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Ebbets Field Photo Gallery
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The First Game in Historic Ebbets Field
The first game in Ebbets Field was actually an exhibition game between the Superbas and their crosstown rivals, the Yankees. It was played on April 5, 1913. The featured photo above is from that game with Ray Caldwell on the mound for the visiting New Yorkers.
The first regular season game was played four days later on Opening Day of the 1913 season, Wednesday, April 9. The game was between the Brooklyn Superbas, managed by Bill Dahlen and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, managed by Red Dooin.
Brooklyn’s lineup that day featured two Hall-of-Famers: Casey Stengel in center and Zack Wheat in left. The Superbas starting pitcher was their ace, Nap Rucker, who went the distance, while Tom Seaton was on the mound for the Phils. Otto Knabe went 2-3 for Philadelphia and scored an unearned run in the first inning. It proved to be the winning run as the Phillies beat the Superbas 1-0. The game was played in a snappy 1:30 before 10,000 fans. Hall-of-Fame umpire Bill Klem was behind home plate and Al Orth was at first.
Here’s a few words about Ebbets Field from Wikipedia:
“Ebbets Field was the scene of some early successes, as the “Robins” (as they were then called for long-time manager Wilbert Robinson) won pennants in 1916 and 1920. 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, a feat that has never been duplicated in Major League Baseball. After the early successes of the Dodgers, the team slid into some hard times. Things would continue that way for a couple of decades, until new ownership brought in first promotional wizard Larry MacPhail (in 1938), 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 turned the Dodgers into perennial contenders.
The Dodgers won pennants in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1956. They won the 1955 World Series (the only world title in Brooklyn Dodgers history), and were within two games and a playoff heartbreak of winning five NL pennants in a row (1949–53) and matching the cross-town Yankees’ achievement during that stretch. Ebbets also hosted the 1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.”
-Gary Livacari
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