Sports
New York fans who grew up with Brooklyn Dodgers face a tough choice in this World Series
Even now, after all these years, Norman Siegel is conflicted. He was born in Brooklyn, raised in Brooklyn, and he firmly believes his childhood passion for the Brooklyn Dodgers set him on a course to becoming a civil rights attorney.
Now it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers who’ll be playing the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series Friday night, this after knocking off the Mets in the National League Championship Series. And it so happens that Siegel, who turns 81 in November, transferred his loyalties to the expansion Mets in 1962, five years after the Dodgers moved to the west coast.
Should a loyal Mets fan root for the Yankees in the World Series? On the other hand, how can a native of Brooklyn root for the team that abandoned Ebbets Field?
This will be the 12th time the Dodgers and Yankees have met in the World Series, and it’s the fifth meeting since the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles. To gain some perspective that can only be provided by a true Brooklynite, I spoke with Siegel. I spoke with Abby Tedesco, 90, who participated in the big celebration in front of the Hotel Bossert on Montague Street that October afternoon in 1955 when the Brooklyn Dodgers toppled the Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series for their only pre-Los Angeles championship. I spoke with Shaine Kay, age 51. Not yet born when the Dodgers moved away, even he has feelings on the matter.
Norman Siegel had sports in his blood. His father, Benjamin Siegel, had played some semi-pro basketball back in the day, and he was a hearty Dodgers fan. Benjamin Siegel was a union foreman for Supreme Printing Co., on Varick Street in Greenwich Village, which meant daily trips into Manhattan, but he still found time for trips to Ebbets Field, often with Norman at his side.
Norman Siegel was a fine student at New Utrecht High School and later at Brooklyn College and NYU School of Law, but it’s nothing compared with the education he received at Ebbets Field. Going to Brooklyn Dodgers games, he said, “sensitized me to the concept of racial equality, which led me to become a civil rights lawyer. And I’ve been doing that now for 54 years.
“Ebbets Field was my first exposure to people who were Black in significant number,” Siegel said. “Sitting with Black people in the bleachers helped make me be comfortable rooting for a team that was racially mixed.”
The Dodgers made history in 1947 when their general manager, Branch Rickey, broke baseball’s longstanding color line by promoting Jackie Robinson to the big leagues. Soon other Black players would come along. Roy Campanella. Don Newcombe. Joe Black. Siegel saw all of them.
“For 75 cents you could sit in the bleachers,” Siegel said. “We didn’t high-five anyone in those days, but whenever anyone on the Dodgers did something, whether it was Jackie or Pee Wee Reese or Duke Snider, we’d get up and applaud. Sometimes I would look at the other people, they were Black and White. So whether it was Preacher Roe or Don Newcombe pitching, we usually had four Whites and five Blacks or five Blacks and four Whites, or something like that, but we were all together. It was we shall overcome.”
“I celebrated in ’55, of course, when we finally beat those damn Yankees,” Siegel said. “And I was devastated in ’57.”
Norman Siegel with a photo of several Brooklyn Dodgers greats (Courtesy photo)
With his law degree, and with what he learned growing up at Ebbets Field, Siegel went south to work for the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. In 1985 he was named executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Now living in the Upper West Side in Manhattan, he’s on the board of directors of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. He is a New Yorker, through and through, and the Dodgers have now been Los Angeles’ team for almost seven decades.
So … Dodgers or Yankees in the World Series?
“People have been asking me what I’m going to do,” Siegel said. “I’ll know for sure when the the first game starts.
“But when I see that uniform, with ‘Dodgers’ across the front, it wins me over.”
Abby Tedesco has no conflicts about which team she plans to support in the World Series.
It’ll be the Dodgers.
It’s a Brooklyn thing.
Abby is living in Lido Beach on Long Island now and has a summer place in the Berkshires where her family runs an animal sanctuary, but to talk to this spry, upbeat woman about growing up in East Flatbush is to talk about those many happy treks to Ebbets Field to watch the Dodgers.
Abby’s biggest takeaways? She especially enjoyed the slaphappy band of Ebbets Field musicians known as the “Dodgers Sym-Phony,” and as a youngster she’d marvel as the volume of peanut shells that collected on the ground during the game. “We’d be eating peanuts all day, and what a mess we’d leave,” Abby said. “I don’t know how they got them all picked up.”
Abby Tedesco with a photo of the memorable 1955 Dodgers. (Courtesy photo)
But it was Abby’s father, Moe Moskowitz, who wore the Dodger pants in the house. “He wasn’t just a Dodger fan, he was a crazy Dodger fan,” Abby said. “If he was watching a game the Dodgers could have an 8-0 lead in the eighth inning and he’d be saying, ‘It’s too close! It’s too close!’ Sometimes he’d get so nervous he’d turn the game off and read about it in the paper in the morning.”
Moe Moskowitz was in ladies’ corsets. “My father managed a chain of 15 stores owned by my uncle,” Abby said. “The company was called Corsetorium. They used to say, ‘Of course it’s Corsetorium!’”
Dashing about from corset shop to corset shop kept Moe busy, but not too busy to take the family to Dodgers games. The family home at East 54th Street and Lenox Road was only a couple of miles from Ebbets Field.
“Jackie Robinson lived not too far from where we lived,” Abby said. “My father would pile all the kids in the car and we would drive past there all the time to see if we could spot him out front and wave hello. We never did see him, but we’d keep going.”
When the Dodgers toppled the Yankees in the 1955 World Series, Moe again piled all the kids in the car. This time the destination was the Hotel Bossert.
“He knew the Dodgers would be celebrating there, and he wanted us to be part of it,” Abby said. “And we just stood there, watching everyone come in and out of the hotel. That was exciting.”
What wasn’t so exciting in the Moskowitz house was what happened two years later, when the Dodgers announced the move to Los Angeles. Moe was all worked up — even more so than if the Dodgers had an 8-0 lead in the eighth inning — but he got over it. “He went from being a crazy Dodgers fan to being a crazy Mets fan,” Abby said.
Moe Moskowitz passed away in 1992. He lived to see the Mets win two World Series championships, twice as many as were won by the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Abby isn’t as big a baseball fan as her father was, but, yes, she rooted for the Mets to beat the Dodgers in the NLCS.
She’ll be rooting for the Dodgers — the Los Angeles Dodgers — to beat the Yankees in the World Series.
“Even though they beat us, I want them to beat those damn Yankees,” Abby said.
And then there’s Brooklyn native Shaine Kay, too young to have even stepped inside Ebbets Field. Moreover, he admits he hasn’t been much of a baseball fan “since I was little.” And yet there’s a Brooklyn Dodgers beat to this heart, partly because of the relationship he had with his grandfather, the late William Kelleher, but also because of that time he met Dodgers icon Duke Snider — the Duke of Flatbush himself! — at an autograph show.
“My grandfather was a big Dodger fan, and my uncle — his brother — was a New York Giants fan,” Kay said. “I heard all the stories about the rivalry they had, and them cursing each other out at the dinner table.”
Like many Brooklyn Dodgers fans, Kelleher eventually transferred his loyalties to the Mets. Kay, on the other hand, had mixed loyalties: He became a Yankees fan as a child but maintained a fondness for former Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese through the stories his grandfather would tell him.
Kelleher died in 1988. Kay drifted away from baseball. He eventually moved to Long Island, and then one day he ventured into a flea market that was selling odd sports souvenirs. Wouldn’t it be swell, he told himself, if there happened to be a Brooklyn Dodgers jersey with Pee Wee Reese’s No. 1 on the back?
What he found was a Brooklyn Dodgers jersey with Duke Snider’s No. 4 on the back.
“The place was going out of business, so I got it dirt cheap,” Kay said. “About a week later, my friend calls me up and says, ‘Get down to the comics store and bring your jersey.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He says, ‘Duke! Duke! He’s at the comic book store and he’s signing autographs.’ I said, ‘Who?’ And he says, ‘Like the jersey you just bought, idiot! No. 4, Duke Snider, is signing autographs.’”
Shaine Kay with his #4 Duke Snider Dodgers jersey. (Courtesy photo)
Kay gathered his Duke Snider jersey and went to the store, paid $20 to get in line, and presented himself to the Hall of Fame Dodgers center fielder. That’s when somebody stepped in and told Kay that Snider was only signing baseball cards or baseballs that had been purchased at the store.
They say Duke Snider had great range when he patrolled center field for the Dodgers. He showed it again that day at the comic book store, going way out of his way on behalf of Shaine Kay.
“I was going to say, alright, I’m leaving, give me my 20 bucks back,” Kay said. “And then Duke Snider says to me, I was maybe 15 at the time, he says, ‘Any kid who knows who the hell I am, let alone owns my jersey, I’m signing his shirt.’ And he took a Dodger blue sharpie out of his own pocket and signed it.”
So, Kay’s rooting for the Dodgers in the World Series, right? In memory of his grandfather! In memory of Duke Snider!
“I’m rooting for the Yankees, mainly because they’re a New York team,” he said. “But I love the fact that it’s Dodgers-Yankees, again, just like it used to be.
“But when I go,” Kay said, referring to the day he dies, “that Duke Snider jersey is going in the box with me. The rest of my jersey collection, they can split it up. But the Duke’s going with me.”
(Top photo of the 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers: Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
Deion Sanders’ Colorado will be playing in the postseason. In Sanders’ second season as head coach after taking over the worst power-conference team in college football, the Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) are bowl eligible after beating Cincinnati 34-23.
Colorado hasn’t played in a bowl game since it went 4-2 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The program hasn’t won a bowl game since 2004, and this season will mark its third bowl appearance since 2007.
Sanders has made frequent references this year to 99-year-old Colorado superfan Peggy Coppom and his promise to get her to a bowl game this season. The Buffaloes are eyeing more than just a bowl, too. Colorado is one of just four Big 12 teams with one or fewer conference losses, leaving it in the mix for the Big 12 title and one of the automatic bids to the 12-team College Football Playoff reserved for the five highest-ranked conference champions.
“I know Peggy. She’s got expensive taste. She don’t just want a bowl. She wants a bowl bowl. And I ain’t talkin’ about Manute (Bol),” Sanders told ESPN during the Buffaloes’ win.
GO DEEPER
College Football Playoff 2024 projections: How Week 9 impacted the 12-team bracket
Two-way star Travis Hunter re-entered the Heisman Trophy race with nine catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns on nine targets. He added four pass breakups and two tackles on defense, playing a total of 130 snaps. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders suffered a hip injury in the second half and received treatment on the sidelines but remained in the game, finishing 25 of 30 for 323 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
“It’s big for us because it’s big for the fans,” Shedeur Sanders said. “We’re not hitting our peak. We’re nowhere close.”
Under new defensive coordinator Rob Livingston, a first-time play caller, the Buffaloes have fashioned a respectable defense. They have also found a running game in recent weeks: last week’s win over Arizona (128 yards) and Saturday’s win (125 yards) were Colorado’s two most successful rushing performances of the season.
Sanders’ transfer-heavy approach to roster building has come under fire throughout his tenure, and the Buffaloes fell short of the postseason a year ago at 4-8 after a 3-0 start made them the biggest story in the sport. A year later, though, Sanders is seeing results.
Now, the Buffaloes have a chance to play into December. The last four games of the season — at Texas Tech, Utah, at Kansas and the home finale against Oklahoma State — will decide how high they climb.
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(Photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
There were no major upsets in Week 9 of the college football season, only shaky performances.
Ohio State and Texas both survived sloppy quarterback play to win games against Nebraska and Texas, respectively. Kansas State narrowly defeated Kansas and SMU eked out a victory over Duke.
The performances from the weekend closed the curtain on October. The next four weeks will have a tremendous impact on how the College Football Playoff could pan out.
For now, here’s the winners and losers of the week that was.
Winners
Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed (10) reacts after scoring a touchdown against LSU during the third quarter, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
Texas A&M: How about those Aggies? After the ferocious comeback against LSU on Saturday night, thanks to a strong defense and quarterback Marcel Reed, Texas A&M now sits atop the SEC standings. The only undefeated SEC team, they are on a path toward the College Football Playoff. This was a monster win for head coach Mike Elko, who is in his first year at the helm at College Station. If they can keep this up, that matchup against Texas after Thanksgiving is going to be insane.
Colorado: Deion Sanders told us he was going to turn the Colorado program around, and he’s done that in his second season as head coach. The Buffaloes are 6-2, bowl eligible, and are still in the hunt for the Big 12 championship. Travis Hunter continues to put together Heisman Trophy-worthy performances while Shedeur Sanders continues to impress in the passing game. The Buffs could win out, which is something I don’t know that we were thinking after that loss to Nebraska last month.
Boise State: The Broncos continue to run their offense through running back Ashton Jeanty, and it’s paying off. A big win over UNLV on Friday night keeps them in the conversation for the at-large bid in the college football playoffs, and it doesn’t look like they are slowing down anytime soon. Boise State is going to be a problem if they can make the playoffs, and they’re inching closer to that opportunity.
Oregon: The Ducks put an exclamation point on a huge win in the Big Ten Conference to remain undefeated. Dillon Gabriel moved to second in FBS passing touchdowns after he threw three in the 38-9 win over Illinois. He had 291 passing yards as well. Oregon is separating itself from some of the top teams in the conference.
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders fires a pass during the second half against Cincinnati at Folsom Field, Oct. 26, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)
Miami: It’s safe to say the Hurricanes run Florida. Miami trounced Florida State, 36-14, in another statement game by one of the top teams in the nation. Cam Ward improved his Heisman stock with 208 passing yards. The Hurricanes already have wins over Florida, Florida A&M and South Florida this season, and they do not have another ranked opponent on the schedule.
Iowa’s Brendan Sullivan: It was next man up for the Hawkeyes, and they may have discovered their new offensive formula. After Sullivan replaced Cade McNamara, Iowa went on a 37-0 run over the next two quarters.
Losers
Nebraska defensive lineman Jimari Butler, left, tackles Ohio State quarterback Will Howard during the second half, Oct. 26, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Ohio State: Yes, the Buckeyes came away with a victory, but it wasn’t the prettiest as Nebraska was just short in the 21-17 finish. This came after the Buckeyes fell to Oregon, and they have another high-ranked team in the Penn State Nittany Lions next week on the road. The roster is no doubt as talented as can be, but Ryan Day’s group need to be more polished after not looking like the usual well-oiled machine they are.
Kentucky: The Wildcats are windless at home this season in the SEC, dropping their third straight game this season at the hands of Auburn this time. I have no idea what’s going on in Lexington right now, but this team seems checked-out under head coach Mark Stoops, who might want to look for a way out after this season, again. Kentucky is now 2-11 in its last 13 SEC home games, and the problems keep adding up.
LSU: The Tigers were ranked No. 8 going into their game against Texas A&M but suffered a huge loss at the hands of Marcel Reed and the Aggies. Their second loss of the season dropped them to No. 16 in the nation. The loss against USC continues to not look great on their resume.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly speaks with the officials during the second quarter against Texas A&M at Kyle Field, Oct. 26, 2024, at College Station, Texas. (Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images.)
The Fox News Digital Sports college football winners and losers were compiled by the Fox News Digital Sports staff and the OutKick.com staff.
No MLS coach has won more regular-season games over the past three years than LAFC’s Steve Cherundolo. But that’s really been just an opening act, an appetizer. Because where Cherundolo and his team shine brightest is in the playoffs, which they opened again Sunday with a methodical 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps before a sold-out crowd of 22,298 at BMO Stadium.
With the win, on goals from Denis Bouanga and Cristian Olivera, LAFC goes into the second game of the best-of-three playoff next weekend needing a victory to advance to the Western Conference semifinals. If Vancouver wins, the series will return to BMO Stadium on Nov. 8 for the third and deciding game.
Since taking over LAFC, Cherundolo has lost just once in nine postseason games, winning one MLS Cup and losing by a goal in another. If he gets his team back to the championship game again this fall, he’ll become just the third man in league history — and the first in 17 years — to take his team to the final in three consecutive seasons.
However, the road there is fraught with potential potholes, a couple of which Cherundolo’s team steered around Sunday.
“The guys did enough to win the first game and nothing more,” Cherundolo said.
“There’s more work to be done. There’s a couple more games. Maybe only one for us.”
LAFC weathered a shaky start that saw Vancouver blow a golden opportunity to go ahead in the seventh minute when Stuart Armstrong burst in the box alone with only LAFC keeper Hugo Lloris to beat. And he beat him cleanly, but his right-footed shot bounced off the left post and across the front of the goal without crossing the line.
Seven minutes later Pedro Vite threw another scare into the home team, sending a low right-footed shot inches wide of the other post. If either had gone in, it could have spelled trouble for LAFC, which won just once in 11 regular-season games when conceding the first score.
But all that became moot when a video replay convinced referee Jair Marrufo that Vancouver defender Tristan Blackmon had blocked Mateusz Bogusz’s shot with his arm, leading to a penalty kick Bouanga converted for a 1-0 LAFC lead. The goal, in the 30th minute, was Bouanga’s 21st of the season and his league-best eighth from the spot.
Vancouver nearly matched that in stoppage time when Ryan Gauld curled a left-footed free kick from 20 yards off the crossbar, giving the goalposts more saves than Lloris in a first half that ended with LAFC leading. And that brought two more stats into play: LAFC entered Sunday 15-1-0 in MLS play when leading after 45 minutes and 6-1-2 in its last nine games with Vancouver, including a two-game sweep in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
Neither of those trends would be reversed in a second half that LAFC dominated, doubling its lead 12 minutes after the break at the end of a passing sequence that saw Ryan Hollingshead and Bogusz steer the ball around the box before hitting Olivera charging in from the right wing. Olivera then one-timed a hard right-footed shot that deflected off Whitecaps keeper Yohei Takaoka into the roof of the net.
“It was fun to watch,” Cherundolo said of the goal. “Exactly how we kind of draw up on the tactical board.”
Vancouver made the final seconds a bit dramatic when Gauld found the back of the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to make the final score more respectable — and perhaps give the Whitecaps a bit of momentum entering the second game next weekend.
“Definitely job’s not done,” defender Aaron Long said, repeating his coach.
“It’ll be a complicated match,” Olivera added in Spanish. “We will go there and look for the win. It hasn’t been easy. But we have a good team that deserves to advance.”
LAFC forward Kei Kamara, top, goes airborne over Vancouver midfielder Sebastian Berhalter during the second half Sunday.
(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)
Gauld’s goal came nine minutes after Carlos Vela, the last member of LAFC’s original roster, drew a huge ovation when he came on for Bouanga.
When Vela, whose last appearance came in December’s MLS Cup final, was waved on, Long rushed to the sideline, pulled the captain’s armband off his bicep and handed it to Vela, who wore it through most of the team’s first six seasons.
“That was an easy one,” Long said. “Carlos coming on the field, his first time back? Yeah, he’s getting that for sure.”
The team did not make Vela available for comment.
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