Something has passed me by, and there is nothing I could do, to get it back. Neither can you. It's called timing. "Timing is every thing kid", a great philosopher and garment center salesman once told me. "You either got it, or you don't". This great piece of wisdom was handed down to me in the show room, of some dress manufacturer in New York's garment center, sometime in the 1970's. Both of us had an appointment with the same designer, at the same time and we were competitors. Each of us sold printed interlock fabric for missy size dresses and blouses. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's okay.
I have been thinking about the above (timing) for a few years now. It started when I was reading The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn. Kahn takes you back to the Brooklyn Dodger days, right around the time when Jackie Robinson broke what is referred to as, "the color line," in major league baseball. That year was 1947. What made the book so fascinating for me, was that Kahn tracked down the players who played alongside Robinson, well after they had retired. He did this in order to hear from them first hand, what is was like to be a Brooklyn Dodger, not only in 1947, but for the next ten years as well.
One of the things I got from the book then, which still resonates with me, is that I think I may have been born too soon. When the Dodgers left Brooklyn, the year was 1958. I was seven years old then. I have absolutely no recollection of ever seeing the Dodgers play. I do, however, remember seeing Ebbets Field from a distance, when my father would take me to Prospect Park. We would walk the few extra blocks from the subway station, in order to catch a glimpse of the "old ballpark", as my father would call it, before it was leveled. Today, of course, there is an apartment building on the very site where Ebbets Field once stood.
The Boys of Summer has such a wide variety of anecdotes . One of them was so powerful. It involved right fielder Carl Furello. When Kahn tracked Furello down, he was working on the construction site of the World Trade Center. Kahn, in his description of the grounds at this early stage of construction, said it looked like an "aerial bombardment" leveled the place.
A few years ago, the documentary, "The Ghosts of Flatbush", emphasized the relationship that existed between the Brooklyn ball club, and their fans. That relationship was very intense. So when the Dodgers left after the 1957 season, it was as painful for a sports fan as it gets. Having read quite a number of books about the Dodgers over the years, and having seen not only The Ghosts of Flatbush twice, but other Dodger footage as well, I knew in my heart, I would have been a Brooklyn Dodger fan.
So here I am, living in Atlanta for 22 years, still a Jet, Met, Knick & Ranger fan, and holding on for dear life. And what does Brooklyn now have? The Brooklyn Nets! Don't misunderstand me. Even if I still lived in Brooklyn, I would never, ever be a fan of the Nets. Unless it benefited your team in the standings, no self respecting Yankee fan would ever root for the Mets, as would no Jet fan root for the Giants, Ranger fan for the Islanders, and of course, no Knick fan would ever root for the Nets.
One of the more fascinating outcomes of all this, is where the Brooklyn Nets actually call home. It is named The Barclays Center, and it is located on the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. Walter O' Malley, the owner of the Dodgers in the 40's and 50's, actually wanted to stay in Brooklyn. Robert Moses, who at the time was the most powerful man in New York, offered O' Malley a piece of land in Flushing, Queens instead, (which eventually became the site for Shea Stadium). O' Malley wanted the land on the exact same site where the Nets now call home, citing the many public transportation options available that would get the fans there. He even wanted a dome stadium built at the time. O' Malley certainly angered many people by leaving Brooklyn, but Moses apparently left him little or no choice. To say that O' Malley was a visionary though, is an understatement.
Well, as history played itself out, the Dodgers, and the Giants also, left New York in 1958, and moved to California. Where would all this leave me now if I was born sooner in order to experience the Brooklyn Dodgers? Either in a nursing home, or on the other side.
another good one!!
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