[O]nce a bum always a bum. I fear the disease is incurable.
—John Steinbeck. Travels With Charley

As soon as the harvest is in, you're a migrant worker. Afterwards just a bum.
—Grapes of Wrath (Film version)

The Brooklyn Historical Society has opened an exhibit on the Dodgers that they've entitled "Dodgers Do It!: Celebrating Brooklyn's 1955 Big Win!" The fiftieth anniversary of such a bittersweet moment—the Dodgers announced that they were moving to Los Angeles a little over a year later (December 1, 1956)—is certainly worthy of commemorating.

However, the brochure that accompanies the exhibit plays a bit loose with the facts:

Journey back in time to baseball circa 1955, a season of destiny and deliverance for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Home runs jumped off Dodger bats and crowds streamed into Ebbets Field. Despite five prior trips to the World Series as the Dodgers - in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953 - the team had never won a World Series Pennant. Stroll through playful environments and travel back to experience the agony and ecstasy of each of the seven games in the World Series and Brooklyn's deep-rooted love for baseball.

Yes, the Dodgers lost the Series in 1941, 47, 49, 52, and 53. But, there are two gaping holes in their history. First, as the Robins (for manager Wilbert Robinson) the team lost the Series in 1916 and 1920. Prior to that, while known as the Superbas, the team won two NL pennants prior to the advent of the modern World Series (1899 and 1900). They also failed to win in the old National League-American Association championship series twice. In 1889, their last in the AA, they lost to the Giants. In 1890, the series between Brooklyn and Louisville ended in a three-three tie (with one tied ballgame).

For the record, here are all the Brooklyn champs in the professional era:

OK, but that's just me being a stickler. The second more important omission was that the Dodgers had lost each of the World Series mentioned (plus one in 1956) to the hated Yankees. That's what made 1955 so important. The Bums finally beat the Yanks. If the Dodgers had beaten the Indians, who finished three games behind the Yankees, even in seven games, I doubt it would be as compelling a story.

So why is the BHS burying the headline? Maybe it's because they don't want to alienate all of the Yankee fans who potentially would come out to see the Dodgers exhibit, something that would have been anathema to Dodger fans back in the day. Eh, so what's a little revisionist history among friends?

Anyway, to illustrate just how unlucky the Brooklyn Dodgers were, here are all the league champions broken down by city affiliation sorted by the percentage of World Series won in their league championship years (Notes: Years without a Series are listed separately. There are more losers , or non-winners, than winners since two pre-1903 Series ended in a tie and three leagues—UA, PL, and FL—had champions but never sent teams to the Series):

Nine percent is pretty low, the lowest among the "original 16" cities. Brooklyn had the bad luck of having two of its best teams prior to the modern World Series, but look at Boston's non-WS numbers.

Yeah, they are bums, but look at it this way: They had one playoff championship in 62 years (ones that employed a playoff system). San Fran has none in almost fifty years, Houston none in 42, San Diego none in 35, Dallas/Fort Worth none in 32, and Seattle non in 28 years. Montreal had none in 35 and probably won't have another chance. Of those cities only San Francisco and San Diego have gotten to the World Series. That's more bummy, but I guess a bit less dramatic.