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69-492: The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan , New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the sport of polo . Bound on the south and north by 110th and 112th streets and on the east and west by Fifth and Sixth (Lenox) avenues, just north of Central Park , it

138-576: 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 (150 m) in total, after clearing the Polo Grounds double decked right field stand. Manhattan Field continued to be an occasional site for amateur sports reported in local newspapers as late as spring of 1942. In June 1948,

207-513: A "home rule" pledge, vetoed it 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 Oakland Park in Jersey City, New Jersey , playing their first two games there. Four days later, they moved to

276-504: A 58-foot runway from the grandstand corners on either side of the clubhouse (these corners were themselves 425 feet (130 m) from home plate). The famous photo of The catch made by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series against Vic Wertz of the Cleveland Indians occurred immediately in front of the "batter's eye", a metal screen atop the grandstand wall directly to the right of the centerfield runway. It would have been

345-531: A couple of gaps between some of the sections, and that would prove significant in 1911. Known as Brotherhood Park when it opened in 1890, Polo Grounds III was the home of a second New York Giants franchise in the Players' League . The latter 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,

414-504: A further decline on ticket sales. The Giants' 1956 attendance was less than half of that for the Giants' World Series-winning 1954 season, and also ranked last in Major League Baseball. Along with the departure of the football Giants and the consequental loss of their rent, this collapse of the baseball Giants' gate financially devastated franchise owner Horace Stoneham , who was not nearly as wealthy as his fellow owners –

483-436: A home run in several other ballparks of the time as well as in most of today's modern ballparks. The bullpens 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

552-400: 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

621-686: A poor venue that they moved back to the Polo Grounds within a few weeks. Despite that bit of drama, the Mets went on to win the American Association pennant. Their good fortune ran out when they faced the Providence Grays in the World Series , in which Providence pitcher Old Hoss Radbourn pitched three consecutive shutouts against them. All three games had been staged at the Polo Grounds. An early highlight of Giants' play at

690-722: A rare historical oddity, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (now the Los Angeles Dodgers ) won the league's championship and represented the AA in the 1889 World Series , switched to the NL during the off-season, and then repeated the same feat. No player who spent the majority of his career in the AA is in the baseball Hall of Fame , although Bid McPhee of the Cincinnati Reds played eight of his eighteen seasons in

759-460: A stray bullet while in his seat at the Polo Grounds. Doyle had brought a neighbor's son with him to see a doubleheader between the Dodgers and the Giants. Doyle was killed about an hour prior to the start of the first game. A 14-year-old boy later confessed to having shot a .45 caliber pistol into the air from his rooftop at 515 Edgecombe Avenue, located 1,120 feet (340 m) from where Doyle

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828-687: The 1934 and 1942 All-Star Games . In American football , the third Polo Grounds was home to the New York Brickley Giants for one game in 1921 and the New York Giants from 1925 to 1955 . The New York Titans/Jets of the American Football League played at the stadium from the league's inaugural season of 1960 until 1963 . Other sporting events held at the Polo Grounds included soccer , boxing , and Gaelic football . Its final sporting event

897-557: 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 football Giants hosted the 1934 , 1938 , 1944 , and 1946 NFL Championship Games at the Polo Grounds, while the 1936 NFL Championship Game , originally scheduled for Fenway Park,

966-600: The Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs ). Over its lifetime, the AA was weakened by several factors. One was the tendency of some of its teams to jump to the NL. The consistently stronger NL was in better position to survive adverse conditions. Some owners of AA teams also owned a NL team. The most significant blow to the AA was dealt by the Players' League , a third major league formed in 1890, which siphoned off talent and gate receipts. In

1035-671: The National Jazz Museum in Harlem , and the Dyckman House , along with Fort Tryon Park , most of Riverside Park , Riverbank State Park , Sakura Park , and other parks. 40°47′49″N 73°56′56″W  /  40.797°N 73.949°W  / 40.797; -73.949 American Association (19th century) The American Association of Base Ball Clubs ( AA ) was a professional baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from 1882 to 1891 . Together with

1104-522: The National League (NL), founded in 1876 , the AA participated in an early version of the World Series seven times versus the champion of the NL in an interleague championship playoff tournament. At the end of its run, several AA franchises joined the NL. After 1891, the NL existed alone, with each season's champions being awarded the Temple Cup (1894–1897). During its existence, the AA

1173-505: The New York Giants from 1883 to 1888. The Giants played in the second Polo Grounds for part of the 1889 season and all of the 1890 season, and at the third Polo Grounds from 1891 to 1957 . The Polo Grounds was also the home of the New York Yankees from 1913 to 1922 and New York Mets in their first two seasons ( 1962 , 1963 ). Each version of the ballpark held at least one World Series . The final version also hosted

1242-665: The Upper West Side ). The George Washington Bridge connects Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan across the Hudson River to Fort Lee, New Jersey , and is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge. In the late 19th century, the IRT Ninth Avenue Line and other elevated railroads brought people to the previously rustic Upper Manhattan. Until the late 20th century it was less influenced by

1311-712: The gentrification that had taken place in other parts of New York over the previous 30 years. Like other residential areas, Upper Manhattan is not a major center of tourism in New York City , although many tourist attractions lie within it, such as Grant's Tomb , the Apollo Theater , United Palace , and The Cloisters , Sylvia's Restaurant , the Hamilton Grange , the Morris–Jumel Mansion , Minton's Playhouse , Sugar Hill , Riverside Church ,

1380-683: The " dead ball era " of baseball. The land remained in the Coogan estate, and the Giants were renters for their entire time at Polo Grounds II, III and IV. 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 sub-leased to the Manhattan Athletic Club and

1449-482: The "guarantee system". The NL at that time prohibited the sale of alcohol on its grounds, while the AA had no such restrictions, especially as several of its teams were backed by breweries and distilleries. The AA became known as "The Beer and Whiskey League", another pejorative term applied by NL owners, which did not seem to bother the fans of the Association's clubs. Beginning in 1884 and continuing through 1890,

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1518-557: The 1922 season, the Yankees built Yankee Stadium directly across the Harlem River from the Polo Grounds, which spurred the Giants to expand their park to reach a comparable seating capacity to stay competitive. However, since nearly all the new seating was in the outfield, Yankee Stadium still had more desirable seats than did the Polo Grounds for watching baseball. However, the Polo Grounds became better suited for football due to

1587-405: 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 horseshoe or bathtub style shape, as well as a new nickname, "The Bathtub". This version of the ballpark had its share of quirks. The "unofficial" distances (never marked on the wall) down

1656-457: 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',

1725-613: The AA before the Reds moved to the National League. The living legacy of the old Association is the group of teams that came over to the National League to stay. The Pirates moved to the NL after the 1886 season, the Bridegrooms/Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds after the 1889 season, and the Browns/Cardinals after the American Association folded following the 1891 season. Following the reorganization and contraction of

1794-404: The Brotherhood founded its own league in 1890. The Players' League Giants built Brotherhood Park in the northern half of Coogan's Hollow, next door to Polo Grounds II, otherwise bounded by rail yards and the bluff. Brotherhood Park hosted its first game on April 19, 1890, the same day the National League's Giants played their first home game of the season. For the full 1890 season the two editions of

1863-545: The Giants again leased the Manhattan Field property, and had it paved over to serve as a parking lot for the Polo Grounds. Polo Grounds III was the stadium that made the name nationally famous. Built in 1890, it initially had a completely 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 were

1932-568: The Giants played well. In 1954, for example, the baseball Giants only drew 1.1 million fans (compared to over two million for the Milwaukee Braves ) despite winning 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 sixth – caused

2001-679: 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

2070-467: The Giants were his sole source of income. To make matters worse, Stoneham was left with no money for stadium upkeep, and he was forced to lay off the stadium's maintenance staff in order to stay afloat. The stadium also had very little parking; its final form had opened two years after the Model T was introduced. Due to the manner in which the stadium was designed, fans had to pour onto the field to exit via

2139-464: The Giants were neighbors. When the teams played on the same day, fans in the upper decks could watch each other's games, and home run balls hit in one park might land on the other team's playing field. After the 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

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2208-472: The NL from 12 teams down to 8 in 1900, half of the eight surviving teams were former members of the AA. Several of the AA's home-field venues survived into the 1960s: The ballpark used by the 1891 Washington club evolved into Griffith Stadium ; the home of the St. Louis Browns, Sportsman's Park ; and the city block occupied by the Reds, which evolved into Crosley Field . Other than the clubs themselves, Crosley Field

2277-536: The Polo Grounds played host to one last exhibition contest, as Latin American All-Stars of the National League, managed by Roberto Clemente and behind the pitching of Juan Marichal and Al McBean , defeated Hector Lopez 's AL Stars, 5–2. The final sporting event played at the Polo Grounds was on December 14, 1963 when the now renamed AFL team New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills 19–10. In

2346-399: The Polo Grounds was Roger Connor 's home run over the right-field wall and into 112th Street; Connor eventually held the record for career home runs that Babe Ruth would break July 8, 1921. 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

2415-644: The Polo Grounds were well-suited for football , and hundreds of football games were played there over the years. 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

2484-473: The Polo Grounds. City workers are said to have shown up suddenly one day and begun cutting through the fence to lay out the new street. With the Giants having won the National League pennant the year before, as well as the World Series there was significant sentiment in the city against the move; a bill was even passed by the state legislature giving the Giants a variance which would allow the park to stand. Governor David B. Hill , who had campaigned for office on

2553-601: The St. George Cricket Grounds (where the Metropolitans had continued to play until their demise following the 1887 season). After closing out a homestand at the St. George Grounds on June 14, the Giants went on the road. Upon their return on July 8 they had relocated again, to a "New Polo Grounds" site within Manhattan at the far terminus of the then Ninth Avenue Elevated at 155th Street and 8th Avenue (now Frederick Douglass Boulevard ). Newspaper accounts indicate that

2622-453: The center field gates, making for a problematic situation whenever attendance was anywhere near capacity. Frustrated with the Polo Grounds being obsolete and dilapidated, and with no maintenance staff or prospect of the stadium being renovated, Stoneham seriously considered having the Giants become tenants of the Yankees in the Bronx, or moving to a proposed stadium that would have been owned by

2691-457: The champion of the AA met the champion of the NL in an early version of the World Series . These early Series were less organized than the modern version, with as few as three games played and as many as fifteen, and the contests of 1885 and 1890 ending in disputed ties. The NL won four of these Series, while the AA won only one, in 1886 when the St. Louis Browns (now the St. Louis Cardinals ) defeated

2760-532: The city. After both of those plans fizzled, the Giants announced on August 19, 1957 that after 74 years of professional baseball in New York, they would relocate to San Francisco, California at the end of the season, following their long-time rivals Dodgers to the West Coast. The Giants had won five World Series titles in the Polo Grounds. The ballpark then sat largely vacant for nearly three years, until

2829-436: 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 football game there on November 29, 1883 and November 24, 1887. (See Football below) New York City was in the process of extending its street grid into uptown Manhattan in 1889. Plans for an extended West 111th Street ran through

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2898-787: 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 a 17–0 Giants loss. Shortly afterwards,

2967-527: The inherent implication of lower morality or social standards in those cities. In contrast to the NL, the AA offered cheaper ticket prices, Sunday games and alcoholic beverages to its patrons. On November 8, 1881, at the Gibson House in Cincinnati, it was decided that individual teams in the league-to-be would operate their own affairs and set their own admission prices, under an agreement called

3036-471: The left and right field lines were 279 and 258 feet (85 and 79 m) respectively, but there was a 21-foot (6.4 m) overhang in left field, which often intercepted fly balls that would otherwise have been catchable and turned them into home runs. Contrasting with the short distances down the foul lines were the 450-foot distances to deepest left and right center (the gaps); the base of the straightaway centerfield clubhouse stood 483 feet from home plate , up

3105-492: 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 renamed the new structure Brush Stadium in honor of their then-owner John T. Brush, but the name did not stick, and by the late 1910s it was passé. The remaining old bleachers were demolished during

3174-595: The new seating placement. The Giants' first night game at the stadium was played on May 24, 1940. The Polo Grounds was the site of one of the most iconic moments in baseball history – the historic "Shot Heard 'Round the World" walk-off home run on October 3, 1951 that decided the hard-fought National League pennant playoff series between the Giants and their cross-town rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers . On August 16, 1920, Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman

3243-428: The newly formed Titans of New York (present-day New York Jets ) began play in 1960 , followed by the newly formed Mets in 1962, 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

3312-478: The north and west by a steep promontory known as Coogan's Bluff . Because of its elevation, fans frequently watched games from the Bluff without buying tickets. The ballpark itself was in bottomland known as Coogan's Hollow. The grandstand had a conventional curve around the infield, but the shape of the property made the center field area actually closer than left center or right center. This was not much of an issue in

3381-528: The opportunity to bring it 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

3450-587: 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

3519-570: The purpose of condemning the stadium and building a high-rise housing project 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. On September 18, 1963, 1,752 fans went to see the New York Mets play their last game at the Polo Grounds against the Philadelphia Phillies with a 5–1 Philadelphia win. The game's highlights were later shown on Universal's Universal International Newsreel . On October 12,

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3588-436: The right field section will be gone already!" The final iteration of the Polo Grounds was demolished in 1964, beginning on April 10 with a wrecking ball bomb painted to look like a baseball, the same one that had been used four years earlier on Ebbets Field . The wrecking crew wore Giants jerseys and tipped their hard hats to the historic stadium as they began dismantling it, with a crew of 60 workers taking 4½ months to level

3657-412: The seats from the original Polo Grounds were moved to the new Polo Grounds stands. Despite their vagabond existence during the first half of the 1889 season, the Giants began their stay at the new ballpark just 4 games behind the league-leading Boston club. They rallied to win the pennant for the second consecutive year, as well as that year's World Series against Brooklyn. The new site was overlooked to

3726-442: The stadium. Stephen McNair, a Dodger fan, grabbed a sledge hammer as easily as Johnny Mize picked up a bat, marked off the left field fence beneath Section 33, and vowed, “I'm going to take that place down myself.” It was the fence over which Bobby Thomson hit the home run that kept the Dodgers out of the World Series in 1951 and put the Giants in. The foreman on the job, Abe Gach, shouted, “No, you don't. Be gentle over there. History

3795-470: The stands saved a good portion of the outfield seating and the clubhouse from destruction. Giants owner John T. Brush decided to rebuild the Polo Grounds with concrete and steel, renting Hilltop Park from the Highlanders during reconstruction. Progress was sufficient to allow the stadium to reopen just 2½ months later, June 28, 1911, the date some baseball guides date the structure. As configured, it

3864-476: 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 laws. In 1919, the city allowed professional baseball on Sunday and

3933-448: 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. Although the Giants would soon become the team of choice in the city, the "Mets" had a good year in 1884. They had started the season in a new facility called Metropolitan Park , which proved to be such

4002-503: Was a pro football game between the Jets and Buffalo Bills . Shea Stadium opened in 1964 and replaced the Polo Grounds as the home of the Mets and Jets. The Polo Grounds was demolished and a public housing complex, Polo Grounds Towers , built on the site. The original Polo Grounds stood at 110th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, directly across 110th Street from the northeast corner of Central Park . The venue's original purpose

4071-630: Was converted to a baseball stadium when leased by the New York Metropolitans in 1880. The third Polo Grounds, built in 1890, and renovated after a fire in 1911 , was in Coogan's Hollow and was noted for its distinctive bathtub shape, with very short distances to the left and right field walls and an unusually deep center field. The original Polo Grounds was home to the New York Metropolitans from 1880 to 1885, and

4140-473: Was for the sport of polo . 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, was 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

4209-419: Was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by the Yankees' Carl Mays . At the time, batters did not wear helmets . Chapman died 12 hours after he was hit, at 4:30 a.m. on August 17. He remains the only player to die from an injury sustained in a Major League Baseball game. On July 4, 1950, Bernard Doyle, a resident of Fairview, New Jersey , in his 50s, originally from Dublin , Ireland, was struck and killed by

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4278-445: Was larger. They took their stadium's name with them once again, turning Brotherhood Park into the new-new Polo Grounds. Between Polo Grounds II and III-IV, they would remain in Coogan's Hollow for 69 seasons. In the very early morning hours of Friday, April 14, 1911, a fire of uncertain origin swept through the stadium's horseshoe-shaped grandstand, consuming wood and leaving only steel uprights in place. The gaps between some sections of

4347-630: Was made there.” The Indians' bus passed the site in the midst of demolition while Cleveland was playing the Yankees: Dick Donovan , eyeing the rubble, remarked, "Boy, they must have had a helluva game there last night." The site is now home to the Polo Grounds Towers , a public housing project opened in 1968, and managed by the New York City Housing Authority. The various incarnations of

4416-745: Was moved to the Polo Grounds by mutual agreement of Boston Redskins franchise owner George Preston Marshall, the Green Bay Packers, and the NFL due to low ticket sales in Boston; the Redskins would relocate to Washington in 1937. Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is generally taken to include the neighborhoods of Manhattan Inwood , Washington Heights (including Fort George, Sherman Creek and Hudson Heights ), Harlem (including Sugar Hill , Hamilton Heights and Manhattanville ), East Harlem , Morningside Heights , and Manhattan Valley (in

4485-545: Was often simply referred to as "the Association" in the media, in contrast to the NL, which was sometimes called "the League". It was also sometimes called the "Beer and Whiskey League". The American Association (AA) distinguished itself in several ways from what it considered to be the puritanical National League (NL). The new league established teams in what the NL leaders pejoratively called "river cities", including Pittsburgh , Cincinnati , Louisville and St. Louis , with

4554-449: Was referred to ever after as Manhattan Field . It was converted for other sports such as football and track-and-field. The New York Giants leased Manhattan Field to the Columbia University football team for $ 14,000 in 1899 and $ 15,000 in 1900. The superstructure of Manhattan Field was demolished in 1911 following the fire that destroyed Polo Grounds III, but the site still existed as a field for 20 more years. Babe Ruth's first home run as

4623-487: Was seated. 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 , the Coogan heirs still owned the parcel of land on which it stood, while the neighborhood around the stadium had begun to go to seed in the late 1940s. These, along with other factors, combined to restrict ticket sales, even when

4692-419: Was the last physical remnant of the AA—it was the home field of the Cincinnati Reds until mid-season 1970 and was razed in April 1972. During the AA's existence, several teams defected over to the NL, and at the AA's demise in 1891 four additional clubs joined the NL. From 1892 to 1899, when the NL consisted of 12 teams, 7 of them had been former AA clubs. Four former AA clubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates (defected to

4761-459: Was the ninth concrete-and-steel stadium in the Majors and fourth in the National League. Unfinished seating areas were rebuilt during the season while the games went on. The new structure stretched in roughly the same semicircle from the left field corner around home plate to the right field corner as prior but was extended into deep right-center field. The surviving wooden bleachers were retained basically as is, with gaps remaining on each side between

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