plans to remodel ebbets field, or was the only thing that would keep the dodgers in brooklyn a new stadium?

[CaesarSALad391]

Ebbits field was so poorly made it was just falling apart on it's self and they said it smelled like urin... yeah they needed a new stadium.

[Yoseman1]

Ebbets genious.

[ElTiant]

You are the one who spelled "genius" wrong!

[Yoseman1]

Typo, sorry. look up all my old postings, it is always spelled correctly.

[prausch65]

They wanted to move the Dodgers to a site where Shea Stadium exists today, and O'Malley rejected it.

[omniwark]

that would be so hard to see happen to your teams ballpark. Palmtrees?! lol

[ElTiant]

yeah definitely. hahaha!!! but I really feel bad for brooklyn...