Back from California: a Reconciliation with the Dodgers and Gil Hodges

[EbtsFldGuy]

Just spent a week in California, and had three Dodgeresque experiences, all of which were enjoyable.

First, we went to Dodger Stadium, a place I've always wanted to see, if only for closure purposes. We were there last Monday, and I am impressed by the place. Its location is superb, atop Chavez Ravine with a splendid view of nearby downtown L.A. They have a Gift Shop open all year, which allows a panorama from the corridor of the entire park. The Rolling Stones had played there 36 hours earlier and workers were repairing the field. Though I still rue the move from Flatbush, I have to say that the place is first-rate. Opened 2 years before Shea, it is immaculate and current.

I then went to the Dodger offices and asked if they had any commemoration of the Brooklyn days. The guy at the desk had no information, but told me that they had a tour the next day, That did no good, since we'd be gone from L.A. by then. We walked into the seats outside the team offices, at the end of the seats down the third base line, and watched from there and took photos.

I kept thinking about the Brooks who played there, and wished them all (and their memories) well.

Second, that night, through friends, we had dinner with a former LA Dodger who remains in the game. We talked at length about the Dodgers, about the Brooklyn days (he'd heard much about them from old Dodgers), about the move out of Vero Beach, and about the game today. Safe to say that had this guy played in Ebbets Field, he would have been a fan favorite. That's how genuine and decent a fellow he is.

Third, five days later, when we reached San Francisco, we stopped for lunch by chance at a place called Liverpool Lil's. I got speaking to a guy who told me that the proprietor is Gil Hodges - the grandson of our Gil. I was introduced to him, and we had a wonderful conversation. He is about 6' 4", I'd say, built just like his grandad, bearing a strong facial resemblance to him, and possessed of the same affability for which # 14 was universally known. I told him about this board, and got his OK to post this note about meeting him and about his place, whose website is: www.liverpoollils.com. It's on Lyon street, across from the Lombard Street entrance to the former Army post known as the Presidio of San Francisco.

Gil mentioned the continuing effort to get the Hall of Fame to come to its senses and admit his granddad, something we all support

Meeting him was like connecting with the Brooklyn Dodgers' past in an unusual and reassuring way.

In short, the trip was fun, and I'm glad l made it. Still, nothing will replace Ebbets Field and our beloved Bums.

Also made it to AT&T Park, saw the famed McCovey Cove, and thought that park is also attractive. Sure beats Candlestick Park, which has been renamed Monster Park, and which will be vacant once the 49ers move to Santa Clara in a few years.

That's the trip report, boys and girls.

[Shotgun Shuba]

That trip sounds fun. Who was the Dodger? It can't be that hush hush! I have never harbored any resentment towards the present day Dodgers, I just wish they never left. I would love to see a game at Chavez Ravine and believe the facilities are first rate. It should be a big year out there, 50th anniv. and all.

[MATHA531]

While this is the 50th season since the crime of 1957, the usual procedure is to begin celebrations of the 50th this and that after the actual 50th anniversary so one would suspect the current imposter Los Angeles National League baseball team will have all sorts of celebrations next year...perhaps beginning 09 October when the piece of slime announced he was stealing the franchise from its true home where it had been a founding member of the National League.

However, in Brooklyn, we will be having all sorts of anti celebrations this year...you know the 50th anniversary of the last Opening Day (when they hoisted the 1956 National League pennant), the 50th anniversary of that infamous meeting in Chicago when another piece of slime in all this, Warren Giles announced the Brooklyn and New York franchises had been granted permission to move to Los Angeles and San Francisco and when asked how the National League could not have a team in New York uttered the infamous statement, "Who needs New York?"

Then of course there will be the 50th anniversary of the last major league game ever to be played in Brooklyn in September and finally the last game in the history of the Dodgers...everything that occurred after 09 October 1957 has nothing to do with the real Dodgers.

This will be a sad season and will have a lot of action on this board; unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.

[princethomas]

Glad you had a good trip. I have been to many games at Dodger Stadium and let me tell you, it is a wonderful place to watch a game. I understand the emotion that Brooklyn fans still feel and how upsetting all of it is, but I am glad that you could come out and see the place and like it. I have been to many different parks in the MLB and DS is my favorite.

Glad you liked it. I sure wish there was someway to patch up some of these differences.

[musial6]

I hated the OLD Dodgers and I hate the NEW Dodgers, but I surely loved Ebbets Field--it was the BEST.

RIP, Abe Stark.

[tonypug]

EFG, I'm happy to hear you had a good trip. Thanks for reporting back. It sounds like you did quite a bit.I personally have no animosity to the LA team or their fans. They aren't resposible for what happened 50 years ago.The LA team is just another team team and means nothing to me.There are two seperate Dodger franchises. The one from Brooklyn that we used to follow and the one that started in 1958.

[EbtsFldGuy]

Thanks to you all for your good wishes about the trip.

I'd like to reveal the Dodger we had dinner with, but I can't, because it was a private event and I don't want to take advantage of the guy's kindness by publicizing it.

Suffice it to say that meeting him and his wife convinced me that MLB is not bereft of people of good character. We spoke about his boyhood on the East Coast, his family, his commitment to them, the schools they attend, and their plans for the future. His dedication to his faith was also evident (though never proclaimed or boasted about) and that to me is impressive.

In thinking about the Dodgers' leaving, it occurred to me that something said by people of our parents' generation may apply here: if a family member has to leave the old neighborhood, it is good that they go to a place where they will be happy and prosper. So, if our beloved Bums had to go West, I'm glad (at long last) that they are doing well in Dodger Stadium.

Going there was truly a closure for me. As I've posted before, I've gone back to the site of EF five times, and get sadder each time I do, as I remember what was and will never be again. I guess that I just had to see Dodger Stadium, for finality purposes. Being there, it is obvious to me why they put Brookyn in their rear view mirrors.

On the other hand, the Giants have not fully expunged their past. On a wall of AT&T Park, just above the gift shop, is a mural which entitled "New York and San Francisco Giants" and then lists achievments in several categories by players and teams in both cities.

I wish the Dodgers would do that. But O'M evidently believed that when you remarry, you don't put a photo of your first wife in your new home.

Finally, I'd say the best surprise I had on the trip. was meeting Gil Hodges' grandson at his restaurant in San Francisco. What a nice young man!

[MSUlaxer27]

While this is the 50th season since the crime of 1957, the usual procedure is to begin celebrations of the 50th this and that after the actual 50th anniversary so one would suspect the current imposter Los Angeles National League baseball team will have all sorts of celebrations next year...perhaps beginning 09 October when the piece of slime announced he was stealing the franchise from its true home where it had been a founding member of the National League.

However, in Brooklyn, we will be having all sorts of anti celebrations this year...you know the 50th anniversary of the last Opening Day (when they hoisted the 1956 National League pennant), the 50th anniversary of that infamous meeting in Chicago when another piece of slime in all this, Warren Giles announced the Brooklyn and New York franchises had been granted permission to move to Los Angeles and San Francisco and when asked how the National League could not have a team in New York uttered the infamous statement, "Who needs New York?"

Then of course there will be the 50th anniversary of the last major league game ever to be played in Brooklyn in September and finally the last game in the history of the Dodgers...everything that occurred after 09 October 1957 has nothing to do with the real Dodgers.

This will be a sad season and will have a lot of action on this board; unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.


Brooklyn was not a founding member of the National League...they didn't join until 1890. I've been to Dodger stadium to see the Mets. It's a great place to see a game. Too bad they couldn't build in NYC.

[Johnny Thinslow]

Suffice it to say that meeting him and his wife convinced me that MLB is not bereft of people of good character. We spoke about his boyhood on the East Coast, his family, his commitment to them, the schools they attend, and their plans for the future. His dedication to his faith was also evident (though never proclaimed or boasted about) and that to me is impressive.

Until I read this comment, I was under the impression that MLB was bereft of people of good character. Especially impressive is the fact that this anonymous person made evident but did not boast about his dedication to his faith. Yes, anybody who is dedicated to his faith--and I guess it does not matter what that faith may be--is a person of good character.

[I]f a family member has to leave the old neighborhood, it is good that they [sic] go to a place where they will be happy and prosper. So, if our beloved Bums had to go West, I'm glad (at long last) that they are doing well in Dodger Stadium.

Did the family member have to leave the old neighborhood? Would Mr. Ebbets Field Guy's best wishes also extend to somebody who is not a family member? And is Mr. Ebbets Field Guy equating happiness with prosperity? And is Mr. Ebbets Field Guy at all concerned about the misery that this family member caused in all the relatives he left behind?



O'M evidently believed that when you remarry, you don't put a photo of your first wife in your new home.!

Did O'M obtain a legal divorce? Did he leave his spouse with a fair and equitable settlement? Did he keep up with his alimony payments? Did he ever make any? Was O'M's remarriage recognized by the church he belonged to? What church did he belong to? Was O'M as dedicated to his faith as Mr. Ebbets Field Guy's friend was dedicated to his?

[EbtsFldGuy]

Did the family member have to leave the old neighborhood? Would Mr. Ebbets Field Guy's best wishes also extend to somebody who is not a family member? And is Mr. Ebbets Field Guy equating happiness with prosperity? And is Mr. Ebbets Field Guy at all concerned about the misery that this family member caused in all the relatives he left behind?]

Maybe I gave the wrong impression, and if I did, I apologize. In saying what I did, I did not mean that I approve of the move or the horrid effect it had upon Brooklyn and us Brooklyn Dodger fans. Far from it. What he did to Brooklyn and the fan base is not excusable.

My statement simply was one of resignation to immutable history. If they had to leave (they did not in one sense, but did in another in that O'M was ordering the move), I'm glad the franchise is in a good stadium.

That's all.

[Did O'M obtain a legal divorce? Did he leave his spouse with a fair and equitable settlement? Did he keep up with his alimony payments? Did he ever make any? Was O'M's remarriage recognized by the church he belonged to? What church did he belong to? Was O'M as dedicated to his faith as Mr. Ebbets Field Guy's friend was dedicated to his?

Again, I'm no apologist for O'M, his greed, or the awful wrenching of the Brooks from Ebbets Field. It is obvious that Brooklyn was immediately in his rear view mirror, and money was all that mattered. His indefensible act (or that of his family) in suing the owners of the former Brooklyn Dodger bar on Third Avenue in Bay Ridge in the 1990s, more than 30 years after they left NY, shows that.

I wish that he did what the Giants did - publicly remember the Brooklyn days somewhere in Dodger Stadium.

[EbtsFldGuy]

[Did the family member have to leave the old neighborhood? Would Mr. Ebbets Field Guy's best wishes also extend to somebody who is not a family member? And is Mr. Ebbets Field Guy equating happiness with prosperity? And is Mr. Ebbets Field Guy at all concerned about the misery that this family member caused in all the relatives he left behind?]

Maybe I gave the wrong impression, and if I did, I apologize. In saying what I did, I did not mean that I approve of the move or the horrid effect it had upon Brooklyn and us Brooklyn Dodger fans. Far from it. What he did to Brooklyn and the fan base is not excusable.

My statement simply was one of resignation to immutable history. If they had to leave (they did not in one sense, but did in another in that O'M was ordering the move), I'm glad the franchise is in a good stadium.

That's all.



[Did O'M obtain a legal divorce? Did he leave his spouse with a fair and equitable settlement? Did he keep up with his alimony payments? Did he ever make any? Was O'M's remarriage recognized by the church he belonged to? What church did he belong to? Was O'M as dedicated to his faith as Mr. Ebbets Field Guy's friend was dedicated to his?]

Again, I'm no apologist for O'M, his greed, or the awful wrenching of the Brooks from Ebbets Field. It is obvious that Brooklyn was immediately in his rear view mirror, and money was all that mattered. His indefensible act (or that of his family) in suing the owners of the former Brooklyn Dodger bar on Third Avenue in Bay Ridge in the 1990s, more than 30 years after they left NY, shows that.

I wish that he did what the Giants did - publicly remember the Brooklyn days somewhere in Dodger Stadium.

[mandrake]

I too went to Dodger Stadium last summer when I visited from NY. Even though it is two years older than Shea, it is in far better shape, and it is much better for baseball than Shea. I wore a Brooklyn hat and jersey and talked to everyone around me. Even though I am too young to have seen the Bums, I have taken my wife and kids to the Botanic gardens/Brooklyn Museum/ Prospect park Zoo with a quick trip over to where Ebbets Field once stood. My 11 year old son said "no wonder they moved to LA". Of course, my parents had to tell him that was a whole different world back then

[EbtsFldGuy]

I too went to Dodger Stadium last summer when I visited from NY. Even though it is two years older than Shea, it is in far better shape, and it is much better for baseball than Shea. I wore a Brooklyn hat and jersey and talked to everyone around me. Even though I am too young to have seen the Bums, I have taken my wife and kids to the Botanic gardens/Brooklyn Museum/ Prospect park Zoo with a quick trip over to where Ebbets Field once stood. My 11 year old son said "no wonder they moved to LA". Of course, my parents had to tell him that was a whole different world back then


Your parents are correct.

Sadly, it is not possible to tangibly demonstrate to the present the wonderful aura of 1957 Ebbets Field.