brooklyndodgermemories

MLB and the media continues to exploit the Brooklyn legacy more so than it does the other teams left behind. There is considerably less nostalgia expressed toward the NY Giants, Boston Braves, St. Louis Browns, and Philadelphia A's. The reason is probably because the Dodgers were most prominent at the time of their exodus and their prominence was captured on TV. It has also been drummed into my head through various writings and TV documentaries over the years what a focal point the Dodgers were to Brooklyn's identity. I think the return of Brooklyn to MLB is essential in reclaiming its soul.

The two current New York teams would be the most vocal against a third team in New York.

It WILL happen, but we will all be dead.

I would love to have it happen, but I don't think it will happen.

The idea of reducing the population ratio to that of Philadelphia and Los Angeles is a way to leveling the playing field somewhat if you can't, for instance, get a salary cap or revenue sharing. That's what the third New York team does. I think it is essential to put it in Brooklyn to restore MLB's image. That might have been the first blow that helped turn football into the most popular sport.

If we lapse into a scenario where the Yankees and Red Sox are depleting teams and winning all the championships, a time could come when people lose interest and something has to be done to rescue the game.

When the Yankees won 14 out of 16 pennants from 1949-1964, there was no draft, no free agency, and no Yankee made over $100,000. So other teams had a chance. I would imagine the draft was instituted in order to try and level the playing field. Yankee dominance ended only because Webb and Topping decided to sell around 1960 and as a result quit investing in the farm system. The team won five straight pennants after that but when the players skills deteriorated there were none of equal caliber to take their place. The draft would have helped eventually but Yankee management hastened its effect.

Over time things someone beats the system so well that things have to be done to even the playing field. I think a third New York team would help somewhat, not short-term but long-term.

There's no doubt that what you say has merit (and should be done). TonyPug and I are merely saying it will not happen. (at least in our lifetime--remember he and I are past 60).

Walter O'Malley as the most powerful man in baseball in the 50's, 60's and into the 70's did not want Brooklyn to have a team for his own selfish reasons. Had he been alive, there wouldn't have been a Brooklyn Cyclones. There should have been a team in Brooklyn as soon as the Dodgers left.

Wasn't there talk of the Cincinnati Reds coming to Brooklyn back in the late 1950's.

Yes. Then the Mets were conceived.

They created the Mets after William Shea started the Continental league naming Branch Rickey president that league folded before it started because of MLB expansion. All the cities that would have been in the Continental league Denver, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, Toronto, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, and Buffalo got MLB franchises except Buffalo.

I'm 54 and was 2 (in fact it was my second birthday when the departure was announced) when they left.

What I've observed about baseball in my lifetime is that it does the worst job of the three major professional sports (baseball, football, basketball) in dealing with its problems. In football, Pittsburgh can compete and there is room for the Green Bay Packers. The records aren't called into question by drug use. The Super Bowl is played in the day time. Small markets can compete.

Returning baseball to Brooklyn is something MLB needs to do for itself, not just for sentimental reasons. The fact it may not happen in the near future is evidence to me that MLB is gridlocked and can't help itself.

I'm hoping the next commissioner can change the culture somewhat.

Each commissioner seems to have less and less power....................merely a figurehead for the owners. If baseball (Major League) returns to Brooklyn, it will surely be well after our lives on this earth.

I think it should happen but don't think it ever will. If it was going to happen it would have been long before now. Walter O'Malley made sure it wouldn't happen for many years.