Constance D'Agosta Brooklyn Dodgers Collection

Baseball clubs were introduced to Kings County as early as the 1820s, with over 71 amateur teams playing in the county by 1851. Early prominent clubs included the Atlantics and the Ekfords, drawing players from the blue collar workforce and attracting thousands of fans to games played all over the borough. In 1883, Charles Byrne opened the Washington Park baseball field on 5th Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope and formed a team called the Brooklyn Grays. The team joined the American Association in 1884 and the National League in 1890, by which time they were known as the Bridegrooms.

In 1891 Washington Park burned down and the team was moved to Eastern Park, a 12,000 seat stadium in Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood. The team was still known as the Bridegrooms but picked up several nicknames including the Superbas and the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, named after borough residents who had to "dodge" oncoming electric trollies. In 1898 Byrne died and was succeeded by his assistant, Charlie Ebbets. By 1899 Ebbets gained majority control over the team and in 1912 moved them to Ebbets Field, a new 37,000 seat stadium in Flatbush. The team played and lost their first World Series game in 1916, in front of the largest crowd in baseball history. By 1920 the team was officially known as the Brooklyn Dodgers, but was also called the Daffiness Boys, a nickname reflective of their performance on the field and outrageous behavior of players and management. The death of Charlie Ebbets in 1925 left the team open to poor management and a series of disastrous trades that led to a drop in ticket sales and a field in need of repairs. Things began to turn around in 1938 when Leland MacPhail was brought in as General Manager. MacPhail got rid of the Daffiness Boys and replaced them with some of the Dodgers' most iconic players, including Pee Wee Reese and Pete Reiser.

When the U.S. entered World War II MacPhail and several players enlisted. Branch Rickey was brought in from St. Louis as the new General Manager. In 1947 he signed Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play on a major league baseball team. The 1947 season kicked off an era often called the "glory days" with star players including Roy Campanella, Duke Snider and Gil Hodges. Brooklyn supported their team with steady game attendance, merchandise sales and their own fight song, "Follow the Dodgers." After years of close-calls and near-misses the team finally captured a World Series title in the 1955 season.

After 43 years Ebbets Field was in a state of disrepair and team owner Walter O'Malley began to make plans for a new stadium in Brooklyn. O'Malley's plan for a city subsidized stadium at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenue that would provide more seats, parking and access to public transportation was rejected by Robert Moses, who proposed an alternative location in Queens, the eventual site of Shea Stadium. O'Malley began negotiations with the city of Los Angeles, which promised a growing market and space for a new stadium. The National League authorized the move on May 28, 1957 and the Los Angeles Dodgers played their first game on April 18, 1958.

Constance "Connie" D'Agosta was a lifelong Dodgers fan and one of the co-founders of the "Dodger Debs," a fan club that met to attend games, photograph players, write cheers and produce newsletters. She maintained friendships and correspondence with several players, including Clem Labine, Johnny Podres, Pee Wee Reese, and Dick Williams. In 2005 she co-chaired the event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1955 World Series Championship.