# Imagine Being An NYC Kid Who Was A Baseball Fan In The 1950s



## Damaged Goods (Dec 12, 2020)

If my memory is correct, in the 18 baseball seasons 1947-64, a NY team was in the World Series 16 times, and in 7 of those years, both teams were NY.

Talk about being a spoiled, entitled kid!  In heaven before dying.

Focus especially on most of the 50s when your centerfielders were named DiMaggio, Mantle, Snider, and Mays.


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## Gaer (Dec 12, 2020)

That must have been amazing!


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## oldiebutgoody (Feb 7, 2021)

I remember part of the 1950s and do recall baseball fun back then.     Semi pro leagues were still thriving as well.  What a time it was!


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## Gaer (Feb 8, 2021)

Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks
I don't care if I ever get back!


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## oldiebutgoody (Feb 8, 2021)

Gaer said:


> Take me out with the crowd.
> Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks
> I don't care if I ever get back!





I traveled to Chicago's old Comiskey Park to watch the White Sox in that famous stadium's final year.  What a great baseball atmosphere it had!  And all throughout my time at that stadium I kept singing that refrain to myself.  Great place to watch baseball.


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## oldiebutgoody (Feb 11, 2021)

There was at least one more team the good folks of Brooklyn had in those day - the Bushwicks!


BrooklynBallParks.com - the Semipros (covehurst.net)


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## Ruby Rose (Feb 11, 2021)

oldiebutgoody said:


> I remember part of the 1950s and do recall baseball fun back then.     Semi pro leagues were still thriving as well.  What a time it was!


Baseball was fun back in the 50s...I was the pitcher for our little town team and threw a hard fast ball as I was taught to do by my father. I sure missed it over the years. When I was visiting my daughter in Toronto, she took me to a Blue Jay game for the fun of it. It was great!


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## Geezerette (Feb 11, 2021)

I was a kid growing up in upstate NY during  those years and I honestly thought the World Series was the result of a contest to see who would get to play the Yankees.


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## squatting dog (Feb 13, 2021)

I don't have to imagine. As a NYC kid in the 50's my biggest thrill was a trip to Yankee Stadium. 
Man... who could forget The Mick, Whitey Ford, Don Larson,  Billy Martin (then Bobby Richardson), Yogi Berra (followed by Elston Howard),  and on and on and on. Say what you want about them, but nobody is even close when it comes to championships.
Number of World Series championships won by team from 1903 to 2020

Number of World Series won*New York Yankees*27St. Louis Cardinals11Boston Red Sox9*Los Angeles Dodgers*7


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## fmdog44 (Feb 13, 2021)

When Roger Maris hit HR #61 the fans would not stop applauding until he came out of the dugout to take a bow unheard of back then. Roger half stepped half way out of the dugout and raised his hat. Today's players leap out of the dugout and do a dance if the hit a sac fly.


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## tbeltrans (Feb 13, 2021)

I was an NYC kid in the 1950s, but not particularly a sports fan.

Tony


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## oldiebutgoody (Feb 15, 2021)

The 1940s were a great time for NY sports fans as well. The NY Yankees dynasty was great because of its affiliation with the Newark Bears:


Newark Bears (International League) - Wikipedia









The powerful 1937 team:











Hunting Bears (njbaseball.net)



What a team!


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## Lewkat (Feb 15, 2021)

I spent my youth in all 3 NY baseball venues and  often hopped a train to Philly where my mom's family lived and went out to Shibe Park to watch the Phillies and A's play, back in the day.  The best of times.


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## oldiebutgoody (Mar 21, 2021)

Baseball was still basically segregated in the late 40s. In NYC we had the Newark Eagles and New York Cubans who were also Champs:

https://tinyurl.com/dc99sry8


Note that in January, MLB gave official Major League Status to those leagues.


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## Old&InTheWay (Mar 21, 2021)

My first baseball game was watching Sandy Koufax beat the Mets in 1966 - at Shea. It was magical to see Sandy completely dominate the game, as if the contest had been altered somehow and a pitcher like Koufax (or Drysdale or Gibson) were now to good to be hit.
Then My Dad took me to Yankee Stadium, the original stadium -- it was majestic. I was in the cathedral. Mickey Mantle hit a home run. The Yanks lost to the Orioles 2-1...but then I got to see Brooks and Frank Robinson in their prime. Back then the famous Yankee monuments were in Center field - in the playing field. I always thought Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were buried back there. I can still smell the cigars and beer from those moments. It is etched in my memory.
I wish I had been to Ebbets field or the Polo Grounds. I do visit them in the multiverse - but not in this existence.
The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!
October 1951 - magical


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 21, 2021)




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## Verisure (Mar 21, 2021)

Back when the bases were made of burlap sacks filled with straw and when you hit a homer you'd hear a thapy "crack" rather than a "ping!"


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## oldiebutgoody (Mar 25, 2021)

oldiebutgoody said:


> Note that in January, MLB gave official Major League Status to those leagues.





This changes sports history in more ways than one.  Up to now Manon Rheaume was considered the first woman to play professional  sport in one of the four American Major Leagues because she played one game in the NHL in 1991:










Now that MLB recognizes the old black owned leagues as major leagues this means  Marcenia "Toni" Stone becomes the first  woman to be a major leaguer as she played about 2 to 3 years for the old Indianapolis Clowns in the 1950s:










Toni Stone - Wikipedia




Toni lived in St Paul, Minnesota. The ball field at Dunning Park is named after her.


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