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.

Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2

In search of a bulletproof case for the correct age of the famously misunderstood Washington Park wall, I have been to three libraries and spent several days doing nothing but reading old NY Times articles online. The results are in: the wall dates to 1914, and was built for the Tip Tops of the Federal League. There can be no other conclusion.

Want to see the wall? I offer guided tours of the site, for free. Or just go to Third Avenue and First Street in Park Slope and see for yourself.

Baseball day in New York

Monday's visit to Ebbets Field, it turns out, was merely a curtain raiser.

Today, on the 50th anniversary of the final games of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, famed ballpark afficionado Ken "Trolley Car" Schlapp and I took to the streets of the city. Our focus was on professional baseball, but a few extra parks lay in our path, too.

We began at Lou Gehrig's birthplace, on E 94th Street, and went from there to: the original Polo Grounds; the more famous Polo Grounds; Hilltop Park; the Long Island Grounds; the Queens County Grounds (aka Feldman's Atlantic Park); Suydam Oval; Meyerrose Park; Grauer's Ridgewood Park; Wallace's Ridgewood Grounds; the Union Grounds; the Capitoline Grounds; Eastern Park; Ebbets Field; the Parade Ground; Keyspan Park; the original Washington Park; and the later Washington Park.

I make that 17 distinct ballparks. Oh, and we took pictures of Yankee Stadium from the Polo Grounds site, too. You can see lots of photos here.

Meantime, as we journeyed around three boroughs, strange events were unfolding at Shea Stadium...

Every time we heard the radio, John Maine had a bigger lead to work with, and was a little further into a potential no-hitter. After a bench clearing brawl, we heard about "the incident at third base" as if it was a UFO sighting in Nevada. Each Mets run was celebrated as if it was a World Series win. Suddenly the Great Collapse of 2007 had turned into the Mighty Recovery of 2007. When it was all over, Maine had struck out 14, given up just one measly infield hit after getting 23 outs, and the bullpen had helped him to a 13-0 romp over the Marlins.

By now, The Phillies have duly lost, and the NL East is again dead level with a game to go. Fun? This race couldn't be better if it was being contested by ninja monkeys and pirate pandas.

History remembered, and history made. Today was a day for baseball.