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ON SECOND THOUGHT By Barney Nagler NEW YORK, N. Y., May 9.— There was a visit to Ebbets Field the night Gino Ci- i moli hit a home run in the 14th inning to beat Milwaukee. The winning run came at midnight, and in the press box a man said to a regular visitor, "I wonder how many guys will write that Cinderella was at Ebbets Field last night." It turned out that two of four reporters latched onto Cindy for a lead, which as it should be because lit erary references are difficult to come by in sports journalism. Cinderella, after all, is known even to the most casual customer. The little girls story is a sign of hope in darkness. In Brooklyn, where there is mingled feeling about the Dodgers these Los Angeles-minded days, hope is only for those who believe the borough will be sorely hurt by the departure of the team for California. « * A They go along convinced that. Brooklyn, which isnt a city and yet is more than a hamlet, will be forgotten if the Dodgers decamp. Brooklynites are perverse about their borough: They feel neglected if comics fail to jape at their home town and they are chagrined when Brooklyn is the target of ridicule. They are, in this sense, . schizoid. They also are sensitive. I . The Dodgers have been drawing less than their accustomed number to Ebbets Field. I The night in question — the one on which Cimoli had five hits — brought out only | 15,885. Obviously, OMalley is being reminded by the partisans that he cannot flirt with L. A. while his boys are still doing business in Flatbush. Not even the fact of Brooklyns stirring 14th inning beating of the Braves lured the customers to Ebbets Field the next night. Less than 10,000 were on hand for a match with the Cincinnati Redlegs. A continua- tion of such vast disinterest may send the Dodgers to L. A. a lot faster than even OMalley expected when he hatched his plot to get the city andor the state to shell out enough cash to build him a new playground. AAA Indeed, not even the men w ho live in the press box at Ebbets Field are pleased with the way OMalley has been playing footsie with L. A. while holding hands with Brooklyn. Such light-heartedness is not accept-i able in Brooklyn, where the citizens have lived and died with their team, even danc-j ing in the streets when the Dodgers finally won a world championship in 1955. In Brooklyn, love is love and friendship is a way of life. In the press box, while the Dodgers were locked in combat with Milwaukee, a man looked around him and said, "This is some crowd. Would you believe it?" "There it is. You got to believe it." "You got to blame this OMalley for it too. Brooklyn fans aint no dopes. When he moved the team to Jersey City for them games the people here didnt like it. They dont want to be hooked up with no Jersey City." "How about the L. A. move?" "Thats the end. How OMalley thinks he can keep people coming here and rooting Continued on Page forty-four I ON SECOND THOUGHT By BARNEY NAGLEB Continued from Page Two when hes talking with the mayor of L. A. beats me." It was the 14th inning. Cimoli was coming to bat. "Heres a kid. for instance, wanted nothing more than to play in Brooklyn, so now that hes here, maybe hell be playing in L. A." "He wont mind," said the casual visitor. "Long as hes in the majors." Tell you about this kid," the other one said. "The writers almost chased him out j j of baseball. They made him out a big dope. I j They remembered how he dropped a ball j j out in left field one day last year and*they ! didnt let him forget." "Neither did the customers forget that." "Thats right, but they took their medicine. They say nice things about him now." Just then Cimoli hit a two-two pitch into the right field stands for a home run. The Dodgers customers vent home happy. The unhappy man in the press box said, "Imagine not having things like that happen to Brooklyn no more. Whats L. A. got that we aint got?"
