Dexter Park (Queens)

Applause and yelling are the order of the afternoon, and intoxicants are sold.The first regular ballgame was in 1889 when the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad met the Merrits for a Sunday opener that season.

As Sunday Blue Laws were less strictly enforced in Queens, the destination was quite popular, with the elevated station at 75th Street (now a stop on the New York City Subway's J and ​Z trains) crowded to and from Brooklyn.

[citation needed] Many former Major League ballplayers were featured on the Bushwicks, such as the Cuccinello brothers, Tony and Al. Josh Gibson once hit a home run over the 30-foot high wall behind the 418-foot deep left-center bleachers.

[citation needed] By the early 1950s, screening of major league games on television in New York City dried up the audiences for semi-pro ball, and the Bushwicks folded after the 1951 season.

Despite an official capacity of only 15,400, a whopping 21,583 fans jammed into Dexter to watch New York Hakoah defeat St. Louis Madison Kennel, 2–0.

On November 1, 1930, a section of the stands seating 500 fans collapsed during a game; luckily, no one was hurt, and Jamaica went on to defeat Richmond Hill, 25–2, to claim the all-Queens title.

[10] On May 24, 1926, 10,000 spectators braved unexpectedly cold weather to witness the first card of the year, disputing one result so loudly that the announcer was unable to introduce the next bout.

[11] The main sanctioning body on Long Island was the Allstate Racing Stock Car Club, the officers of whom were mostly drivers and racecar owners who were expanding operations from Freeport Stadium.