Charles Henry Ebbets, Sr.[1] (October 29, 1859 – April 18, 1925) was an American sports executive who served as co-owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1897 to 1902 before becoming majority owner of the team, doing so until his death in 1925.

[2] Ebbets was born in New York City at his parents’ home at 31 Clarke Street on October 29, 1859.

That year the Brooklyn Eagle stated, “He is considered one of the swiftest and, at the same time, truest bowlers in Brooklyn.”[8] In 1883, his brother Jack had introduced him to Joseph Doyle and George Taylor, friends of his who had recently formed the Brooklyn Base Ball Association with Ferdinand Abell and Charles Byrne.

Ebbets got a job working for the team selling tickets, score cards, and peanuts at their Washington Park stadium at Fifth Avenue and Third Street.

Scouting around Brooklyn for an alternate site, his attention soon focused on an area in Flatbush known as “Pigtown”—so called because it was a local dump occupied principally by squatters.

[13] In 1912, he sold half of his holdings in the Superbas to raise the $750,000 needed to build a new stadium and construction of the Superbas’ new 25,000-seat stadium at 55 Sullivan Place near the intersection of Empire Boulevard (called Malbone Street at the time) and Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn was completed and Ebbets Field opened for its first ballgame.

Not only was he now a half-owner and president of the Brooklyn Superbas Baseball Club in the National League, he also had a stadium named in his honor.

[14] The following year, in a Republican landslide when William McKinley won the White House, Ebbets lost his bid for re-election.

Charles married first April 10, 1878, Minnie Frances Amelia Broadbent, born January 1, 1858, in New York City.

[20] In 1916, his team (known as the Robins due to their manager, Wilbert Robinson) won the National League pennant (their first in sixteen years), advancing to the 1916 World Series.

Four years later, the Robins won the pennant again, though they once again lost in the World Series, this time to the Cleveland Indians in seven games.

[23] Minnie received an annual allowance of $7,500 and to guarantee those payments he deposited his shares of the Dodgers with the Mechanics Bank in Brooklyn as trustee.

[24] In 1924, he and Grace had a house built in Clearwater, Florida, and he moved the Dodgers to that town to practice in the spring.

Returning to New York in April, Ebbets checked into his room at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel where he stayed when the Dodgers were playing in town.

Charles H. Ebbets died of heart failure that afternoon in his suite at the Waldorf Hotel.

His funeral was held at Trinity Church on April 21 and he was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Ebbets was a hands-on baseball owner who introduced numerous concepts into the game that still live on in some form in the present day.

[27] During an exhibition game in Memphis on March 28, 1917, between his team and the Boston Red Sox, the two teams wore numbers on their sleeves due to his belief that fans in a non-major league city like Memphis wouldn't be familiar with the players.

When he died, his estate was valued at $1,115,257—most of it being in his half ownership of the Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball Club and the Ebbets Field property.

The Great Depression in the 1930s also drained resources established for the annual payments intended for his heirs, which ceased in 1933.

[30] After Charlie's death, Grace eventually moved out to Long Island, living in a home at 41 Kenilworth Road, Mineola, New York.

Services were held at Freeport, Long Island, and she was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery on April 29, 1959, next to Charles.