Ebbets Field: Brooklyn's Baseball Shrine [Paperback]

Joseph McCauley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 2004

Ebbets Field was Brooklyn's Baseball Shrine. From the first televised baseball game and the home of the first black player to integrate baseball, Ebbets Field served as a community meeting place where people came to worship their hometown Dodgers.Inside are contributions from such notable baseball heavy hitters as Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, NY Times Dave Anderson and ex NY Met GM Joe McDonald (who started out as a ticket taker at Gate 19). Also interviewed are multiple ex-Brooklyn Dodgers including Spider Jorgenson, Gene Hermanski, and Carl Erskine, who give their first hand observations and memories of Ebbets Field. Many old Brooklyn Dodger fans also added their unique stories, as well as photos, of the Ebbets Field experience.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Ebbets Field- Brooklyn’s Baseball Shrine offers a nostalgic and timely treasure for cultural and baseball fans.

Ebbets Field was home to the National League’s Brooklyn Dodgers for over 40 years and during that time baseball saw many historic changes that originated there. From the first televised major league baseball game, to Jackie Robinson crashing the color barrier, Ebbets Field hosted a mind boggling variety of events in its 47 years of existence. Celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye and Marilyn Monroe (among others) also made appearances there.

The park was a community meeting place in Brooklyn. Church services, political rallies and even movie showings were held there. Boxing, Olympic trials, professional, college and high school football, soccer, and the circus were a few of the many other events that took place at Ebbets Field.

Brooklyn Dodger fans, players and Ebbets Field employees share their stories and feelings about the park through the years in different chapters. There are 54 photos, many in color, throughout the book. At least ten photos have never been published before.

From the Author

After three years of research and hours of tape recordings plus countless new friendships, my book Ebbets Field: Brooklyn's Baseball Shrine was finally completed. The crowning accomplishment was my presentation of the book at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. It was a joy to meet with former batboy Bil Phifer (who came from Pennsylvania) and many other long time Brooklyn Dodger fans.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (December 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1418481556
• ISBN-13: 978-1418481551
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,710,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book To Make You Envious, January 13, 2005

By 

Thomas Theado - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ebbets Field: Brooklyn's Baseball Shrine (Paperback)

All the way through the regaling that Joseph McCauley works in his tale of Ebbets Field, you have an inkling of the envy you'll eventually feel when you come to finish this really great story of a truly unique time in the history of man -- when one could trust his eight-year-old daughter to her ten-year-old brother and a fistful of change, alone at a double-header in a major league ballpark, surrounded by what had become to them the family of Dose Bums and their fans! I resolved, as I put down this book, that I wished to be 50 years older, when you had a chance to be a member of that great gathering.

McCauley tells the story of more than merely a structure. His is the story of a place and a time when professional ball players talked with you and you talked with them as friends and co-admirers, not combatants; when the players lived in your neighborhood and, at times, even knew you by name; when you heard not only the crack of the bat at the crack of dawn, but often the closing of the bar with some of the team, much later after the game, win of lose. As McCauley tells it, you went to Ebbets not merely to support your Dodgers but 'cause that's what there was to do 'round Brooklyn -- and what there was to do there was lots of fun!

And was there a lot to do! McCauley spins the stories out nearly faster than they can be caught -- of games won and lost, championships had and missed, players coming and going and always remaining memorable, of Holy Name Society gatherings and college football matches and circuses and side shows and hot-dog venders and amateur musicians, and more variants thereon than I had thought possible, finally coming to conclusion 'midst the mess of a demolition derby preceding the demolition ball.

When the grand ole' place finally meets her demise, you lament not only for what was but for all those who partook, as performers whether on the field or in the stands -- and you wish you could've been there, too!

Buy this book, wade through the publisher's abysmal punctuation, and really enjoy the author's great recounting of a place and time to be envied!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique history of a Ballpark, January 12, 2005

By 

mike november "Brooklynite" (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ebbets Field: Brooklyn's Baseball Shrine (Paperback)

Joe McCauley has researched and written a complete history of a storied and revered baseball "shrine," as he calls it. For Brooklyn Dodger fans of an earlier era, this is an invaluable chronology of the ballpark -- and the team -- over 47 unforgettable years.
"Ebbets Field" is written with expertise and affection, unusual qualities found together in a serious history.
The book is easy to read for fans of any age, and will have special impact on all those who are old enough to remember. It is well illustrated with color and b&w photos.
It's a one-of-a-kind treat. Add it to your coffee table, at least!