Wassup with the Ballfields South of the Park?
We were playing around with the Google satellite function and flying over Prospect Park when we noticed the ball fields to the south of the park that were clearly a later addition. Does anyone know when these were built or what the impetus for them was?
We were playing around with the Google satellite function and flying over Prospect Park when we noticed the ball fields to the south of the park that were clearly a later addition. Does anyone know when these were built or what the impetus for them was?
Well said, Lawrence.
Anyone who played baseball knows that those diamonds are the “Parade Grounds”. If you are a ballplayer, you either are a “Bonnie”, “Youth Service”, “Parkville” “Gil Hodges” or “Ty Cobbs”, let me not forget the “Cadets” and a myriad of top notch CYO and American Legion teams.
The renovation of those fields (in my own opinion) parallels the revitalization of the boroughs.
The “old school” and “not so old school” folks will wax nostalgic about these fields. For a park to be surrounded by the Victorian homes of Ditmas Park,the tenements of lower Flatbush, the beauty of Prospect Park, and the brownstones of Windsor Terrace, these fields are in the center of the “melting pot” that is Brooklyn.
So without being too longwinded, these are the NEW Parade Grounds… love em !!
Sandy Koufax started his career where these fields are.
Ken, it is nothing like the bloke in the Squid and the Whale. Bstoner is not that insular or elitist and if that is not obvious to you then you are not that bright.
I have learnt something new today and I would not have done had not bstoner posted the question in the first place.
This is like the guy in the Squid and the Whale who asks, “Across the park? Is that still Brooklyn?” Believe it or not, you can walk east and/or south out of Prospect Park and encounter: restaurants! stores! people! and, the Parade Grounds. There’s also a cemetery thereabouts.
I think those were the tennis courts featured in “the squid and the whale”, and so clearly were always a park sloper’s resource 🙂
The tennis courts at the Parade Grounds are some of the best in the city. They’re well-maintained and the teaching pro staff is excellent. In the summer, you use a city parks permit or single-play ticket . In the winter, there’s a bubble and the hourly rates are very reasonble (for NYC). And the previous comment is right-on about the parking.
I owned a coop in a building on the Parade Grounds for two years. It’s a lovely spot. Very quiet. Fun to watch the tiny kids play soccer on the weekends. Lots of parking. I miss the parking. Sigh.
The rehab of the grounds was just getting started when we bought. Needless to say, we made a very good investment.
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