Ebbets Fields' Last Summer in the Sun

Classic baseball stadium gets one World Series victory in '55 before being destroyed in '57.

By Chris Wood



On September 24, 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers, known as the "bums," played their last game at Ebbets Field and finished in third place with an 87 and 70 record for the season. 

The next year the Dodgers would move to Los Angeles and on February 23, 1960, the 32,000 seat capacity Ebbets Field Stadium, originally constructed in 1913 on the site of the Pigstown garbage dump for the sum of $750,000, was demolished. Currently, the Dodgers still play in Los Angeles and the Ebbets Field Apartments now occupy the site where this once classic stadium stood.

The 1950s were among the most successful for the Brooklyn Dodgers in their stadium named after owner, Charlie Ebbets. They took four pennants and won the World Series in 1955 against their neighbors in the Bronx, the New York Yankees. Game four, played on October 1, 1955, was particularly important to the Dodgers as they tied up the Series at 2 and 2. Catcher, Roy "Campy" Campanella, first baseman, Gil Hodges, and centerfielder, Duke Snider all hit home runs. Sinder finished out the series with four home runs and became the only player from either league to do this in two different World Series (1952 World Series). 

The 1955 World Series was the first and only world title in Brooklyn Dodger history in a traditional "Subway Series" against the Yankees. In Brooklyn that day, it was the Liberation of Paris, Vee Jay Day, [and] New Years Day all rolled in one sports columnist for the New York Post, Peter Vescey, said on the day the Dodgers won the Series. The Brooklyn Dodgers are also one of the only two teams to win more than 100 games in one season during the 1950s. They won 105 games in 1953. But several seasons of disappointment lead up to that 4 and 3 victory against the Bronx Bomber, beginning in 1951. 

They were the team that fans hated to love, but loved nevertheless, “The "Boys of Summer." To fans, the Brooklyn Dodgers represented the "everyman" who just couldn't catch a break. They had talent: like the lefty hitter, righty thrower, Sinder; Jackie Robison, the "color barrier" breaking, heavy hitter; and sure-handed shortstop and WWII Veteran, Harold "Pewee" Reese. But they were unable to close the deal against the Yankees in 1952 and 1953, losing both World Series in heartbreakers. Of course, beating the Yankees was a David to Goliath-like accomplishment in itself. 

Their bad luck may not have started in 1951 (the team was established in 1883, but known as the Bridegrooms, later the Trolley Dodgers, to finally be shortened to the Dodgers), but most fans of baseball are aware of the "shot heard" round the world. That October, the Brooklyn Dodgers lost the pennant on the last day of the season to the New York Giants from a walk-on home run hit by outfielder, Bobby Thomson. 

However, in 1955, the Brooklyn Dodgers gave their Kings County fans the final victory that could never be taken away, even though their beloved ballpark would not last the decade. In 1956, the Dodgers met the Yankees again in the World Series, but, they were not able to repeat. That marked the last traditional "Subway Series" for 44 years. The next one wouldn't be played until 2000 when the Yankees defeated the Mets in a 4 to 1 Series.