50 yrs ago...April Fools...Ebbets Field is empty

On opening Day last night in Los Angeles California they began celebrating Walter O'malley's greed driven and heartless move of the Brooklyn Dodgers to LA. It was fitting that the pitcher for LA was a fellow by the name of Penny (Brad Penny). GREED and only GREED which drives many investments, drove O'Malley to abandon Brooklyn and it's loyal fans who packed Ebbets Field in Flatbush regularly and who supported da Bums in good times and bad. That penny pinching SOB turned my Boys of Summer into the LA Dodgers, ball players for the rich and famous.

Present yesterday were a few of my idols. Duke Snider: The number 3 hitter who wore #4 and played center field for Brooklyn. One of the three great center fielders in New York at the time (Mickey, Willy and da Duke). Don Newcomb(Newk), Carl Erskine(Ersk)and Mr. Sandy Koufax (Koof), the classy lefty and my personal favorite. Had I been about 8 years older, I'd have been at Lafayette HS in Brooklyn when he was there. I suppose it was also fitting that Joe Torre who grew up in Brooklyn a GIANT fan, the arch rivals of the Brooks, was also a victim of GREED as his Giants fled to San Fransisco as part of the grand larceny of NY Baseball in 1958.

Today is opening day for the once hated Yankees of my youth (now my team by default). On this the 50th Anniversary of O'Malley "great investment" it is ironic that the Yanks are playing their last year in the house that Ruth built. Sure, the greedy Yankee ownership is going to abandon the most glorious stadium since the Colosseum in ancient Rome (for mo money, mo money) merrily for the kids in NY they are only moving down the street where they can charge a king's ransom to watch games. At least they are not changing the historic caps the players wear...those caps will still have an intertwined NY. As a 12 year old boy 50 years ago, the greedy owner of my team changed the white "B" on blue cap to an intertwined LA. I cried then and I'm holding back a tear now as I remember the pain. I didn't know then that it's all about the money. Play ball.