Item Description
Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is a fantastic painted wood sign that measures 14 in x 8 in. It is painted in red lettering as follows:
On the reverse of the sign, in hand written pencil it reads:
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is known mainly as the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League, from 1913 to 1957, but was also home to three National Football League teams in the 1920s. Ebbets Field was demolished in 1960 and replaced by apartment buildings.
The park's first night game was played on June 15, 1938, drawing a crowd of 38,748. Johnny Vander Meer of the visiting Cincinnati Reds pitched his second consecutive no-hitter in that game, a feat that has never been duplicated in Major League Baseball. It was also in 1938 that Hilda Chester, one of the earlier sports "superfans" became a regular attendee when Larry MacPhail brought Ladies' Days to Ebbets Field, with a ten cent admission.
Many people believe a false myth that New York teams did not play night games during World War Two. When in fact, in 1942 in the first year of U.S. participation in WWII night games in Ebbets Field in Brooklyn almost doubled as did those on the road. The Giants also continued to play home night games in 1942 but seemed to have unilaterally stopped in 1943 but that same year they played more road night games than in any previous year. The Yankees did not add lights to the Stadium until the 1946 season.
The other east coast city that would have been a logical target was Washington DC. Through 1960 Washington had an American League team generally known as the Senators. The Senators reduced their 1942 night games to three but by 1944 had greatly increased that number.
The bottom line is that the only elimination or even substantive reduction of night games in New York City during WWII was in 1943, year two of the war for the U.S., when the Giants played no home night games.
Yet there was a prevalent understanding for some that night games had been banned. This is false.
After the early successes of the Dodgers, the team slid into hard times. Things continued that way for several decades, until new ownership first brought in promotional wizard MacPhail in 1938, and then, after MacPhail's wartime resignation, player development genius Branch Rickey in 1943. In addition to his well-known breaking of the color line by signing Jackie Robinson, Rickey's savvy with farm systems (as with his prior work for the St. Louis Cardinals) produced results that made the Brooklyn Dodgers "Bums" a perennial contender, which they continued to be for several decades.
The Dodgers won pennants in 1941 (under MacPhail), 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1956. They won the 1955 World Series, their only world title, and were within two games (in 1950) and a playoff heartbreak (in 1951) of winning five National League pennants in a row (1949–53) and matching the cross-town Yankees' achievement during that stretch. Ebbets Field also hosted the 1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
- This product is available for international shipping.
- Eligible for all payments - Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AMEX, Paypal & Sezzle