UGH! Those Dodgers.
Joined: Jul 2001
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From: La Crescenta, CA
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Joined: Apr 2007
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From: Long Beach, MS
At least Baltimore and Cleveland were eventually given new NFL franchises after their old ones skipped town.
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Randolph, NJ
The Dodgers were the heart and soul of Brooklyn. What the Red Sox are to Boston and the Cubs are to Chicago is what the Dodgers were to Brooklyn. Dem Bums wuz our bums. Many of us who grew up in Brooklyn, and love Brooklyn believe that the beginnings of the decline of the borough happened when the Dodgers left town. Duke Snider was the Duke of Flabush, Gil Hodgers lived across the street from my high school and would come out onto his porch every morning to wave to us as we were going into school. PeeWee, and Campy and Newk and Carl were our heros. Jackie was a godly figure. To this day Junior's Restaurant on DeKalb and Flatbush Avenues still has a Brooklyn Dodgers wall of fame. When O'Malley took the Dodgers to Los Angeles, that bastard took the heart and soul of the borough with him.
Prior to 1903 the five boroughs of New York were individual cities. Brooklyn had a life and rhythm of it's own. The merger happened in 1903 but in spite of it, Brooklyn and Manhattan retained their own identities. When you were in Brooklyn, you knew you were in Brooklyn, plain and simple. Brooklyn wasn't fancy, real people lived there. O'Malley pretended that he wanted a new stadium and he wanted it built where the Barclay Center is today, but in fact, he really wanted to move to Los Angeles. Robert Moses, who was a dictator type and another bastard, was in charge of the development of NY and the head of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority refused but offered to build the stadium in Queens where CItifield is today. O'Malley, already with one foot in California objected. How could the Brooklyn Dodgers play in Queens? And he left. He also convinced the New York Giants, who played in the Bronx, to head to San Francisco so that his Dodgers wouldn't be the only team on the West Coast.
In 1962 the league expanded. New York got the Mets (to replace the Dodgers) and Houston got the Colt45s (now the Astros because Colt45 Malt Liquor had a copyright on the name). The Colt45s drafted young players from the other teams, but the Mets drafted all of the old Dodgers and Giants who could still hold a bat for the nostalgia of the Brooklyn fans. That's why the Mets were so terrible in their first few years but we all supported them and went to the games. I will always be a Met fan. That is the team I grew up with and I will always hate the Los Angeles Dodgers for deserting Brooklyn.
Finally, after all these years Brooklyn is coming back. Real estate prices in Manhattan have gone through the roof so lots of people have settled in Brooklyn. The population of Brooklyn was always diverse, but now it's even more so, and as a result the borough is a great place.
Still, we will never forgive the hurt the Dodgers did. We will never forget.
Prior to 1903 the five boroughs of New York were individual cities. Brooklyn had a life and rhythm of it's own. The merger happened in 1903 but in spite of it, Brooklyn and Manhattan retained their own identities. When you were in Brooklyn, you knew you were in Brooklyn, plain and simple. Brooklyn wasn't fancy, real people lived there. O'Malley pretended that he wanted a new stadium and he wanted it built where the Barclay Center is today, but in fact, he really wanted to move to Los Angeles. Robert Moses, who was a dictator type and another bastard, was in charge of the development of NY and the head of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority refused but offered to build the stadium in Queens where CItifield is today. O'Malley, already with one foot in California objected. How could the Brooklyn Dodgers play in Queens? And he left. He also convinced the New York Giants, who played in the Bronx, to head to San Francisco so that his Dodgers wouldn't be the only team on the West Coast.
In 1962 the league expanded. New York got the Mets (to replace the Dodgers) and Houston got the Colt45s (now the Astros because Colt45 Malt Liquor had a copyright on the name). The Colt45s drafted young players from the other teams, but the Mets drafted all of the old Dodgers and Giants who could still hold a bat for the nostalgia of the Brooklyn fans. That's why the Mets were so terrible in their first few years but we all supported them and went to the games. I will always be a Met fan. That is the team I grew up with and I will always hate the Los Angeles Dodgers for deserting Brooklyn.
Finally, after all these years Brooklyn is coming back. Real estate prices in Manhattan have gone through the roof so lots of people have settled in Brooklyn. The population of Brooklyn was always diverse, but now it's even more so, and as a result the borough is a great place.
Still, we will never forgive the hurt the Dodgers did. We will never forget.
Last edited by ralper; Oct 16, 2020 at 06:29 PM.