Brooklyn Bridegrooms

Brooklyn Bridegrooms: 1888-1890, 1896-1898

• Ballparks:Washington Park I (May 12, 1883-May 4, 1889) (2,000), Ridgewood Park (May 2, 1886-October 6, 1889 Sun.), Washington Park II (May 30-October 30, 1890) (3,000), Eastern Park (April 21, 1891-October 2, 1897), Washington Park III (April 30, 1898-October 5, 1912)

Between the years 1883 and 1931, the major league baseball team based in Brooklyn, NY was officially the Brooklyn Base Ball Association or Brooklyn Club for short. Unofficially the team was known by many names. Starting around 1888, the press took to referring to the team as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. This was due to the fact that four of the team's star players had gotten married during the off-season. The "Bridegrooms" name lasted until 1891 when it was shortened to the Brooklyn Grooms, although other nicknames were also used in parallel. The name became the Bridegrooms again starting in 1896, and would not change until Ned Hanlon became manager at which time the press took to calling the team the Brooklyn Superbas.

The team would win two pennants, the first came in 1889 as members of the American Association. The following year the team joined the National League and won a second pennant. Along with the Boston Reds of the Players League and American Association, they are the only two teams to win back-to-back pennants in two different major leagues. The team also participated in two postseason series: the first series was against the National League pennant winning New York Giants in which the Bridegrooms lost 6-3. The second series saw the team tie the Louisville Eclipse 3-3-1. It should be pointed out, that aside from longtime Brooklyn owner Charlie Ebbets no player from the Bridegrooms' era was ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Further Reading

• Ronald G. Shafer: When the Dodgers Were Bridegrooms: Gunner McGunnigle and Brooklyn's Back-to-Back Pennants of 1889 and 1890, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2011. ISBN 978-0786458998
• James L. Terry: Long Before the Dodgers: Baseball in Brooklyn, McFarland, Jefferson, NC 2002. ISBN 978-0-7864-1229-7

• Bridegrooms