Baseball’s Opening Day
One hundred years ago today … It was the first day of the 1920 baseball season and all three NYC teams played. The Brooklyn Robins, later to be named the Dodgers (as in “trolley dodgers”–a name that would make no sense when the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958) kicked off what would be their championship year by beating the Philadelphia Phillies at Ebbets Field, 55 Sullivan Place, Brooklyn, between Bedford Avenue and Cedar Street (now McKeever Place).
Kudos to Richard Freyer of the Evening World for presciently describing the team.
The Evening World, 15 April, 1920. P. 18. Newspapers.com.
Though the Brooklyn team would own the 1920 season, on opening day the New York Giants owned the city’s heart, which is why Mayor John Hylan threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Polo Grounds, in Coogan’s Hollow near West 155th Street.
The New York Times, 14 April, 1920, p. 10.
The Giants lost their opener to the Boston Braves, prompting Thornton Fisher’s critique in the form of a racist cartoon.
The Evening World, 15 April, 1920. P. 18. Newspapers.com.
The other Manhattan team, the Yankees, played out of town.