The year was 1935. Babe Ruth, the Bambino, was reveling in the twilight of his fame. The Sultan of Swat, the King of Swing, the Colossus Of Crash had seen better days. Years of hard living and several automobile accidents had taken their toll, but the Babe could still draw a crowd—and the racially diverse spectators at the Dyckman Oval were his kind of people.
On September 29, 1935 they came in droves.
That sunny afternoon an estimated 10,000 fans came to the 4,600 seat Dyckman Oval to see their hero play on a team of former all stars and minor leaguers in an exhibition game against the New York Cubans of the old Negro League. The price: Fifty-five cents for the grandstands and $1.10 for the big spenders in the box seats.
The game, for which Ruth was paid three thousand dollars, would be one of his last.
Amid the sea of fans, one lone reporter, Tom Meany of the New York Telegram, realized the tragedy unfolding before his very eyes.
“The spectators seemed to sense they were watching something pathetic…There were neither newsreel nor still cameras in evidence and no telegraph keys clattered brassily in the press box, which had less than half a dozen occupants. No civic dignitaries, not even an alderman, could be observed in the crowd.”
Paid to play just the first game of a double-header, which the Cubans won 6 to 1, Ruth took to the plate between games to give the ticket holders a bit more bang for their buck. Over the next five minutes, Meany and the 10,000 fans witnessed a piece of baseball history that would never be entered into the record books.
As pitcher Clyde Barfoot hurled balls from the mound, The Babe, for a fleeting moment, sprung back to life, slamming ball after ball out of the park. Those in attendance swore one particular baseball was hit further than any in the previous history of the Dyckman Oval.
But as Ruth faded into the stuff of legend, the Dyckman Oval was entering its heyday…
When the Dyckman Oval first appeared in the sports pages in January of 1920 it was a homely affair located at 204th Street and Nagle Avenue. That first year the Oval was used primarily for ice skating competitions.
By 1921, the Oval was drawing baseball fans, including Mayor John F. Hylan, from all five boroughs and beyond.
That spring Hylan made an impromptu visit to the Oval to see Jeff Tesreau’s team battle the Cuban Stars. Not recognizing the Mayor as he approached, a later shame-faced gateman demanded to see a ticket. “I haven’t any,” responded the mayor. Gateman, “Well, you’d better get one if you want to see this game.”
Luckily for both parties a manager spotted the Mayor and escorted him into the Oval where he immediately took to the mound.
The mayor threw four pitches against the opposing team—three of them strikes.
Soon boxing was added to the roster. Pugilism would become a staple of the Oval for years to come, but at the time, many doubted the Dyckman Oval could survive the 1920’s.
By 1929 the Dyckman Oval played host to mainly soccer games. Lawsuits and years of poor management had left the once thriving facility on life support.
Dyckman Oval shown just to the right of elevated tracks in undated photo.
It was not until 1935, the same year Ruth played his exhibition game that things turned around for the Dyckman Oval, but first a deal with the devil had to be made.
Enter Harlem numbers broker Alejandro Pompez who gave the ailing Dyckman Oval a sixty-thousand dollar shot in the arm to use as a showcase for his prized baseball team, The New York Cubans.
A 2003 Sports Illustrated article written by Daniel Coyle provides a wonderful description of Pompez.
“Pompez was a criminal in the eyes of the police and a crown prince in the eyes of Harlemites. From his cigar store, the soft spoken Cuban ran a numbers bank—a lottery that filled his pockets to the tune of $8,000 a day—which he used to fund his Negro league baseball team, the New York Cubans. Courtly, suave and scrupulously honest with his clients, Pompez was beloved in Harlem for his civic generosity.
All went swimmingly for him until an evening in 1931 when the Bronx-based gangster Arthur Flegenheimer, better known as Dutch Schultz, employed his .45 revolver to persuade Pompez to hand over control of the numbers game. Needing another source of income, Pompez turned to sports enterprises. In 1935 he leased a vacant field at Dyckman Oval from the city and transformed it into one of the finest sports palaces in Manhattan.”
Pompez put his money to good use. Under his renovations the Dyckman Oval was transformed into shining new 10,000 seat arena with modern conveniences like floodlights for playing well into the night.
A master showman, Pompez knew how to fill the house. If Babe Ruth didn’t dazzle them then perhaps a boxing exhibition with Joe Louis, a new car raffle—whatever it took.
New York Cubans in 1940
The Oval, often called “Harlem’s Own,” was also a melting pot where all New Yorkers could gather and simply enjoy a ball game—and Pompez’s New York Cubans knew how to delight.
Player-manager Martin Dihigo was clearly a house favorite. Dubbed “El Maestro” by fans and sportswriters alike, Dihigo could play all nine positions with equal skill. His lightening speed fastballs remain the stuff of legend. Often called the most versatile player in the history of baseball, the six-foot-three, 210 pound, right-handed Cuban would eventually be elected to the Mexican, Cuban and American Halls of Fame.
The entire team, comprised of Cuban, African-American, Puerto Rican and Dominican players proved a force to be reckoned with—even when playing against legendary teams like Satchel Paige and his Pittsburgh Crawfords.
But the days of wine and roses couldn’t last forever—the team’s owner, Alex Pompez, was, after all, a career criminal. When rival gangsters gunned down Dutch Schultz in October of 1935, Pompez went back into the numbers rackets.
The move would prove a serious miscalculation.
In 1936 New York County District Attorney Thomas Dewey was preparing an indictment against Pompez for his involvement in the policy rackets. Receiving a tip, Pompez fled the country.
When Mexican authorities arrested Pompez on March 28, 1937 he was traveling under the name Antonio Moreno. Federales in Mexico City nabbed baseball’s greatest fugitive as he stepped into a bulletproof car with Chicago license plates.
Pompez’ legal difficulties would prove disastrous for his beloved franchise. While the Dyckman Oval would continue to host sporting events, the New York Cubans stopped playing altogether.
On May 16, 1939, after providing lengthy testimony for the prosecution, Pompez pleaded guilty to conspiracy in return for a two year suspended sentence.
When the Cubans were readmitted to the Negro National League in 1939 they would find themselves without a home.
In 1938, perhaps to spite the admitted gangster, the City of New York demolished the Dyckman Oval and turned the grand old field into a parking lot.
1951 photo of newly constructed Dyckman Houses. Once the site of the Dyckman Oval.
Today the Dyckman Houses sit on this once hallowed sporting ground.
As for Pompez—he swore to stay on the straight and narrow after his trial. By all accounts he did just that.
In 1943 Pompez found a new home for the Cubans inside New York’s famed Polo Grounds.
Lacking fan support, the New York Cubans folded in 1950.
Pompez went on to become a respected talent scout who once played a role in signing Willie Mays.
Credited with opening baseball’s “Dominican Pipeline,”
Pompez died in 1974. He was 83-years-old. Pompez was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Cole: Interesting and more information than I’ve read, as usual. I particularly liked the next to last picture of the Dyckman Houses. It took a few minutes to orient myself, but with the “Speedway” in the foreground, one can see, among other things, the lot along Nagle Ave. that was full of white rocks (Inwood marble?) until the 60s, I think, when a large building went in. Also interesting to see the projects in their infancy with those tiny little trees.
By the way, a probably little known fact, and I wonder how many old-timers like myself would remember this…when I was a very young child, maybe 6 or 7, there was a pony-ride facility on the Speedway south of the projects. It was just a little ring, and I have no idea how long it lasted. It was probably 1951-52.
Betty,
As usual, thanks for writing in. I like that photo of the Dyckman Houses as well. It looks more like a model than the real thing. Cole
“there was a pony-ride facility on the Speedway south of the projects. It was just a little ring, and I have no idea how long it lasted. It was probably 1951-52.”
I remember it!
I remember playing on those white rocks, too.
I grew up in the Dyckman Houses (213 Nagle) and played on those white rocks (Inwood marble) until they constructed 240 Nagle Ave., circa 1967. There was a small outcrop remaining on Nagle, between 204 & Academy for at least 20 years, where a parking lot stood. When I visited in the early 2000s there was a building sitting in that former lot.
That “pony”ride was owned by a good freind of my family,Charlie Street,I use to work there after school and on Saturdays.They weren’t ponys they were full grown horses,I oughta know,I cleaned the stables and also was allowed to ride as often as I wanted as long as we weren’t busy,sometimes right to my house at 120 Vermilyea.
Jim
I lived near Nagle and 204th in the fifties and sixties and we played on the White Rocks all the time. I never knew the history of the Dyckman Houses land area until now. Thanks Cole, for some memories I never had until now.
Cole,
I’ve read and enjoyed just about every piece on your website. I have been on the Inwood boards for years and am a big fan of both Inwood and NYC history. Your website, research and findings are top notch. Special kudos to the Dyckman Oval piece (born and raised at 204 and Post) and the Inwood Pottery piece ( I own a couple of non museum quality pieces). I wish I still had the stuff I dug up near the caves in the park in the late 60’s early 70’s as it was fascinating. Many thanks!