Saturday, October 16, 2010

Another brick in the wall

After ten months of waiting, the demolition team has moved in and is tearing down much of the remains of Washington Park, Brooklyn. There is a small amount still standing, which Con Ed has promised us - basically the northernmost section along Third Avenue and around the corner on First Street. Why is that? Because they have been convinced that the northernmost part was built by the Dodgers, circa 1908, and the rest was built by the Edison Company, circa 1920. I can't see any reason to believe either of these propositions, dating the wall, after a good deal of study, to 1914 and the Brooklyn entry in the Federal League, better known as the Tip Tops.

That version of Washington Park was modeled after Weeghman Park - you might know it better as Wrigley Field. To lose any of this wall is a tragedy for baseball historians. But what can I do about it now? I could only think of one thing, today: I kept a piece for myself.

My little piece of Brooklyn's baseball history. I'm not letting it slip away.

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