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| Re: Brooklyn Dodgers (on topic) (464104) | |||
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Re: Brooklyn Dodgers (on topic) |
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Posted by Parkchester 11:35 on Sat Jul 21 23:12:18 2007, in response to Brooklyn Dodgers (on topic), posted by Dave on Sat Jul 21 18:35:14 2007. I watched the HBO Special the other night. And the Giants had their eyes on Minneapolis, where the club already operated a AAA franchise.I also found it very interesting to note that O'Malley saw Atlantic and Flatbush as the center of Brooklyn in terms of transit lines his existing fan base while Moses saw highways as the future, and the middle of a series of interchanges in Queens as his center of NYC. Moses also saw any attempt to boost ridership on the LIRR as an affront to to his growing highway empire. O'Malley felt having the Dodgers play above the LIRR would enable many of the fans who moved to the Island to attend games easily. O'Malley did get the site he wanted at the center of his fan base. During the documentary, pictures showed O'Malley flying around in a sheriff's helicopter, looking for potential stadium sites. In Chavez Ravine, he found a rundown, yet centrally located landscape to build a ballpark. And Dodger Stadium set the standard for facilities when it comes to a 100-percent automobile-friendly facility. Meantime, he could have done the same with transit in Brooklyn had Moses played ball on the Title I provisions in condemming the meat markets. O'Malley as Howard Cosell once said "Had a cash register where his heart should have been." He wasn't a baseball man like Branch Rickey, but a lawyer and engineer by trade who knew how turn a buck. The Giants rode the Dodgers coattails to the West Coast, and Horace Stoneham took absolutely no interest in doing the type of advance work on finding a suitable home for his team. He settled for Candlestick Point, land owned by a contractor who wanted to develop it with close ties to City Hall. As it remains today, Candlestick Park is near NOTHING! Not by car, bus, train, boat, or even helicopter. And 40 years later, the Giants go it right with a downtown park which serves all of their fan base by transit, highway, city streets, and even ferry! |
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