The Brooklyn Dodgers began playing professionally in the American Association in 1883 and then jumped to the National League a year later. The Dodgers almost moved to Baltimore in 1902, but a Dodgers employee named Charles Ebbets purchased the team and kept them in Brooklyn. In 1913, the Dodgers began plying in Ebbets field, which was in the Brooklyn Burroughs. In 1941, the Dodgers were the first team to introduce batting helmets, and in 1947, the Dodgers Jackie Robinson was the first African-American player to play in Major League Baseball. The team had such future Hall of Farmers as Roy Campanella, Burleigh Grimes, Pee Wee Reese, and Jackie Robinson. In 1950, Walter O’ Malley became the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He decided to look for a new baseball park. He looked all through the city of Brooklyn for land to build the stadium, but decided their wasn’t good land in Brooklyn. He decided to move the team elsewhere. So O’ Malley began talking to Los Angeles city officials and found that Los Angeles was willing to give him land to build a new baseball park. In 1958, the Dodgers played their first game in Los Angeles.

The New York Giants were known as the Gothams in the 1880’s they won their first pennant in 1888 and team owner and president Jim Mutrie exclaimed “My giants” and the team began known as the New York Giants. The Giants played their games at the Polo Grounds. The stadium was located in Manhattan and eventually moved to New York City. Many Hall of Farmers played for the Giants, such as Ross Young, Joe Williams, Hoyt Wilhel, Bill Terry, Christy Mathewson, Freddy Lindstrom, George Kelley, and Kelly Hubbell. Some famous moments for the Giants were the “shot Heard Round the World” which was a famous homerun hit by Bobby Thompson to defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the pennant in 1951. In the 1954, World Series Willie Mays made the infamous basket catch that saved the game for the Giants. In 1957, the New York Giants began talking to the San Francisco mayor to move westward. The talks turned into an actual move later in the year and they followed the Brooklyn Dodgers west and became the San Francisco Giants. These two teams would begin a newfound rivalry that still resides today.