The Trolley Dodger

Until 1955, the Brooklyn Dodgers had gone through a long series of near-misses at World Series glory, coming close but not close enough. It became a running theme and spawned a team slogan: “Wait ’til next year!” Next year finally did show up, but it was a long wait.

The Yankees were the Dodgers’ perennial opponents when they made it to the series back then, so the Bombers losing it in 1955 to the Bums made it even sweeter. Putting it in video-game terms for the younger set, they were the final boss that it took forever to beat. This was one of the reasons I was hoping for a Yankee-Dodger World Series this year.

Apart from the wrenching disappointment the past week, and a few issues here and there, the 2009 season has been more of a joy to follow than not. On a personal level, having the opportunity to attend the Bluetopia premiere, the annual Dodger Blogger Night (the night before the Manny revelation), and particularly getting to cover the game as a member of the press are memories I’ll never lose.

Thanks to the Dodgers organization and team for a great year and for continuing to reach out to the online fan community. Thanks to my fellow Dodger bloggers for lots of entertaining and thoughtful commentary this season — especial thanks and kudos to Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts, the sundry Sons of Steve Garvey, the intrepid lads of True Blue LA, the aptly named Blue Heaven, Ken Steinhorn of isportsweb, and Larry and Keith over at the always-fascinating Daily Mirror.

Congratulations to the Phillies on the NL Pennant, and while I don’t see myself exactly cheering you on the next few weeks, please destroy the Yankees if you get the opportunity. Pretty please? ;)

Finally, thanks to everybody for reading Trolley Dodger in 2009. The site’s third anniversary is coming up next week. Can’t believe it’s been three years!

I expect to be posting here during the off season, as there will be the inevitable melodrama, speculation, and other craziness, but I’m guessing a short break will do a body good. So we won’t have to wait ’til next year to solve the myriad problems of the baseball universe, thanks to 24-hour sports news and the Internet, but we will have to wait ’til then for more Dodger baseball.

See ya!

“Hardie Henderson: Champion Base Ball Pitcher” — pitched from 1883-1887 for the Philadelphia Quakers, Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Grays (19th-century precursor to the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers), and Pittsburgh Alleghenys.

In a horrible bit of irony, Henderson was killed in February 1903 when he was run over by a train trolley.[1]

Read more at:

• baseball-reference.com
• Wikipedia

[1] See this history of native Philadelphian ballplayers at Google Books.

Found browsing though my pictures directory recently — a great Ebbets Field shot with trolley in foreground. And there are even some Brooklynites dodging it! ;)

Over at the Dodgers Blue Blog today, Chuck tells the one of the great stories in Dodgers history, “When Zack Wheat held out”

In 1917 Zack Wheat returned his unsigned contract to owner Charlie Ebbets saying he wanted more money. Ebbets decided he would go to Polo, MO to talk to his star player to talk him into the contract. When Ebbets arrived he found that Wheat wanted more than he was willing to offer and would not budge. Ebbets didn’t like giving raises unless he felt forced too so he offered a small increase and Zack Wheat smiled and refused. Ebbets tried smooth talking and then anger to get Wheat to sign, but he refused saying he wouldn’t mind sitting home in the summer and with his farm he wouldn’t starve.

Continue…

I’ll bet that trip from NYC to Missouri wasn’t trivial back in 1917. Zack Wheat was worth it.

Friday in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle was this article by Phoebe Neidl, “The Trolleys We Didn’t Dodge”, covering some of the dangerous history of those famous trolleys.

The first electric trolley ride in Brooklyn was on April 19, 1890. The new method of transport allowed people to travel to all corners of the city on the cheap. By 1919, there were 40 different trolley lines in Brooklyn, an abundance that inspired the nickname “trolley dodgers” for Brooklynites (a certain famous baseball team took this as their name and then shortened it to simply The Dodgers).

But the electric lines quickly proved more dangerous and accident-prone than their horse-drawn predecessors. In 1893, subway commissioners called for safety measures to be applied to the new lines, such as speed limits. There was public debate over the trolley system and its dangers versus its advantages. Who was responsible when people were struck and killed by the trolleys? The operators? The owners of the companies?

Via Dodger Thoughts, who also has the story on Peter O’Malley’s visit to Brooklyn over the weekend.