Professional baseball team (National League) who played at
Ebbets Field in
New York city until 1958. That year they left the borough of
Brooklyn and moved to the
west coast to play in
Los Angeles. The name "dodgers" came from the term used to describe people who jumped onto/off of streetcars in the city.
Their chief rival, the New York Giants baseball team, played across town until they too moved to California. The San Francisco Giants also left New York prior to the '58 season.
some information from sfgiants.com