WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 26, 2021 15
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
well paid.
PLAYING THE GIANTS
In the depth of the Great Depression,
the New York Giants of
baseball’s National League apparently
were having some financial
problems. Strong contacted Charles
Stoneham, the president of the Giants,
and offered him a guarantee of
$1,500 to play a night game at Dexter
Park against the Bushwicks or, in
lieu of the guarantee, a share of the
gate. Stoneham agreed to the game
and selected the $1,500 guarantee.
A date of Friday, Sept. 23, 1932 was
set. As part of the deal, the Giants
had to play all of their regulars with
the exception of the pitchers, who
could be second-stringers.
When the Giants arrived at the
ballpark, there was a crowd of over
20,000, with all the 15,400 seats
taken and the overflow behind
ropes in right field and right-center
field. The Giants won the game 5-2.
Overton Tremper went 1 for 3 (a
double).
On the Monday morning after
the game Tremper was visiting
Nat Strong at his office in Manhattan
when Stoneham telephoned,
pleading with Strong to give him
something extra over the guarantee
because of the good crowd. Strong
was non-committal, but later in the
day, after conferring with Bushwicks
owner Max Rosner, he sent
Stoneham an additional $1,000.
Bill Terry had taken over as the
field manager of the New York Giants
in June 1932 from John McGraw.
The Giants were a second division
team. In 1933, Terry turned the
team around. The Giants won the
pennant and defeated the favored
Washington Senators in the World
Series, four games to one. Carl Hubbell
hurled two of the victories and
Mel Ott led the way in hitting, as he
batted .389 with two home runs during
the World Series.
On Oct. 15, 1933, Hubbell was
joined by two teammates and World
Series stars, pitcher Hal Schumacher
The 1912 Harlem Giants, a black baseball team, were among the many semi-pro baseball teams that played in
the New York City area during the days when Dexter Park operated.
and shortstop Blondy Ryan, at Dexter
Park, barnstorming in a doubleheader
with the Bay Parkways against the
Bushwicks.
The three Giants had varying
degrees of success during the twin
bill in Woodhaven. Hubbell pitched
and won the first game, 6-3, at Dexter
Park. Afterwards, “King Carl” sat patiently
in the grandstand during the
second game and signed hundreds of
autographs.
Hal Schumacher, who had triumphed
over the Senators in the
second game of the World Series,
pitched and lost the second barnstorming
game, 3-1, as Overton
Tremper got three hits off him.
Blondy Ryan also had a tough day
at Dexter Park, making two errors in
the field. He struck out four times in
the first game and finally got a hit in
the second game.
THE PAY’S THE THING
The Bushwicks had the reputation
of being the best payer. When
they reached an agreement with a
player, they paid this amount for a
single night game or for a Sunday
doubleheader.
In 1936, a young college pitcher,
after his college eligibility had been
used up, pitched for the Bushwicks
at an agreed price of $15 if he sat
and $25 if he pitched. He pitched
some fine games for the Bushwicks,
including a shutout of the Pittsburgh
Crawfords.
During World War II, Gene
Hermanski, the Brooklyn Dodger
outfi elder, enlisted in the U.S. Coast
Guard and was stationed in Brooklyn.
When he could get a pass, he played
for the Bushwicks under the name
“George Walsh.” Gene was making
$77 per month in the Coast Guard.
Rosner paid him $50 for a Sunday
doubleheader or a single night game.
Aft er World War II, the Bushwicks
were paying anywhere from $25 to
$50 per Sunday doubleheader or
single night game, with pitchers getting
slightly more.
THE LAST YEARS OF
DEXTER PARK
With the military draft, it was
diffi cult to get players during World
War II, and with gasoline rationing,
travelling teams disbanded.
To boost revenues at Dexter Park,
a midget auto racing track was
installed aft er the baseball season
ended in 1950, and the track was
operational by April 1951. To accommodate
the installation, the infi eld
had to be moved northeastward so
that the track could circle the infi eld
but in foul territory. It also required
a leveling of a massive amount of the
center-fi eld hill. In addition, the fruit
trees and vegetables that the groundskeepers
had so carefully planted in
deep center fi eld were removed to
make way for service pits for the
autos.
The midget auto racing track ruined
the baseball fi eld. But with the
Bushwicks baseball team operating at
a loss in 1951, the team was disbanded
at the end of the season. Auto racing
continued through 1955, when
the fi eld was sold. The stands were
torn down, and one- and two-family
houses were erected on the site.
Reprinted from the Dec. 9, 2004
Ridgewood Times.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or
old photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you would
like to share with our readers, please
write to the Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood
Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY
11361, or send an email to editorial@
ridgewoodtimes.com. Any print photographs
mailed to us will be carefully
returned to you upon request.
The Bushwicks, a semi-pro baseball team owned by Max Rosner, called
Dexter Park in Woodhaven their home during the early part of the 20th
century.
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