50 Years Later, 2 Dodgers Remember Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, NY - Throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Cyclones took on the Hudson Valley Renegades last Sunday, Danny McDevitt, the pitcher who threw the last pitch in Brooklyn Dodgers history, alongside the catcher who was behind the plate, Joe Pignatano, reminisced on their time at Ebbets Field.

“I don’t remember a whole lot, but this thing has become something special as time has gone on and it’s very important to me now,” said McDevitt, who had one of his best seasons in 1957 as a rookie, going 7-4 with a 3.25 ERA. “Back then, I was just a dumb left-hander.”

Coming back to Brooklyn, where he was born and raised after his playing days were over in 1962, Pignatano still feels that the greatest moment of his career was playing in Ebbets field during his rookie season. It may have been 50 years since he was in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, but Pignatano’s eye shined with the exuberance of a young major leaguer when recollecting the early days of his career.

“I was happy as a pig in you know what to be here,” said Pignatano, who also played for the Athletics and the Mets during his career. “We were a family and our captain, Pee Wee [Reese] kept us together and working hard. It was just super.”

While it was obvious that both McDevitt and Pignatano loved their time in Brooklyn and despite the fact that they both would have liked to stay there, they understand why Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley moved the team to Los Angeles almost 50 years ago.

“The atmosphere was great and the fans were great. They were so knowledgeable. We were like their babies and when we left, you’d think they lost their kids,” said Pignatano. “Did I want to leave here? No, this was my home. I had friends and family here and this is where I wanted to stay, but I was a major leaguer and I was going to play with any team that game me a sweater. So in order to play, I had to go to LA.

“If I was in his [O’Malley’s] position, I probably would have done the same thing, regardless of if I lived here or not.”

Despite having similar feelings about the move to Los Angeles, McDevitt felt that the atmosphere in Brooklyn was one that thrived on baseball and brought the best out in the players.

“Making the move to LA probably took 15 years off of my career,” he said jokingly. “This was such a good baseball town and the players really got involved in the community. All the players were family men and they cared in the community. If you read Carl Erskine’s book, he mentions his grocery man, barber and butcher a lot. Those types of things just don’t happen anywhere else.”

Leaving Brooklyn was obviously tough for both of the New York natives, but their day at Keyspan is something they’ll never forget.

“I grew up a mile from here, born and raised,” said Pignatano. “And the team I played sandlot ball with was called the Cyclones, so to me it means a lot. There’s nothing better than being here today.”