Today would of been the 100th Anniversary of the opening of Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. In 1913, the Brooklyn Superbas (pre-Dodgers) lost to Philadelphia 1-0 in front of a crowd of 10,000. Had Ebbets Field remained, it's 100th birthday would of been between two other ballparks, Fenway and Wrigley.
There are many reminders of Ebbets Field. Citi-Field had been constructed in Ebbets' likeness. The Mets owner Fred Wilpon went to Lafeyette High School in Brooklyn. His classmate and good friend just happens to be Sandy Koufax. The Brooklyn Nets placed a flagpole from Ebbets in front of the Barclay Center. The Barclays Center was built on the exact site where O'Malley wanted to put a new stadium for the Dodgers before he moved them to Los Angeles.
The Nets honored the 100th anniversary of Ebbets Field by displaying the 1955 Championship Flag on the court prior to their game against the Philadelphia 76ers. How ironic on the 100th Anniversary a Brooklyn team is playing a Philadelphia team, only this time Brooklyn prevailed.
The blueprints for Ebbets Field are stored in an archive in Manhattan. These blueprints helped the movie people in getting Ebbets Field correct for the upcoming movie 42.
Vin Scully, who has been broadcasting the Dodgers since 1950 tells a story of how intimate Ebbets Field was, "Because every day you would see the same people in the box seats. They'd wave up, they'd say hello. Hilda Chester, who once hollered at me that she loved me, which embarrassed me and I lowered my head. Hilda hollered up at me and said. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." It must of been a great place to see a ball game.
Ebbets Field did not stand much longer after the Dodgers left but it has taken on an afterlife that no extinct ballpark has ever done.
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