Brooklyn

:For other senses, see Brooklyn (disambiguation).

Sports and recreation

Baseball

Brooklyn has been a hotbed of baseball going back to the sport's infancy. A box score from October 21, 1845, lists a game between the New York Base Ball Club and "Brooklyn Players". The New York Base Ball Club was one of the first to play under rules codified by Alexander Cartwright.

Related Topics:
Baseball - October 21 - 1845 - Alexander Cartwright

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The first baseball game for which admission was charged was an All Star Game between New York and Brooklyn, played in 1858.

Related Topics:
Baseball - All Star Game - New York - 1858

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During the 1860's, Brooklyn teams, including the Atlantic Club, the Excelsior Club and the Brooklyn Eckfords, dominated play in the amateur National Association of Base Ball Players. Brooklyn featured the first two fields enclosed by fences, allowing the charging of admission: the Union Grounds in Williamsburg and the Capitoline Grounds in Brownsville. In 1868 the New York Mutuals relocated from Hoboken, New Jersey, where the other Manhattan clubs were based, to the Union Grounds.

Related Topics:
1860's - Atlantic Club - Excelsior Club - Brooklyn Eckfords - National Association of Base Ball Players - Union Grounds - Capitoline Grounds - 1868 - New York Mutuals - Hoboken, New Jersey - Manhattan

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With the advent of professional baseball in 1871, Brooklyn hosted three teams in the first pro league, the National Association: the Mutuals, the Eckfords, and the Atlantics. All three played at the Union Grounds. The Mutuals also used the field in 1876, the first year of the new National League; as did the Hartfords of Brooklyn in 1877.

Related Topics:
1871 - National Association - Mutuals - Eckfords - Atlantics - Union Grounds - 1876 - National League - Hartfords of Brooklyn - 1877

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Brooklyn's most famous team, the Dodgers, got its start as a minor league team in 1883, joining the American Association in 1884, calling themselves the Bridegrooms and playing at the first of three venues called Washington Park. The team moved to the National League in 1890 and relocated to Ebbets Field in 1913. In the years prior to 1932, they were also known as the Superbas and the Robins, the last an informal name taken from their manager, Wilbert Robinson. In 1955, the Dodgers won their first and only World Series in Brooklyn, beating their longtime rival, the New York Yankees, resulting in mass euphoria and celebrations all over Brooklyn. Just two years later, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, California, after the 1957 season, causing widespread resentment and sorrow. Brooklyn's most beloved and cherished institution had left, and the move is cited by some historians as one of the catalysts for the decline of Brooklyn in the 1960s and 1970s.

Related Topics:
Dodgers - 1883 - American Association - 1884 - 1890 - Ebbets Field - 1913 - Wilbert Robinson - New York Yankees - Los Angeles, California - 1957

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In addition, the Brooklyn Wonders of the Players League in 1890 and the Brook-Feds of the Federal League in 1914 and 1915 called the borough home.

Related Topics:
Players League - Federal League - 1914 - 1915

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After a 43-year hiatus, baseball returned to the borough in the form of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league team that began playing on Coney Island in 2001. The Cyclones are a Single A affiliate of the New York Mets Major League Baseball team. The Cyclones play at Keyspan Park, located in southern Brooklyn near the Coney Island boardwalk. During hot summer nights, fireworks are sometimes used to signify the commencement of the baseball games.

Related Topics:
Brooklyn Cyclones - Minor league - Coney Island - 2001 - New York Mets - Major League Baseball

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Football

Several professional football teams have called Brooklyn home, including two in 1926. The Brooklyn Horsemen of the original American Football League and the Brooklyn Lions of the National Football League competed for a time before merging in November and folding at season's end.

Related Topics:
Football - 1926 - Brooklyn Horsemen - American Football League - Brooklyn Lions - National Football League

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In 1930, the Brooklyn Dodgers began play at Ebbets Field. The team lasted until 1944, calling themselves the Brooklyn Tigers that last season but going winless and leaving the NFL.

Related Topics:
1930 - Brooklyn Dodgers - 1944

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The second AFL also had a Brooklyn Tigers club in 1936; it played seven games before folding.

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In 1946, the new All-America Football Conference had yet another Brooklyn Dodgers team. This club lasted until 1948, after which it merged with the New York Yankees football team.

Related Topics:
1946 - All-America Football Conference - 1948

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Finally, there was an independent minor league team called the Brooklyn Dodgers in the Continental Football League in 1966. They played a 14-game schedule and then folded as well.

Related Topics:
Continental Football League - 1966

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Basketball

On January 23, 2004, developer Bruce Ratner announced that he had purchased the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association. He plans to move the Nets to a new, 20,000-seat Brooklyn Nets Arena as part of a development called at the Atlantic Yards at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. Brooklyn is also receiving a team in the new American Basketball Association in 2005. They will be called the 'Heat'.

Related Topics:
January 23 - 2004 - Bruce Ratner - New Jersey Nets - National Basketball Association - Brooklyn Nets Arena - American Basketball Association

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