[TBP]

The Dodgers should never have left Brooklyn.

[BunnySlippers]

I wanna buy the Dodgers!

[Alberta's Child]

I hear that sentiment a lot, but it's amazing how poorly the Dodgers fared in Brooklyn in the years leading up to their departure in 1958. I'm sure there were a number of reasons for this, but even the 1956 team that won the National League pennant had a hard time selling out games. By then it was surely just a matter of time since they left for greener pastures.

The Giants were in an even more difficult situation, since the Polo Grounds was an old, faded ballpark and the team really couldn't make any costly improvements because they were tied to a ground lease that made it impossible to justify major capital improvements to the building itself.