April 10, 1958: Rutgers edges St. John’s on Paul Tootleman’s three-hitter at empty Ebbets Field
- Thread starter Tango Two
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"...The Rutgers Targum noted that [Rutgers manager George] Case had been complaining about the distant fences on Rutgers’ University Heights home field.13 He was going to like the bandbox dimensions of Ebbets Field..."
Jim “Mighty Mo” Monahan captained the 1951 team and is in the Rutgers Football Hall of Fame. That year his 89 yard touchdown run against Temple set a record. He is also one of only four players to have hit a home run over the old fences on the baseball diamond. The April 5, 1968 Targum reported a new auxiliary fence would reduce the Rutgers field to 330 feet in left, 410 feet in center and 320 feet in right. The old measurements were 430 feet in left, between 480-550 feet in center and 470 feet in right. Besides a wind-assisted blast by a Villanova player, the other two men were UConn’s Walt Dropo, future Rookie of the Year for the 1950 Red Sox and Rutgers own Jeff Torborg, Class of 1963.
And what of Ebbets Field? Well, Rutgers played three football games there including being the first college team to play a football game there.
November 24, 1917 Rutgers 14 Newport Second District Naval Reserves 0
Brooklyn, NY Ebbets Field Attendance: between 12,000-15,000
November 16, 1918 Great Lakes Naval Training Station 54 Rutgers 14
Brooklyn, NY Ebbets Field Attendance: between 7,000-10,000
December 3, 1932 Manhattan 7 Rutgers 6
Brooklyn, NY Ebbets Field Attendance: 15,000
Jim “Mighty Mo” Monahan captained the 1951 team and is in the Rutgers Football Hall of Fame. That year his 89 yard touchdown run against Temple set a record. He is also one of only four players to have hit a home run over the old fences on the baseball diamond. The April 5, 1968 Targum reported a new auxiliary fence would reduce the Rutgers field to 330 feet in left, 410 feet in center and 320 feet in right. The old measurements were 430 feet in left, between 480-550 feet in center and 470 feet in right. Besides a wind-assisted blast by a Villanova player, the other two men were UConn’s Walt Dropo, future Rookie of the Year for the 1950 Red Sox and Rutgers own Jeff Torborg, Class of 1963.
And what of Ebbets Field? Well, Rutgers played three football games there including being the first college team to play a football game there.
November 24, 1917 Rutgers 14 Newport Second District Naval Reserves 0
Brooklyn, NY Ebbets Field Attendance: between 12,000-15,000
November 16, 1918 Great Lakes Naval Training Station 54 Rutgers 14
Brooklyn, NY Ebbets Field Attendance: between 7,000-10,000
December 3, 1932 Manhattan 7 Rutgers 6
Brooklyn, NY Ebbets Field Attendance: 15,000
I found this 2023 article interesting … Rutgers coach George Case, a Trenton NJ native and former major leaguer … his father founded Case Pork Roll. Quite a legacy.
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