Capitoline Grounds

The Capitoline Grounds, also known as Capitoline Skating Lake and Base Ball Ground, was a baseball park in Brooklyn, New York from 1864 to 1880. It was built to rival nearby Union Grounds, also in Brooklyn. The park was host to several local teams in its early history, but soon hosted the Atlantic of Brooklyn of the National Association of Base Ball Players.

Many of organized baseball's earliest historical events took place at the park throughout the 1860s and early 1870s. The most notable event came on June 14, 1870, when the Atlantics ended the Cincinnati Red Stockings 84–game winning streak, with a come-from-behind 8–7 victory in the bottom of the 11th inning. This was also the place where Fred Goldsmith successfully demonstrated his curve ball, a pitch previously thought to have been only an optical illusion. Ned Cuthbert invented the slide when he was trying to avoid being caught stealing a base in an 1865 game against the Athletic of Philadelphia. The park's only season as a "Major League" park was in 1872 when the Brooklyn Atlantics joined the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. In addition to baseball, the park was flooded during the winter and used as an ice skating rink. The Grounds hosted various events and exhibitions; most notably in 1873, when Washington Donaldson attempted to fly a hot-air balloon across the Atlantic Ocean. The attempt turned tragic when the balloon crashed in Connecticut killing one of the reporters who came along for the ride.