Brooklyn Bushwicks

From SABR Encyclopedia

The Brooklyn Bushwicks were a semi-pro team that played in Queens, New York.

Max Rosner was a successful business man who in 1911 organized his first semi-pro team, The Cypress Hills.

One of his players on the 1912 team was Joe Judge. He later became a well known major leaguer from 1915 to 1934, primarily with the Washington Senators.

In 1913 Max Rosner along with a silent partner, Nat Strong, founded the Bushwick Baseball Club. Nat Strong had controlling interest in the Brooklyn Royal Giants, a black team.

In 1914, Max took over as manager of the Bushwicks playing games at Wallace field. The Bushwicks established themselves as the premier team in the area, playing Sunday afternoons against the Brooklyn Royal Giants as well as the many famous black teams, including the Lincoln Giants.

In 1916 Charlie Ebbets, president of the Brooklyn National League team, was short of cash to finance his team's spring training in Georgia. He approached Rosner and Strong for a loan, which they agreed to after Ebbets said his team whould play the Bushwicks two exhibition games that spring.

On April 2, they played the first game. 3,000 fans showed up, and the Bushwicks won 4-3. The second game on April 16, the Brooklyn team had all their regulars: Zack Wheat, Casey Stengel, etc., with Rube Marquard pitching. 6,000 fans showed up to watch Brooklyn win 22-2.

On September 19, 1917 the grandstand at Wallace field caught fire and burned to the ground. Rosner then made a lease arrangement for the Bushwicks to play their games on Sunday afternoons at Dexter Park starting in the spring of 1918. This was the start of a long relationship between the Bushwicks and the community of Woodhaven, in Queens, New York, where Dexter Park was located.

In the 1920's some of the teams that visited Dexter Park to play the Bushwicks were the Bacharach Giants, Cuban Stars, and the House of David. Max was a good judge of baseball talent. Starting in the 1920's his team was a blend of ex-major leaguers and local semi-pro players. In 1922 Jeff Tesreau joined the Bushwicks, having previously pitched for the New York Giants for seven years he was the first of many former major leaguers to play for the Bushwicks. In July of 1924 Jack Warhop a former New York Yankee from 1908-1915 was hired as player-manager. The following year Leon Cadore joined the Bushwicks, he pitched in the National League from 1915-1924. Columbus Day 1927, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig came to Dexter Park with an all-star team to play the Bushwicks. An overflow crowd of 24,000 fans showed up. This was the

Sources

• . Times Newsweekly, 1991-09-19.