Editing Ebbets Field (section)

===Opening===
[[File:Miss Genevieve Ebbets, youngest daughter of Charley Ebbets, throws first ball at opening of Ebbets Field (baseball) LCCN2014692697.jpg|thumb|Charles Ebbets' daughter throws out the first pitch, at an exhibition game on April 5, 1913.]]The first game played was an inter-league exhibition game against the [[New York Yankees]] on April 5, 1913, played before an overcapacity of 30,000 fans, with 5,000 more who had arrived but were not able to get in.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ebbets Field Opening Victory for Superbas – 30,000 Fans Jam Into New Home of Brooklyn Club – Yankees Lose, 3 to 2|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/04/06/100261135.html?pageNumber=58|access-date=26 September 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=April 6, 1913|page=S1}}</ref> After a loss against the Yankees in another exhibition game on April 7 in front of about 1,000 fans on a very cold day,<ref>{{cite news|title=Yankees Win Costly Game in Brooklyn – Manager Chance, Warhop, and Derrick Injured Playing in Cold Atmosphere|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/04/08/100393298.html?pageNumber=11|access-date=26 September 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=April 8, 1913|page=11}}</ref> the first regular season game was played on April 9 against the [[Philadelphia Phillies]], with Brooklyn losing, 1–0.<ref>{{cite news|title=Brooklyn Starts Season a Loser|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E0CE0DC1F3AE633A25753C1A9629C946296D6CF|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 10, 1913|page=9|access-date=2010-01-16}}</ref>

When the park was opened it was discovered that an American flag, keys to the bleachers, and a press box had all been forgotten. The press box level was not added until 1929.<ref name="Lowry">{{cite book |title=Green Cathedrals |last=Lowry |first=Philip |year=2006 |publisher=Walker & Company |isbn=978-0-8027-1608-8 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Afo5vtVTz4wC&q=green%20cathedrals&pg=PP1 }}</ref> The original double-decked seating covered all of right field, rounded home plate, and extended past third base, with an open concrete bleacher stand continuing to the left field wall.

The ballpark was built on a sloping piece of ground, raised above street level in right field, which resulted in short foul line there of just {{convert|301|ft}}).  When it opened, the field was very large for its time in both left field ({{convert|419|ft}}) and center ({{convert|508|ft}}); with additional seating the playing field shrunk to {{convert|356|ft}} in left, {{convert|406|ft}} in center, and {{convert|297|ft}} to right, which gained a screen above its fence and a scoreboard.  At its peak it had a capacity of around 32,000.

As with Boston's [[Fenway Park]] and Detroit's [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Tiger Stadium]], two ballparks that had opened one year earlier than Ebbets Field, the intimate configuration of some of each park's dimensions prompted some baseball writers to also refer to Ebbets Field as a "cigar box" or a "bandbox."{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}