History

Ebbets Field’s final Dodgers game ended without an official goodbye

Danny McDevitt shut out Pittsburgh on September 24, 1957, before 6,702 fans, two weeks before the Dodgers formally announced their move to Los Angeles.

Spectators outside Ebbets Field during the 1920 World Series.
Spectators outside Ebbets Field during the 1920 World Series. October 5, 1920; archive photograph. · Credit: Bain News Service / Library of Congress, via Wikimedia Commons

The Dodgers’ final game at Ebbets Field was a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh on September 24, 1957, with Danny McDevitt throwing a five-hit shutout in front of 6,702 spectators. Sixty-nine years later, that routine-looking result marks the end of major-league baseball at the Brooklyn park.

McDevitt struck out nine and walked one, while Elmer Valo and Gil Hodges drove in the runs. The game lasted two hours and three minutes, with Pittsburgh’s Dee Fondy making the final out.

There was no formal farewell ceremony because the move to Los Angeles had not yet been made official. Owner Walter O’Malley announced the relocation on October 8, two weeks after the home finale.

That timing is central to the night’s history: the Dodgers played what became their last Brooklyn game without presenting it as a confirmed goodbye. McDevitt’s shutout acquired its permanent significance afterward.

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Sources and notes

  1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195709240.shtml
  2. https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-24-1957-dodgers-win-final-game-at-ebbets-field/