Ebbets Field Opens, and Brooklyn Loses the Opener

Charles Ebbets had quietly bought up a garbage dump and squatters' shantytown known as Pigtown in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, then built his club a real ballpark on the site to replace the rickety wooden Washington Park. The cornerstone, packed with newspapers, player photos, and telegrams, was laid on July 6, 1912. The park opened for an exhibition game against the New York Yankees on April 5, 1913, drawing an overcapacity crowd of 30,000 with another 5,000 turned away at the gates. Four days later, on April 9, 1913, Brooklyn played its first real game in the new park and lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 1 to 0. It was an inauspicious start for a ballpark that would anchor Brooklyn baseball for the next 45 seasons.