Polo Grounds
Encyclopedia
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadium
s in Upper Manhattan
, New York City
, used by many professional teams in both baseball
and American football
from 1880
until 1963
. In baseball, the site was home to the New York Metropolitans
from 1880 until 1885
, the New York Giants
from 1883
until 1957
, the New York Yankees
from 1912
until 1922
, and the New York Mets
in their first two seasons of 1962
and 1963
. In football, the fourth Polo Grounds was home to two National Football League
franchises; the short-lived New York Brickley Giants, for one game in 1921
, and the New York Giants
, from 1925
to 1955
. Later, it was home to the New York Jets
of the American Football League
from the league's inaugural season of 1960
, when the team was known as the New York Titans, through the team's first season as the Jets in 1963
. It also hosted the 1934
and 1942
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
s.
As its name suggests, the original Polo Grounds was built in 1876 for the sport of polo
. Of the four stadiums that carried this name over the years, the original structure was the only one actually used for polo. The field was originally referred to in newspapers simply as "the polo grounds," and over time this generic designation became a proper name. Bounded on the south and north by 110th and 112th Street
s, and the east and west by Fifth and Sixth (Lenox)
Avenues, just uptown of Central Park
, it was converted to a baseball stadium when leased by the New York Metropolitans in 1880. The stadium was used jointly by the Giants and Metropolitans from 1883 until 1885, and the name stuck for each subsequent stadium of the Giants.
The fourth and final Polo Grounds, which was the Giants’ home until they moved
to San Francisco after the 1957 season, and which was also a temporary home for the Yankees (1913–1922) and the Mets (1962–1963), was the most famous, and is the one most people mean when they refer to the Polo Grounds. The name "Polo Grounds" did not actually appear prominently on any of the stadiums until the Mets posted it with a large sign in 1962.
The final version of the structure was noted for its distinctive bathtub shape, with very short distances to the left and right field walls, but an unusually deep center field.
Left field also had an upper deck ("the short porch") which extended out over the field (after its 1923 extension), reducing the distance from 279 feet (85 m) to about 250 feet (76 m). That meant it was technically rather difficult to hit a home run
into the lower deck of the left field stands, unless it was a line drive such as Bobby Thomson
's famous home run – "the Shot Heard 'Round the World"
– in 1951
.
No player ever hit a fly ball that reached the 483-foot (147 m) distant center-field wall, which fronted a part of the clubhouse which overhung the field. Given that overhang, it was not inherently clear what the actual "home run line" would have been in straightaway center. Some sources listed the center field distance as 505, which suggests that was where the true home run line would have been, at the back of the clubhouse overhang. But if there were any ground rules governing such a situation, they never had to be applied. The last sporting event played was between the New York Jets
and the Buffalo Bills
on December 14, 1963, won 19–10 by the Bills
.
. The venue's original purpose was for the sport of polo
, and its name was initially merely descriptive, not a formal name, often rendered as "the polo grounds" in newspapers. The Metropolitans
, an independent team of roughly major-league caliber, were the first professional baseball team to play there, beginning in September 1880, and remained the sole professional occupant through the 1882 season. At that time the Metropolitans' ownership had the opportunity to bring them into the National League
, but elected instead to organize a new team, the New York Gothams – who soon came to be known as the Giants – mainly using players from the Metropolitans and the newly defunct Troy Trojans, and entered it in the National League, while bringing what remained of the Metropolitan club into the competing American Association
. For this purpose the ownership built a second diamond and grandstand at the park, dividing it into eastern and western fields for use by the Giants and Metropolitans respectively. Polo Grounds I thus hosted its first Major League Baseball games in 1883 as the home stadium of two teams, the American Association Metropolitans and the National League Gothams. The dual-fields arrangement proved unworkable because of faulty surfacing of the western field, and after various other arrangements were tried, the Metropolitans and Giants alternated play on the eastern field in later years until the Metropolitans moved to the St. George Cricket Grounds
on Staten Island
in 1886.
An early highlight of Giants' play at the Polo Grounds was Roger Connor
's home run over the right-field wall and into 112th Street; visitors to the site today can judge for themselves that this was an impressively long home run for its time or any time. Connor eventually held the record for career home runs that Babe Ruth
would break in 1920.
The original Polo Grounds was used not only for polo and professional baseball, but often for college baseball and football as well – even by teams outside New York. The earliest known surviving image of the field is an engraving of a baseball game between Yale University
and Princeton University
on Decoration Day
, May 30, 1882. Yale and Harvard also played their traditional Thanksgiving Day game there on November 29, 1883 and November 24, 1887. (See Football below)
, who had campaigned for office on a "home rule" pledge, vetoed the bill on the grounds that whatever he might think of the forced destruction of the park, the will of the city government was to be respected. The loss of their park forced the Giants to look quickly for alternative grounds.
The Giants opened the 1889 season at a ballfield in Jersey City called Oakdale Park, playing their first two games there. Four days later, they moved to the St. George Cricket Grounds (where the Metropolitans had continued to play until their demise in 1887), as an interim home for the next couple of months.
The Giants finally located another site within Manhattan, and moved uptown to the far terminus of the then Ninth Avenue Elevated
at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue. After closing out the St. George Grounds on June 14, the Giants played on the road for the next three weeks, and finally opened their new facility on July 8. Despite their vagabond existence in 1889, the Giants managed to win the pennant and the World Series for the second consecutive year.
All the later Polo Grounds were located at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue (now Frederick Douglass Boulevard) at the northwest corner. The site, on which a public housing project now stands, is overlooked to the north and west by a steep promontory known as Coogan's Bluff
. The ballpark itself was thus in the bottomland, or Coogan's Hollow. Because of its elevation, fans frequently watched games from Coogan's Bluff without buying tickets. Polo Grounds II was located in the southern portion of Coogan's Hollow. The land remained in the Coogan estate, and the Giants were renters for their entire duration at the ballpark. The grandstand of the second Polo Grounds had a conventional curve around the infield, but the shape of the property left the center field area actually closer than left center or right center. This was not much of an issue in the "dead ball era
" of baseball.
The Brooklyn Dodgers played a pair of home series at this ballpark in late July and early August 1890.
After the National League version of the New York Giants moved into Polo Grounds III in 1891, Polo Grounds II was referred to as Manhattan Field, and was converted for other sports such as football and track-and-field. It still existed as a structure for nearly 20 more years. Babe Ruth's first home run as a Yankee
, on May 1, 1920, was characterized by the New York Times reporter as a "sockdolager" (i.e. a decisive blow), and was described as traveling "over the right field grand stand into Manhattan Field". Bill Jenkinson's modern research indicates the ball traveled about 500 feet in total, after clearing the Polo Grounds double decked right field stand. Manhattan Field was a playground or vacant lot by then. Some years later, the area was paved over, to serve as a parking lot for the Polo Grounds.
Polo Grounds III was the stadium that made the name famous. The "third" and "fourth" Polo Grounds were actually the same ballfield. The 1890 structure, Polo Grounds III, initially had a totally open outfield bounded by just the outer fence, but bleachers were gradually added. By the early 1900s, some bleacher sections encroached on the field from the foul lines about halfway along left and right field. Additionally, there was a pair of "cigar box" bleachers on either side of the "batter's eye
" in center field. The expansive outfield was cut down somewhat by a rope fence behind which carriages (and early automobiles) were allowed to park. By 1910, bleachers enclosed the outfield, and the carriage ropes were gone. The hodge-podge approach to the bleacher construction formed a multi-faceted outfield area. There were a couple of gaps between some of the sections, and that would prove significant in 1911.
Polo Grounds III opened for business in 1890 as "Brotherhood Park", the home stadium for a second New York Giants franchise
, the Players' League version. The Players' League was a creation of Major League Baseball's first union, the Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players. After failing to win concessions from National League owners, the Brotherhood founded its own league in 1890. The Players' League Giants played in a new stadium called Brotherhood Park, located in the northern half of Coogan's Hollow, next door to the old Polo Grounds II, otherwise bounded by rail yards and the bluff. Brotherhood Park hosted its first game on April 19, 1890. For one year the two editions of the Giants were neighbors, with the National League Giants still playing in Polo Grounds II. If the teams played on the same day, fans in the upper decks could watch each others' games, and home run balls hit in one park might land on the other team's playing field. After only one season the Players' League folded and the Brotherhood's members went back to the National League. The National League Giants then moved out of Polo Grounds II and into Brotherhood Park, which was bigger. They took their stadium's name with them, turning Brotherhood Park into the Polo Grounds—Polo Grounds III. They stayed there for 69 seasons.
of the grandstand portion of Polo Grounds III, consuming the wood and leaving only the steel uprights in place. The gaps between some sections of the stands saved a good portion of the outfield seating, as well as the clubhouse, from destruction. Giants owner John T. Brush
decided to rent Hilltop Park
from the Yankees while rebuilding the Polo Grounds with concrete and steel.
The stadium's reconstruction was sufficiently far along to allow the Polo Grounds to re-open on June 28, 1911, the date from which later baseball guides dated the structure, now sometimes retronamed as "Polo Grounds IV". The new structure was the sixth concrete-and-steel stadium in the majors (and the second in the National League, behind Forbes Field
). The new seating areas were rebuilt during the season while the games went on. The new structure stretched in roughly the same semicircle as before from the left field corner around home plate to the left field corner, and was also extended into deep right-center field. The surviving bleachers were retained pretty much as they were, with gaps remaining between the bleachers and the new fireproof
construction.
The Giants rose from the ashes along with their ballpark, winning the National League pennant in 1911 (as they also would in 1912 and 1913). As evidenced from the World Series programs, the team tried to rename the new structure Brush Stadium in honor of their then-owner John T. Brush, but the name did not stick, and it died with him. The remaining old bleachers were demolished during the 1923 season
when the permanent double-deck was extended around most of the rest of the field and new bleachers and clubhouse were constructed across center field. This construction gave the stadium its familiar bathtub style shape.
This version of the ballpark had its share of quirks. The "unofficial" distances (never marked on the wall) down the left and right field lines were 279 and 258 feet respectively, but there was a 21 foot overhang in left field, which often intercepted fly balls which would otherwise have been catchable and turned them into home runs. Contrasting with the short distances down the lines were the 450-some foot distances in the gaps, with straightaway center field 483 feet distant from home plate
; the corners of the bleachers on either side of the clubhouse runway were about 425 feet. The catch that Willie Mays
made in the 1954 World Series
against Vic Wertz
of the Cleveland Indians
would have been a home run in many other ballparks of the time. The bullpen
s were actually in play, in the left and right center field gaps. The outfield sloped downward from the infield, and people in the dugouts often could only see the top half of the outfielders.
The New York Yankees
sublet the Polo Grounds from the Giants during 1913–1922 after their lease on Hilltop Park
expired. After the 1922 season, the Yankees built Yankee Stadium directly across the Harlem River
from the Polo Grounds, a situation which spurred the Giants to expand their park to reach a seating capacity
comparable to the Stadium, to stay competitive. However, since nearly all the new seating was in the outfield, the Stadium still had a lot more "good" seats than did the Polo Grounds, at least for baseball. At that point, the Polo Grounds most notably became better suited for football
than it had been previously.
The Giants' first night game
at the stadium was played on May 24, 1940.
, and hundreds of football games were played there over the years.
Yale University
played football in the original 110th Street Polo Grounds in the 19th century, for some games which were expected to draw large crowds, including the Thanksgiving contests in 1883 and 1887. (See also List of Harvard-Yale football games).
The first professional football game played in New York City was played at the Polo Grounds on December 4, 1920. The game featured the Buffalo All-Americans against the Canton Bulldogs
in the first year of the American Professional Football Association
. The Buffalo All-Americans won the game, 7-3. Some argue that the Buffalo All-Americans are tied with the Akron Pros for the first championship
of the American Professional Football Association, which soon came to be known as the National Football League
. In 1921 the NFL's New York Brickley Giants played the final game of their 1921 season
against the Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds. The game ended in 17-0 Giants loss. Shortly afterwards, the team folded. The Brickley Giants were originally formed with the intent of competing in 1919, and having all of their home games held at the Polo Grounds. However after the team's first practice, the 1919 schedule, that began with an opening day game against the Massillon Tigers
, was scratched because of conflict with New York's blue law
s. In 1919 the city allowed professional baseball on Sunday and the Giants thought the law would also apply to football. However, it was ruled that professional football was still outlawed on Sundays, so the team disbanded until 1921.
Other than the name, there is no relation between the Brickley Giants and the modern New York Giants franchise
.
Both the New York Giants
of the National Football League and the New York Jets
(then known as the New York Titans) of the American Football League
used the Polo Grounds as their home field before moving on to other sites. The Giants moved initially to Yankee Stadium in 1956 while the Jets, founded in 1960, followed the New York Mets
to Shea Stadium
in 1964.
The grounds were also used for many games by New York-area college football
teams such as Fordham and Army
. An upset victory by the visiting University of Notre Dame
over Army in 1924 led to Grantland Rice
's famous article about the Irish backfield, which he called "The Four Horsemen". The field was also the site of several Army–Navy Games in the 1910s and 1920s.
The football Giants hosted the 1934, 1938
, 1944, and 1946 NFL championship games at the Polo Grounds. In addition the Boston Redskins
moved the 1936 game from Boston to the Polo Grounds, as part of their transition in relocating to Washington.
side from Vienna
, Austria
, "drew the largest crowds ever to watch soccer in America up to that time: three successive games drew 25,000, 30,000, and 36,000 spectators. The highlight of the tour was a May 1, 1926 exhibition game between Hakoah and an American Soccer League
all-New York team which drew 46,000 fans to the Polo Grounds in New York." (The ASL team won 3–0.)
The first soccer played at the Polo Grounds was as far back as 1894 when the owners of the various major Baseball clubs thought it would be a great way to fill their stadiums in the off season. Six famous baseball franchises
of the era formed Association Football sections and fans were told that many would be fielding their baseball stars on the Football field in the opening season. The New York Giants
soccer team took the field in an all white kit with black socks and played six games before the threat of a rival baseball league being formed diverted the owner's attention away from their new venture and caused it to be suspended mid-season. The Giants lay third in the league after six games with two victories, having played their matches in midweek in front of attendances in the high hundreds paying 25 cents a game. Although the owners remained positive about the venture and wanted to run it again the following season this never happened and the Giants' soccer team were no more.
On May 19, 1935, the Scotland national team
toured the United States
, and in their first game played against an ASL All-Star squad which was unofficially representing the United States. Scotland won 5–1 in front of 25,000 people at the Polo Grounds. In 1939, the Scots returned to America for another tour, and played at the Polo Grounds twice. In their first game at the Polo Grounds on May 21, 1939, Scotland tied the Eastern USA All-Stars 1–1 in front of 25,072 fans. In their second game at the Polo Grounds on June 18, 1939, Scotland beat the American League Stars 4–2.
Following World War II
, on September 26, 1948, the USA
beat Israel
3–1 in their first ever game since independence before 25,000 fans at the Polo Grounds. On June 9, 1950, a crowd of 21,000 fans came to the Polo Grounds to watch a 'International Dream Double Header'. Beşiktaş J.K.
of Turkey
defeated the American Soccer League All-Stars 3–1, and then Manchester United
defeated Jönköping
(the top amateur team in Sweden
) 4–0. On May 17, 1960, Birmingham City
of England
played Third Lanark of Scotland
and lost 4–1 at the Polo Grounds in New York City. On August 6 of the same year, 25,440 patrons showed up at the Polo Grounds to watch the inaugural International Soccer League Final which saw Bangu
of Brazil
edge out Kilmarnock FC of Scotland 2–0. The following year, 1961, may have been the last year documented that soccer was played at the Polo Grounds. The second edition of the International Soccer League held most of its game at the Polo Grounds, with a few games held in Montreal
. On July 16, 1961 Shamrock Rovers beat Red Star Belgrade
5–1, on August 9, Dukla Prague beat Everton
7–0, and 4 days later on August 13, Dukla Prague beat Everton again 2–0, thus winning the Dwight D. Eisenhower Trophy. The combined attendance for both games at the Polo Grounds was 31,627. In domestic league soccer, the Polo Grounds was the home to the New York Nationals of the American Soccer League
in 1928.
Gaelic Football
championship between Cavan
and Kerry
. It was decided that New York would host this match as a commemoration of the 1847 Irish famine which forced a large number of Irish people
to emigrate to North America. This novel location for the game was chosen for the benefit of New York's large Irish immigrant
population. It was the only time that the final has been played outside of Ireland
.
The last Gaelic game at the Polo Grounds was on the 1 June 1958 when Cavan played New York
.
matches. These included the legendary 1923 heavyweight championship bout between Jack Dempsey
and Luis Firpo
, and Billy Conn
's near-upset over heavyweight champion Joe Louis
in June 1941.
In Game 1 of the 1954 World Series
, Giants outfielder Willie Mays
made a sensational catch of a fly ball hit by the Cleveland Indians
' Vic Wertz
into deep center field, a catch which, in the words of radio announcer Jack Brickhouse
, "must have looked like an optical illusion
to a lot of people", and which turned the tide of that Series in the Giants' favor.
On October 2, , in Game 2 of the 1936 World Series
, Yankees centerfielder Joe Dimaggio
had made a similar, though far less crucial, catch (his team being ahead 18-4) for the final out of the game. The Giants' Hank Leiber
had hit a long fly ball to deep center field that DiMaggio caught in the runway, perhaps 430-440 from the plate, and his momentum carried him partway up the clubhouse steps. He then stopped and turned around, as the crowd stood and acknowledged the departure of Franklin D. Roosevelt
, who was in attendance that day.
Babe Ruth hit many of his early signature blasts at the Polo Grounds, reaching the center field seats on several occasions. His longest blast at the grounds, over the right-center upper deck in 1921, was estimated at over 550 feet. Had Ruth played regularly in the remodeled Polo Grounds, he would have been capable of hitting the clubhouse if conditions were right. Neither he nor anyone else ever did, but a few came close.
After the 1923 remodeling, only four players ever hit a home run into the center field stands:
Brock, a member of the Chicago Cubs
at the time, is the surprising name on that list (accomplishing the feat on his 23rd birthday), as he was noted mostly for hits
and stolen bases (especially after being traded to the Cardinals in 1964
), but he displayed power-hitting capability from time to time, and one season hit 20 home runs, with a personal high of 21 in 1967
.
) even as they won the World Series.
The football Giants left for Yankee Stadium across the Harlem River following the 1955 NFL season
, and the baseball Giants' disastrous 1956 season (most of which they spent in last place before a late-season surge moved them up to 6th) caused a further drag on ticket sales. The Giants' 1956 attendance was less than half of the figure for the Giants' World Series-winning 1954 season. That meant little to no money for stadium upkeep.
Frustrated with the subsequent obsolescence and dilapidated condition of the Polo Grounds and the inability to secure a more modern stadium in the New York area, the Giants announced on August 19, 1957, that they would move following that season, after nearly three-quarters of a century, to San Francisco, California
, following the Dodgers to the West Coast. The Giants had won five World Series championships in the Polo Grounds. The ballpark then sat largely vacant for the next three years, until the newly-formed Titans and then the newly-formed Mets moved in, using the Polo Grounds as an interim home while Shea Stadium was being built. (As a 1962 baseball magazine noted, "The Mets will have to play in the Polo Grounds, hardly the last word in 20th Century stadia.")
In 1961, the city of New York decided to claim the land under eminent domain, for the purpose of condemning the stadium and building high-rise housing on the site. The Coogan family, which still owned the property, fought this effort until it was finally settled in the city's favor in 1967.
In the 1992 book The Gospel According to Casey, by Ira Berkow and Jim Kaplan, it is reported (p. 62) that in 1963, Mets manager Casey Stengel
, who had bittersweet memories of his playing days at the Polo Grounds, had this to say during a rough outing to pitcher
Tracy Stallard
, whose greatest claim to fame had been giving up Roger Maris
' 61st homer in 1961
: "At the end of this season, they're gonna tear this joint down. The way you're pitchin', the right field section will be gone already!"
The final incarnation of the stadium was indeed demolished in 1964, and the Polo Grounds Towers
public housing project opened on the site in 1968. Demolition of the Polo Grounds began in April of that year with the same wrecking ball
(painted to look like a baseball) that had been used four years earlier on Ebbets Field
. The wrecking crew wore Giants jersey
s and tipped their hard hats to the historic stadium as they began the dismantling. It took a crew of 60 workers more than four months to level the structure.
from Edgecombe Avenue to Harlem River Drive
at about 158th Street. The stairway, named for the then-owner of the Giants
, was opened in 1913 and led to a ticket booth overlooking the stadium. The stairway reportedly offered a clear view of the stadium for fans who did not purchase tickets to a game. A marker on the stairway reads: "The John T. Brush Stairway Presented By The New York Giants."
In November 2011, it was reported that the stairway would undergo a $950,000 restoration, thanks to donations from the New York football Giants
, Jets
, Yankees
, Mets
, San Francisco Giants
, and Major League Baseball
. The restoration is scheduled to be completed in September 2012, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Brush's death.
in front of him.
Compiled from various photos, baseball annuals, The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball (Turkin & Thompson, 1951) and Green Cathedrals by Phil Lowry.
1890
1911-1922
1923-1957, 1962-1963
The disparities in some of the posted distances, notably straightaway center, have not been fully reconciled by researchers. The closest object in straight center field was the Grant Memorial, followed by the post supporting the overhang of the clubhouse (above which the 483 or 475 signs were posted), and a roll-up door several feet behind the overhang at ground level. The roof of the protruding part of the clubhouse sloped back and met the vertical wall of the larger part of the clubhouse. The exact objects referred to by the numbers 475, 483 and 505 can be speculated but remain unconfirmed.
1917-1919
1920-1922
1923-1925
1937-1939
1947-1952
1926-1929
1930-1935, 1940-1946, 1953-1963
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
s in Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan denotes the more northerly region of the New York City Borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary may be defined anywhere between 59th Street and 155th Street. Between these two extremes lies the most common definitions of Upper Manhattan as Manhattan above 96th Street...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, used by many professional teams in both baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
from 1880
1880 in sports
-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs Events* Walter Camp becomes an influential figure at the Massasoit House conventions where rules are debated and changed...
until 1963
1963 in sports
1963 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:* January 29 – First inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced* AFL Eastern Division Playoff – Boston Patriots win 26–8 over the Buffalo Bills...
. In baseball, the site was home to the New York Metropolitans
New York Metropolitans
The Metropolitan Club was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887...
from 1880 until 1885
1885 in sports
-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers-Association football:England* FA Cup final – Blackburn Rovers 2–0 Queen's Park at The Oval...
, the New York Giants
History of the New York Giants (NL)
The history of the New York Giants, before the franchise moved to San Francisco, lasted from 1883 to 1957. It featured five of the franchise's six World Series wins and 17 of its 21 National League pennants...
from 1883
1883 in sports
1883 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale BulldogsEvents...
until 1957
1957 Major League Baseball season
The 1957 Major League Baseball season involved the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants playing their final seasons as New York-based franchises before their moves to California for the following season, leaving New York without a National League team until the birth of the Mets in...
, the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
from 1912
1912 Major League Baseball season
Harper's Weekly conducted a detailed accounting of the expenses of Major League clubs, and came up with a figure of $175,000 to $200,000.-Statistical leaders:-External links:*...
until 1922
1922 Major League Baseball season
- External links :*...
, and the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
in their first two seasons of 1962
1962 Major League Baseball season
This was the first 162-game schedule for the National League, as they added the Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets to their lineup, as the NL returned to New York City, after a four-year absence...
and 1963
1963 Major League Baseball season
The World Series winners were the Los Angeles Dodgers, who swept the New York Yankees in four straight games. The Dodgers' stellar pitching staff, anchored by left-hander Sandy Koufax and right-hander Don Drysdale, was so dominant that the vaunted Yankees, despite the presence of sluggers such as...
. In football, the fourth Polo Grounds was home to two National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
franchises; the short-lived New York Brickley Giants, for one game in 1921
1921 NFL season
The 1921 APFA season was the 2nd regular season of the National Football League, which was then called the American Professional Football Association....
, and the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, from 1925
1925 NFL season
The 1925 NFL season was the 6th regular season of the National Football League. Five new teams entered the league: New York Giants, Detroit Panthers, Pottsville Maroons, Providence Steam Roller, and a new Canton Bulldogs team...
to 1955
1955 NFL season
The 1955 NFL season was the 36th regular season of the National Football League. NBC paid $100,000 to replace DuMont as the national television network for the NFL Championship Game...
. Later, it was home to the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
from the league's inaugural season of 1960
1960 American Football League season
The 1960 American Football League season was the inaugural regular season of the American Football League.The season ended when the Houston Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in the inaugural AFL Championship game.-Division races:...
, when the team was known as the New York Titans, through the team's first season as the Jets in 1963
1963 American Football League season
The 1963 American Football League season was the fourth regular season of the American Football League.The season ended when the San Diego Chargers defeated the Boston Patriots in the AFL Championship game.-Division Races:...
. It also hosted the 1934
1934 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1934 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the second playing of the mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 10 at the Polo Grounds in New York City, the home of the New...
and 1942
1942 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1942 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 10th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 6, 1942, at Polo Grounds in New York, New York the home of the...
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
s.
As its name suggests, the original Polo Grounds was built in 1876 for the sport of polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
. Of the four stadiums that carried this name over the years, the original structure was the only one actually used for polo. The field was originally referred to in newspapers simply as "the polo grounds," and over time this generic designation became a proper name. Bounded on the south and north by 110th and 112th Street
112th Street
112th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The westernmost section of the street in Morningside Heights runs from Riverside Drive to Amsterdam Avenue, where it meets the steps of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine...
s, and the east and west by Fifth and Sixth (Lenox)
Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
Avenues, just uptown of Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, it was converted to a baseball stadium when leased by the New York Metropolitans in 1880. The stadium was used jointly by the Giants and Metropolitans from 1883 until 1885, and the name stuck for each subsequent stadium of the Giants.
The fourth and final Polo Grounds, which was the Giants’ home until they moved
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
to San Francisco after the 1957 season, and which was also a temporary home for the Yankees (1913–1922) and the Mets (1962–1963), was the most famous, and is the one most people mean when they refer to the Polo Grounds. The name "Polo Grounds" did not actually appear prominently on any of the stadiums until the Mets posted it with a large sign in 1962.
The final version of the structure was noted for its distinctive bathtub shape, with very short distances to the left and right field walls, but an unusually deep center field.
Left field also had an upper deck ("the short porch") which extended out over the field (after its 1923 extension), reducing the distance from 279 feet (85 m) to about 250 feet (76 m). That meant it was technically rather difficult to hit a home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
into the lower deck of the left field stands, unless it was a line drive such as Bobby Thomson
Bobby Thomson
Robert Brown "Bobby" Thomson was a Scottish-born American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "The Staten Island Scot", he was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants , Milwaukee Braves , Chicago Cubs , Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles .His season-ending three-run...
's famous home run – "the Shot Heard 'Round the World"
Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)
In baseball, the "Shot Heard 'round the World" is the term given to the walk-off home run hit by New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds to win the National League pennant at 3:58 p.m...
– in 1951
1951 National League tie-breaker series
The 1951 National League tie-breaker series was a three-game series played at the conclusion of the 1951 Major League Baseball season between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers...
.
No player ever hit a fly ball that reached the 483-foot (147 m) distant center-field wall, which fronted a part of the clubhouse which overhung the field. Given that overhang, it was not inherently clear what the actual "home run line" would have been in straightaway center. Some sources listed the center field distance as 505, which suggests that was where the true home run line would have been, at the back of the clubhouse overhang. But if there were any ground rules governing such a situation, they never had to be applied. The last sporting event played was between the New York Jets
1963 New York Jets season
The 1963 New York Jets season was the fourth season for the team in the American Football League and the first under the moniker Jets. The season began with the team trying to improve on their 5–9 record from 1962 under new head coach Weeb Ewbank...
and the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on December 14, 1963, won 19–10 by the Bills
1963 Buffalo Bills season
The 1963 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s fourth season in the American Football League.-Season schedule:-Postseason:-Season standings:-Roster:-References:**...
.
Polo Grounds I
The original Polo Grounds stood at 110th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth (now Lenox) Avenue, directly across 110th Street from the northeast corner of Central ParkCentral Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. The venue's original purpose was for the sport of polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
, and its name was initially merely descriptive, not a formal name, often rendered as "the polo grounds" in newspapers. The Metropolitans
New York Metropolitans
The Metropolitan Club was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887...
, an independent team of roughly major-league caliber, were the first professional baseball team to play there, beginning in September 1880, and remained the sole professional occupant through the 1882 season. At that time the Metropolitans' ownership had the opportunity to bring them into the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
, but elected instead to organize a new team, the New York Gothams – who soon came to be known as the Giants – mainly using players from the Metropolitans and the newly defunct Troy Trojans, and entered it in the National League, while bringing what remained of the Metropolitan club into the competing American Association
American Association (19th century)
The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...
. For this purpose the ownership built a second diamond and grandstand at the park, dividing it into eastern and western fields for use by the Giants and Metropolitans respectively. Polo Grounds I thus hosted its first Major League Baseball games in 1883 as the home stadium of two teams, the American Association Metropolitans and the National League Gothams. The dual-fields arrangement proved unworkable because of faulty surfacing of the western field, and after various other arrangements were tried, the Metropolitans and Giants alternated play on the eastern field in later years until the Metropolitans moved to the St. George Cricket Grounds
St. George Cricket Grounds
St. George Cricket Grounds or "St. George Grounds" is a former baseball ground located on Staten Island, New York, USA. St. George was the home park for the New York Metropolitans of the American Association for the 1886 and 1887 seasons...
on Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
in 1886.
An early highlight of Giants' play at the Polo Grounds was Roger Connor
Roger Connor
Roger Connor was a 19th century Major League Baseball player, born in Waterbury, Connecticut. Known for being the player whom Babe Ruth succeeded as the all-time home run champion, Connor hit 138 home runs during his 18-year career, and his career home run record stood for 23 years after his...
's home run over the right-field wall and into 112th Street; visitors to the site today can judge for themselves that this was an impressively long home run for its time or any time. Connor eventually held the record for career home runs that Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
would break in 1920.
The original Polo Grounds was used not only for polo and professional baseball, but often for college baseball and football as well – even by teams outside New York. The earliest known surviving image of the field is an engraving of a baseball game between Yale University
Yale Bulldogs
The Yale Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the Yale University. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in men's swimming and diving, and twenty one in men's golf.-Men's baseball:...
and Princeton University
Princeton Tigers
The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 31 varsity sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, six in men's lacrosse, three in women's lacrosse, and eight in men's golf...
on Decoration Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
, May 30, 1882. Yale and Harvard also played their traditional Thanksgiving Day game there on November 29, 1883 and November 24, 1887. (See Football below)
Polo Grounds II
The original Polo Grounds ceased to exist in 1889 when New York City, in the process of turning the theoretical street grid that had existed on maps for years into a reality in its uptown reaches, extended West 111th Street through the grounds of the park. City workers are said to have shown up suddenly one day and began cutting through the fence at the appropriate point for the new street. There was significant sentiment in the city against this move (the Giants had won the National League pennant the year before and had a very enthusiastic following), and a bill was even passed by the state legislature to give the Giants a variance on the grid extension and allow the park to stand; but sitting governor David B. HillDavid B. Hill
David Bennett Hill was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891.-Life:...
, who had campaigned for office on a "home rule" pledge, vetoed the bill on the grounds that whatever he might think of the forced destruction of the park, the will of the city government was to be respected. The loss of their park forced the Giants to look quickly for alternative grounds.
The Giants finally located another site within Manhattan, and moved uptown to the far terminus of the then Ninth Avenue Elevated
IRT Ninth Avenue Line
The IRT Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue El, was the first elevated railway in New York City. It opened in 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, a cable-hauled line. It ceased operation in 1940....
at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue. After closing out the St. George Grounds on June 14, the Giants played on the road for the next three weeks, and finally opened their new facility on July 8. Despite their vagabond existence in 1889, the Giants managed to win the pennant and the World Series for the second consecutive year.
All the later Polo Grounds were located at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue (now Frederick Douglass Boulevard) at the northwest corner. The site, on which a public housing project now stands, is overlooked to the north and west by a steep promontory known as Coogan's Bluff
Coogan's Bluff
Coogan's Bluff is the name of a promontory located in upper Manhattan in New York City, starting at 155th Street. Rising abruptly from the Harlem River, it is colloquially regarded as the boundary between the neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights....
. The ballpark itself was thus in the bottomland, or Coogan's Hollow. Because of its elevation, fans frequently watched games from Coogan's Bluff without buying tickets. Polo Grounds II was located in the southern portion of Coogan's Hollow. The land remained in the Coogan estate, and the Giants were renters for their entire duration at the ballpark. The grandstand of the second Polo Grounds had a conventional curve around the infield, but the shape of the property left the center field area actually closer than left center or right center. This was not much of an issue in the "dead ball era
Dead-ball era
The dead-ball era is a baseball term used to describe the period between 1900 and the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1919. In 1919, Ruth hit a then league record 29 home runs, a spectacular feat at that time.This era was characterized by low-scoring games and a lack of home runs...
" of baseball.
The Brooklyn Dodgers played a pair of home series at this ballpark in late July and early August 1890.
After the National League version of the New York Giants moved into Polo Grounds III in 1891, Polo Grounds II was referred to as Manhattan Field, and was converted for other sports such as football and track-and-field. It still existed as a structure for nearly 20 more years. Babe Ruth's first home run as a Yankee
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, on May 1, 1920, was characterized by the New York Times reporter as a "sockdolager" (i.e. a decisive blow), and was described as traveling "over the right field grand stand into Manhattan Field". Bill Jenkinson's modern research indicates the ball traveled about 500 feet in total, after clearing the Polo Grounds double decked right field stand. Manhattan Field was a playground or vacant lot by then. Some years later, the area was paved over, to serve as a parking lot for the Polo Grounds.
Polo Grounds III
Batter's eye
The batter's eye or batter's eye screen is a solid-colored, usually dark area beyond the center field wall of a baseball stadium, that is the visual backdrop directly in the line of sight of a baseball batter, while facing the pitcher and awaiting a pitch. This dark surface allows the batter to see...
" in center field. The expansive outfield was cut down somewhat by a rope fence behind which carriages (and early automobiles) were allowed to park. By 1910, bleachers enclosed the outfield, and the carriage ropes were gone. The hodge-podge approach to the bleacher construction formed a multi-faceted outfield area. There were a couple of gaps between some of the sections, and that would prove significant in 1911.
Polo Grounds III opened for business in 1890 as "Brotherhood Park", the home stadium for a second New York Giants franchise
New York Giants (PL)
In 1890, the short-lived Players' League included a team called the New York Giants. This baseball team was managed by Hall of Famer Buck Ewing, and they finished third with a record of 74-57. Besides Ewing, who was also a catcher on this team, the roster several former members of the National...
, the Players' League version. The Players' League was a creation of Major League Baseball's first union, the Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players. After failing to win concessions from National League owners, the Brotherhood founded its own league in 1890. The Players' League Giants played in a new stadium called Brotherhood Park, located in the northern half of Coogan's Hollow, next door to the old Polo Grounds II, otherwise bounded by rail yards and the bluff. Brotherhood Park hosted its first game on April 19, 1890. For one year the two editions of the Giants were neighbors, with the National League Giants still playing in Polo Grounds II. If the teams played on the same day, fans in the upper decks could watch each others' games, and home run balls hit in one park might land on the other team's playing field. After only one season the Players' League folded and the Brotherhood's members went back to the National League. The National League Giants then moved out of Polo Grounds II and into Brotherhood Park, which was bigger. They took their stadium's name with them, turning Brotherhood Park into the Polo Grounds—Polo Grounds III. They stayed there for 69 seasons.
Polo Grounds IV
On Friday, April 14, 1911, a fire of unknown origin swept through the horseshoeHorseshoe
A horseshoe, is a fabricated product, normally made of metal, although sometimes made partially or wholly of modern synthetic materials, designed to protect a horse's hoof from wear and tear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall...
of the grandstand portion of Polo Grounds III, consuming the wood and leaving only the steel uprights in place. The gaps between some sections of the stands saved a good portion of the outfield seating, as well as the clubhouse, from destruction. Giants owner John T. Brush
John T. Brush
John Tomlinson Brush was an American sports executive who was the owner of the New York Giants franchise in Major League Baseball from 1890 until his death. He also owned the Indianapolis Hoosiers in the late 1880s, and the Cincinnati Reds from 1891 to 1902. Under his leadership, the Giants were...
decided to rent Hilltop Park
Hilltop Park
Hilltop Park was the nickname of a baseball park that formerly stood in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. It was the home of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball club during 1903-1912 when they were known more often as the "Highlanders"...
from the Yankees while rebuilding the Polo Grounds with concrete and steel.
The stadium's reconstruction was sufficiently far along to allow the Polo Grounds to re-open on June 28, 1911, the date from which later baseball guides dated the structure, now sometimes retronamed as "Polo Grounds IV". The new structure was the sixth concrete-and-steel stadium in the majors (and the second in the National League, behind Forbes Field
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...
). The new seating areas were rebuilt during the season while the games went on. The new structure stretched in roughly the same semicircle as before from the left field corner around home plate to the left field corner, and was also extended into deep right-center field. The surviving bleachers were retained pretty much as they were, with gaps remaining between the bleachers and the new fireproof
Fireproof
-Track List for Original 2002 Release:# "Fireproof" – 3:46# "Just 2 Get By" – 4:17# "Echelon" – 3:25# "Stay Up" – 3:40# "Behind Closed Doors" – 2:55# "Epidemic" – 3:14# "Hindsight" – 2:57# "Light at My Feet" – 3:28# "A Shame" – 3:17...
construction.
The Giants rose from the ashes along with their ballpark, winning the National League pennant in 1911 (as they also would in 1912 and 1913). As evidenced from the World Series programs, the team tried to rename the new structure Brush Stadium in honor of their then-owner John T. Brush, but the name did not stick, and it died with him. The remaining old bleachers were demolished during the 1923 season
1923 Major League Baseball season
The 1923 Major League Baseball season.- External links :*...
when the permanent double-deck was extended around most of the rest of the field and new bleachers and clubhouse were constructed across center field. This construction gave the stadium its familiar bathtub style shape.
This version of the ballpark had its share of quirks. The "unofficial" distances (never marked on the wall) down the left and right field lines were 279 and 258 feet respectively, but there was a 21 foot overhang in left field, which often intercepted fly balls which would otherwise have been catchable and turned them into home runs. Contrasting with the short distances down the lines were the 450-some foot distances in the gaps, with straightaway center field 483 feet distant from home plate
Home Plate
Home Plate is the fifth album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1975 .-Track listing:#"What Do You Want the Boy to Do?" – 3:19#"Good Enough" – 2:56#"Run Like a Thief" – 3:02...
; the corners of the bleachers on either side of the clubhouse runway were about 425 feet. The catch that Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...
made in the 1954 World Series
1954 World Series
The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since , defeating the heavily favored Indians, who had won an AL-record 111 games in the...
against Vic Wertz
Vic Wertz
Victor Woodrow Wertz was a Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder. He had a seventeen year career from 1947 to 1963. He was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Tigers in 1942 and played for the Tigers, St...
of the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
would have been a home run in many other ballparks of the time. The bullpen
Bullpen
In baseball, the bullpen is the area where relief pitchers warm-up before entering a game. Depending on the ballpark, it may be situated in foul territory along the baselines or just beyond the outfield fence. Also, a team's roster of relief pitchers is metonymically referred to as "the bullpen"...
s were actually in play, in the left and right center field gaps. The outfield sloped downward from the infield, and people in the dugouts often could only see the top half of the outfielders.
The New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
sublet the Polo Grounds from the Giants during 1913–1922 after their lease on Hilltop Park
Hilltop Park
Hilltop Park was the nickname of a baseball park that formerly stood in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. It was the home of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball club during 1903-1912 when they were known more often as the "Highlanders"...
expired. After the 1922 season, the Yankees built Yankee Stadium directly across the Harlem River
Harlem River
The Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
from the Polo Grounds, a situation which spurred the Giants to expand their park to reach a seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
comparable to the Stadium, to stay competitive. However, since nearly all the new seating was in the outfield, the Stadium still had a lot more "good" seats than did the Polo Grounds, at least for baseball. At that point, the Polo Grounds most notably became better suited for football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
than it had been previously.
The Giants' first night game
Night game
A night game is a sporting event that takes place, completely or partially, after the local sunset. Depending on the sport, this can be done either with floodlights or with the usual low-light conditions.-Cricket:...
at the stadium was played on May 24, 1940.
American football
The various incarnations of the Polo Grounds were well-suited for footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, and hundreds of football games were played there over the years.
Yale University
Yale Bulldogs football
The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision . Yale's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing in the sport in 1872...
played football in the original 110th Street Polo Grounds in the 19th century, for some games which were expected to draw large crowds, including the Thanksgiving contests in 1883 and 1887. (See also List of Harvard-Yale football games).
The first professional football game played in New York City was played at the Polo Grounds on December 4, 1920. The game featured the Buffalo All-Americans against the Canton Bulldogs
Canton Bulldogs
The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and its successor, the National Football League, from 1920 to 1923 and again from 1925 to 1926. The Bulldogs would go on to win the 1917, 1918...
in the first year of the American Professional Football Association
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. The Buffalo All-Americans won the game, 7-3. Some argue that the Buffalo All-Americans are tied with the Akron Pros for the first championship
1920 Buffalo All-Americans season
The 1920 Buffalo All-Americans season was their inaugural season in the league. The team finished 9-1-1, enough for third place in the league. It was one of only four teams to finish the 1920 season....
of the American Professional Football Association, which soon came to be known as the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. In 1921 the NFL's New York Brickley Giants played the final game of their 1921 season
1921 New York Brickley Giants season
The 1921 New York Brickley Giants season was their sole season in the American Profession Football Association . The team finished the season with a 0-2 league record, and tied for eighteenth place in the league. Overall the team posted a 5-3 record, when taking non-league games into account...
against the Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds. The game ended in 17-0 Giants loss. Shortly afterwards, the team folded. The Brickley Giants were originally formed with the intent of competing in 1919, and having all of their home games held at the Polo Grounds. However after the team's first practice, the 1919 schedule, that began with an opening day game against the Massillon Tigers
Massillon Tigers
The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships in 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906, then merged to become...
, was scratched because of conflict with New York's blue law
Blue law
A blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States and, formerly, in Canada, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping...
s. In 1919 the city allowed professional baseball on Sunday and the Giants thought the law would also apply to football. However, it was ruled that professional football was still outlawed on Sundays, so the team disbanded until 1921.
Other than the name, there is no relation between the Brickley Giants and the modern New York Giants franchise
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Both the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the National Football League and the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(then known as the New York Titans) of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
used the Polo Grounds as their home field before moving on to other sites. The Giants moved initially to Yankee Stadium in 1956 while the Jets, founded in 1960, followed the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
to Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
in 1964.
The grounds were also used for many games by New York-area college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
teams such as Fordham and Army
Army Black Knights football
The Army Black Knights football program represents the United States Military Academy. Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946....
. An upset victory by the visiting University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
over Army in 1924 led to Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
's famous article about the Irish backfield, which he called "The Four Horsemen". The field was also the site of several Army–Navy Games in the 1910s and 1920s.
The football Giants hosted the 1934, 1938
1938 NFL Championship Game
The 1938 NFL Championship Game was the 6th championship game played in the history of the National Football League. The game was on December 11, 1938, at Polo Grounds in New York City...
, 1944, and 1946 NFL championship games at the Polo Grounds. In addition the Boston Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
moved the 1936 game from Boston to the Polo Grounds, as part of their transition in relocating to Washington.
Association football (soccer)
The Polo Grounds has held its fair share of international soccer matches as well over the years. In 1926, Hakoah, an all-JewishJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
side from Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, "drew the largest crowds ever to watch soccer in America up to that time: three successive games drew 25,000, 30,000, and 36,000 spectators. The highlight of the tour was a May 1, 1926 exhibition game between Hakoah and an American Soccer League
American Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...
all-New York team which drew 46,000 fans to the Polo Grounds in New York." (The ASL team won 3–0.)
The first soccer played at the Polo Grounds was as far back as 1894 when the owners of the various major Baseball clubs thought it would be a great way to fill their stadiums in the off season. Six famous baseball franchises
Professional sports league organization
Professional sports leagues are organized in numerous ways. The two most significant types are a European model, characterised by a tiered structure using promotion and relegation to determine participation in a hierarchy of leagues or divisions and a North American model characterized by its use...
of the era formed Association Football sections and fans were told that many would be fielding their baseball stars on the Football field in the opening season. The New York Giants
New York Giants (soccer)
New York Giants was a name used by three different New York soccer teams. Two of these teams were associated with the New York Giants baseball franchise. The first team that used the name played in the American League of Professional Football in 1894...
soccer team took the field in an all white kit with black socks and played six games before the threat of a rival baseball league being formed diverted the owner's attention away from their new venture and caused it to be suspended mid-season. The Giants lay third in the league after six games with two victories, having played their matches in midweek in front of attendances in the high hundreds paying 25 cents a game. Although the owners remained positive about the venture and wanted to run it again the following season this never happened and the Giants' soccer team were no more.
On May 19, 1935, the Scotland national team
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
toured the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and in their first game played against an ASL All-Star squad which was unofficially representing the United States. Scotland won 5–1 in front of 25,000 people at the Polo Grounds. In 1939, the Scots returned to America for another tour, and played at the Polo Grounds twice. In their first game at the Polo Grounds on May 21, 1939, Scotland tied the Eastern USA All-Stars 1–1 in front of 25,072 fans. In their second game at the Polo Grounds on June 18, 1939, Scotland beat the American League Stars 4–2.
Following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, on September 26, 1948, the USA
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...
beat Israel
Israel national football team
The Israel national football team is the national football team of Israel, controlled by the Israel Football Association .Israel National Football is the direct successor of the Eretz Yisrael National Team during British Mandate...
3–1 in their first ever game since independence before 25,000 fans at the Polo Grounds. On June 9, 1950, a crowd of 21,000 fans came to the Polo Grounds to watch a 'International Dream Double Header'. Beşiktaş J.K.
Besiktas J.K.
Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü , or simply Beşiktaş , is a Turkish sports club. The club's football team is one of the major teams in Turkey. The professional sports club, founded in 1903, is based in the Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey...
of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
defeated the American Soccer League All-Stars 3–1, and then Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
defeated Jönköping
Jönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
(the top amateur team in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
) 4–0. On May 17, 1960, Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
played Third Lanark of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and lost 4–1 at the Polo Grounds in New York City. On August 6 of the same year, 25,440 patrons showed up at the Polo Grounds to watch the inaugural International Soccer League Final which saw Bangu
Bangu Atlético Clube
Bangu Atlético Clube, or Bangu as they are usually called, is a Brazilian football team from Bangu, Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro, founded on April 17, 1904...
of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
edge out Kilmarnock FC of Scotland 2–0. The following year, 1961, may have been the last year documented that soccer was played at the Polo Grounds. The second edition of the International Soccer League held most of its game at the Polo Grounds, with a few games held in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. On July 16, 1961 Shamrock Rovers beat Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
5–1, on August 9, Dukla Prague beat Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
7–0, and 4 days later on August 13, Dukla Prague beat Everton again 2–0, thus winning the Dwight D. Eisenhower Trophy. The combined attendance for both games at the Polo Grounds was 31,627. In domestic league soccer, the Polo Grounds was the home to the New York Nationals of the American Soccer League
American Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...
in 1928.
Gaelic football
On September 14, 1947, the Polo Grounds hosted the final of the All-Ireland SeniorAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...
Gaelic Football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
championship between Cavan
Cavan GAA
The Cavan County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Cavan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Cavan...
and Kerry
Kerry GAA
The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
. It was decided that New York would host this match as a commemoration of the 1847 Irish famine which forced a large number of Irish people
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
to emigrate to North America. This novel location for the game was chosen for the benefit of New York's large Irish immigrant
Irish diaspora
thumb|Night Train with Reaper by London Irish artist [[Brian Whelan]] from the book Myth of Return, 2007The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa,...
population. It was the only time that the final has been played outside of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
The last Gaelic game at the Polo Grounds was on the 1 June 1958 when Cavan played New York
New York GAA
The New York County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or New York GAA, is one of the county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association outside Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the New York metropolitan area...
.
Boxing
The Polo Grounds was the site of many famous boxingBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
matches. These included the legendary 1923 heavyweight championship bout between Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
and Luis Firpo
Luis Firpo
Luis Ángel Firpo, , was an Argentine boxer. Born in Junín, Argentina, he was nicknamed "The Wild Bull of The Pampas."...
, and Billy Conn
Billy Conn
William David Conn , better known as Billy Conn, was an American Light-Heavyweight boxing champion famed for his fights with Joe Louis. He had a professional boxing record of 63 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw, with 14 wins by knockout...
's near-upset over heavyweight champion Joe Louis
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...
in June 1941.
Center field
1954 World Series
The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since , defeating the heavily favored Indians, who had won an AL-record 111 games in the...
, Giants outfielder Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...
made a sensational catch of a fly ball hit by the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
' Vic Wertz
Vic Wertz
Victor Woodrow Wertz was a Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder. He had a seventeen year career from 1947 to 1963. He was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Tigers in 1942 and played for the Tigers, St...
into deep center field, a catch which, in the words of radio announcer Jack Brickhouse
Jack Brickhouse
John Beasley "Jack" Brickhouse was an American sportscaster. Known primarily for his play-by-play coverage of Chicago Cubs games on WGN-TV from 1948 to 1981, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983...
, "must have looked like an optical illusion
Optical illusion
An optical illusion is characterized by visually perceived images that differ from objective reality. The information gathered by the eye is processed in the brain to give a perception that does not tally with a physical measurement of the stimulus source...
to a lot of people", and which turned the tide of that Series in the Giants' favor.
On October 2, , in Game 2 of the 1936 World Series
1936 World Series
The 1936 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the New York Giants, with the Yankees winning in six games to earn their fifth championship....
, Yankees centerfielder Joe Dimaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
had made a similar, though far less crucial, catch (his team being ahead 18-4) for the final out of the game. The Giants' Hank Leiber
Hank Leiber
Henry Edward Leiber was an American professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from to with the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs.-Early life:...
had hit a long fly ball to deep center field that DiMaggio caught in the runway, perhaps 430-440 from the plate, and his momentum carried him partway up the clubhouse steps. He then stopped and turned around, as the crowd stood and acknowledged the departure of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, who was in attendance that day.
Babe Ruth hit many of his early signature blasts at the Polo Grounds, reaching the center field seats on several occasions. His longest blast at the grounds, over the right-center upper deck in 1921, was estimated at over 550 feet. Had Ruth played regularly in the remodeled Polo Grounds, he would have been capable of hitting the clubhouse if conditions were right. Neither he nor anyone else ever did, but a few came close.
After the 1923 remodeling, only four players ever hit a home run into the center field stands:
- Luke EasterLuke Easter (baseball player)Luscious Luke Easter was a professional baseball player in Major League Baseball and the Negro leagues. He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, was 6'4", and weighed 240 lb. The birth year listed here is drawn from census data...
in a Negro League game in 1948 - Joe AdcockJoe AdcockJoseph Wilbur "Billy Joe" Adcock was an American first baseman and right-handed batter in Major League Baseball, best known for his years with the powerful Milwaukee Braves teams of the 1950s, whose career included numerous home run feats...
in 1953 (April 29) - Hank Aaron and Lou BrockLou BrockLouis Clark "Lou" Brock is an American former professional baseball player. He began his Major League Baseball career with the Chicago Cubs but, spent the majority of his career as the left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. Brock was best known for breaking Ty Cobb's all-time major league...
on consecutive days (June 17 and 18) in 1962.
Brock, a member of the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
at the time, is the surprising name on that list (accomplishing the feat on his 23rd birthday), as he was noted mostly for hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
and stolen bases (especially after being traded to the Cardinals in 1964
1964 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over New York Yankees ; Bob Gibson, MVP*All-Star Game, July 7 at Shea Stadium: National League, 7–4; Johnny Callison, MVP-Other champions:*College World Series: Minnesota...
), but he displayed power-hitting capability from time to time, and one season hit 20 home runs, with a personal high of 21 in 1967
1967 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over Boston Red Sox ; Bob Gibson, MVP*All-Star Game, July 11 at Anaheim Stadium: National League, 2-1 ; Tony Pérez, MVP-Other champions:*College World Series: Arizona State...
.
The final years
The Polo Grounds' end was somewhat anticlimactic, especially compared to other "Jewel Box" parks. Part of the problem was that the stadium was not well maintained from the late 1940s onward; while the baseball Giants owned the stadium, they did not own the parcel where it stood. Also, the neighborhood around the stadium had gone to seed by the early 1950s. All of this combined to severely hold down ticket sales, even when the Giants played well. In 1954, for instance, the baseball Giants only drew 1.1 million fans (compared to over 2 million for the Milwaukee BravesAtlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
) even as they won the World Series.
The football Giants left for Yankee Stadium across the Harlem River following the 1955 NFL season
1955 NFL season
The 1955 NFL season was the 36th regular season of the National Football League. NBC paid $100,000 to replace DuMont as the national television network for the NFL Championship Game...
, and the baseball Giants' disastrous 1956 season (most of which they spent in last place before a late-season surge moved them up to 6th) caused a further drag on ticket sales. The Giants' 1956 attendance was less than half of the figure for the Giants' World Series-winning 1954 season. That meant little to no money for stadium upkeep.
Frustrated with the subsequent obsolescence and dilapidated condition of the Polo Grounds and the inability to secure a more modern stadium in the New York area, the Giants announced on August 19, 1957, that they would move following that season, after nearly three-quarters of a century, to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, following the Dodgers to the West Coast. The Giants had won five World Series championships in the Polo Grounds. The ballpark then sat largely vacant for the next three years, until the newly-formed Titans and then the newly-formed Mets moved in, using the Polo Grounds as an interim home while Shea Stadium was being built. (As a 1962 baseball magazine noted, "The Mets will have to play in the Polo Grounds, hardly the last word in 20th Century stadia.")
In 1961, the city of New York decided to claim the land under eminent domain, for the purpose of condemning the stadium and building high-rise housing on the site. The Coogan family, which still owned the property, fought this effort until it was finally settled in the city's favor in 1967.
In the 1992 book The Gospel According to Casey, by Ira Berkow and Jim Kaplan, it is reported (p. 62) that in 1963, Mets manager Casey Stengel
Casey Stengel
Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel , nicknamed "The Old Perfessor", was an American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in ....
, who had bittersweet memories of his playing days at the Polo Grounds, had this to say during a rough outing to pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Tracy Stallard
Tracy Stallard
Evan Tracy Stallard is a retired American professional baseball player, a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1960 to 1966. He played with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and St...
, whose greatest claim to fame had been giving up Roger Maris
Roger Maris
Roger Eugene Maris was an American Major League Baseball right fielder. During the 1961 season, he hit a record 61 home runs for the New York Yankees, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs...
' 61st homer in 1961
1961 in sports
1961 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:* AFL Championship – Houston Oilers won 10-3 over the San Diego Chargers* NFL Championship – Green Bay Packers won 37-0 over the New York Giants...
: "At the end of this season, they're gonna tear this joint down. The way you're pitchin', the right field section will be gone already!"
The final incarnation of the stadium was indeed demolished in 1964, and the Polo Grounds Towers
Polo Grounds Towers
The Polo Grounds Towers is a housing complex consisting of four thirty-story buildings, located in Harlem, New York City, on the former site of the Polo Grounds. A total of 1,616 apartments are located on the site, which is bordered by Frederick Douglass Boulevard, West 155th Street and Harlem...
public housing project opened on the site in 1968. Demolition of the Polo Grounds began in April of that year with the same wrecking ball
Wrecking ball
A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings. It was most common during the 1950s and 1960s. Several wrecking companies claim to have invented the wrecking ball...
(painted to look like a baseball) that had been used four years earlier on Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football...
. The wrecking crew wore Giants jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
s and tipped their hard hats to the historic stadium as they began the dismantling. It took a crew of 60 workers more than four months to level the structure.
John T. Brush Stairway
The only part of the Polo Grounds that still remains as of 2011, albeit in disrepair, is the "John T. Brush Stairway," which runs down Coogan's BluffCoogan's Bluff
Coogan's Bluff is the name of a promontory located in upper Manhattan in New York City, starting at 155th Street. Rising abruptly from the Harlem River, it is colloquially regarded as the boundary between the neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights....
from Edgecombe Avenue to Harlem River Drive
Harlem River Drive
The Harlem River Drive is a north–south parkway in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs along the west bank of the Harlem River from the Triborough Bridge in East Harlem to 10th Avenue in Inwood, where the parkway continues north as Dyckman Street. The portion of the Harlem River Drive...
at about 158th Street. The stairway, named for the then-owner of the Giants
John T. Brush
John Tomlinson Brush was an American sports executive who was the owner of the New York Giants franchise in Major League Baseball from 1890 until his death. He also owned the Indianapolis Hoosiers in the late 1880s, and the Cincinnati Reds from 1891 to 1902. Under his leadership, the Giants were...
, was opened in 1913 and led to a ticket booth overlooking the stadium. The stairway reportedly offered a clear view of the stadium for fans who did not purchase tickets to a game. A marker on the stairway reads: "The John T. Brush Stairway Presented By The New York Giants."
In November 2011, it was reported that the stairway would undergo a $950,000 restoration, thanks to donations from the New York football Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
, San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
, and Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. The restoration is scheduled to be completed in September 2012, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Brush's death.
Death at the Polo Grounds
On July 4, 1950, Barney Doyle, a 56-year old New Yorker originally from Dublin, was accidentally shot and killed in his seat at the Polo Grounds. Doyle had brought with him a friend's thirteen year-old son to see the Brooklyn Dodgers play the Giants, before Doyle was shot about an hour before the game began. A fourteen year-old boy later confessed that he had been shooting a .45 automatic into the air from his rooftop at 515 Edgecombe Avenue (about 1,200 yards away from the stadium), unable to see the ballpark due to a 5 ft (1.5 m) parapetParapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
in front of him.
Timeline and teams
- Polo Grounds I
- Gothams/Giants (National LeagueNational LeagueThe National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
), 1883–1888 - Metropolitans (American AssociationAmerican Association (19th century)The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...
), 1883–1885
- Gothams/Giants (National League
- Polo Grounds II (otherwise known as Manhattan Field)
- Giants (NL), 1889–1890
- Polo Grounds III (originally called Brotherhood Park)
- Giants (Players' LeaguePlayers LeagueThe Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League , was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century...
), 1890 - Giants (NL), 1891–1911
- Giants (Players' League
- Polo Grounds IV (also known as Brush Stadium from 1911 to 1919)
- Giants (NL), 1911–1957
- Yankees (American LeagueAmerican LeagueThe American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
), 1913–1922 - Giants (NFLNational Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
), 1925–1955 - BulldogsNew York YanksThe New York Yanks American football team played in the National Football League under that name in the 1950 and 1951 seasons. In 1949, Boston Yanks owner Ted Collins had requested the NFL to fold his Boston team and give him a new one in New York City...
(NFL) 1949 - Titans/Jets (AFLAmerican Football LeagueThe American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
), 1960–1963 - Mets (NL), 1962–1963
Dimensions
1890
- Left Field Line - 335 ft. (not posted)
- Center Field - 500 ft. (not posted)
- Right Field Line - 335 ft. (not posted)
1911-1922
- Left Field Line - 277 ft. (not posted)
- Center Field - 433 ft. (not posted)
- Right Field Line - 258 ft. (not posted)
1923-1957, 1962-1963
- Left Field Line - 279 ft. (not posted - sometimes listed as 280)
- Left Field Upper Deck Overhang - about 250 ft.
- Shallow Left Center - 315 ft.
- Left Center 1 – 360 ft.
- Left Center 2 – 414 ft.
- Deep Left Center - 447 ft. left of bullpen curve
- Deep Left Center - 455 ft. right of bullpen curve
- Center Field - approx. 425 ft. (unposted) corners of runways
- Center Field - 483 ft. posted on front of clubhouse balcony, sometimes 475 ft.
- Center Field - 505 ft. (unposted) sometimes given as total C.F. distance
- Deep Right Center - 455 ft. left of bullpen curve
- Deep Right Center - 449 ft. right of bullpen curve
- Right Center 2 – 395 ft.
- Right Center 1 – 338 ft.
- Shallow Right Center - 294 ft.
- Right Field Line - 257 ft. 3 3/8 in. (not posted - sometimes listed as 258)
- Backstop - 65 ft. sometimes also given as 74 ft.
The disparities in some of the posted distances, notably straightaway center, have not been fully reconciled by researchers. The closest object in straight center field was the Grant Memorial, followed by the post supporting the overhang of the clubhouse (above which the 483 or 475 signs were posted), and a roll-up door several feet behind the overhang at ground level. The roof of the protruding part of the clubhouse sloped back and met the vertical wall of the larger part of the clubhouse. The exact objects referred to by the numbers 475, 483 and 505 can be speculated but remain unconfirmed.
Seating capacity
1911-1916- 34,000
1917-1919
- 36,000
1920-1922
- 38,000
1923-1925
- 43,000
1937-1939
- 51,856
1947-1952
- 54,500
1926-1929
- 55,000
1930-1935, 1940-1946, 1953-1963
- 56,000
External links
- The Early Polo Grounds
- Polo Grounds dynamic diagram at Clem's Baseball
- Project Ballpark, Polo Grounds I
- Project Ballpark, Polo Grounds II (covers second through fourth Polo Grounds)
- San Francisco Giants : History : Ballparks
- The 1947 All-Ireland final
- American Soccer History Archives
- National Soccer Hall of Fame
- Details about the Brush Stairway