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The Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates were heading in opposite directions on Memorial Day 1955. Entering the day, the National League-leading Dodgers claimed the majors’ best record at 30-10, six games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. The cellar-dwelling Pirates were tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the majors’ worst record at 13-29. The Dodgers opened […]

Few Flatbushers made the effort to attend the game on a cloudy, warm afternoon.1 Just 3,874 – only 12 percent of Ebbets Field’s capacity in 1955 – bore witness to a record-breaking 10th straight win to start the season.2 Before the season, Dodgers President Walter O’Malley reminded Brooklyn that the Dodgers had won four pennants […]

“Before Sandy Koufax became Sandy Koufax, before Clayton Kershaw was invented, there was Karl Spooner.” — George Vecsey1   It was the last week of the 1954 regular season, a disappointing one for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The archrival New York Giants were in town, grabbing the opportunity to clinch the National League title in the […]

Roy Campanella with a mighty swing during spring training with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1950s. (SABR-Rucker Archive)   Most of the time the number 13 is considered unlucky. For the Brooklyn Dodgers on this fateful day in August, the number 13 was very, very lucky. Dem Bums were able to get to three […]

Roy Campanella with a mighty swing during spring training with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1950s. (SABR-Rucker Archive)   Baseball fans making their way to Ebbets Field for Game Five of the 1953 World Series were in a festive mood even while a weather prediction of overcast skies took shape.1 Police officers yearned for […]

There were other events, including the meanderings of a runaway horse named Red, worthy of ink on the front page of the Brooklyn Eagle on Sunday, October 4, 1953, but after the Dodgers had evened up the World Series the day before, the banner headline, “Let’s Be Unmerciful!” expressed the sentiment of the Brooklyn faithful.1 […]

Jackie Robinson debuted with the Dodgers at age 28 in 1947. Over the course of the next seven seasons, he was arguably the best player in baseball, batting .319 with a .414 on-base percentage. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)   Jackie Robinson was in the heart of the prime of his career. His 1947 rookie season had […]

“I was gunning for it, all right,” said Ralph Kiner, the Pittsburgh Pirates star left fielder. “I was sure gunning for that fourth home run in the ninth inning yesterday against the Dodgers … You don’t get these chances too often.”1 Although another home run would have nudged Kiner deeper into rare historic company, the […]

Tommy Brown first gained notoriety as a 16-year-old for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944. His unique opportunity to reach the big leagues at such a young age came about because most of baseball’s regular players were serving in the military during World War II. He would be a part-time player during his entire nine-year major-league […]

As Dodgers fans streamed through Ebbets Field’s turnstiles on October 9, 1949, their mood matched the day’s weather: warm and sunny. “You could not have a finer day for a baseball game,” broadcaster Red Barber said as World Series Game Five began.1 Brooklynites were optimistic that their team of young sluggers, led by Jackie Robinson, […]