There are places around the country where beloved ballparks once stood during what might be called baseball’s “Golden Age.” Sadly, due to a combination of political inaction, a short-sighted need for newer parks with more suites, and whatever the opposite of gentrification is, most of these parks did not survive the 1970s, with glaring exceptions in Chicago’s Wrigley Field (built 1914) and Boston’s Fenway Park (built 1912). Today on American Footprint we continue what we hope will become a weekly feature (for which there is yet no name), where we take a quick look at some of these ballparks that are no longer with us.
In the third edition of Lost MLB Parks, we take a look at a real classic, New York's Polo Grounds.
The Polo Grounds, known primarily as the former home of the former New York Giants (today San Francisco Giants) was located at 155th and 8th Ave (now Fredrick Douglass Blvd) in Manhattan, directly across the Harlem River from Yankee Stadium. There were actually four New York stadiums named the Polo Grounds throughout history, the first originally being located at 110th Street between 5th and 6th (now Lenox) Avenues, at the northeast corner of Central Park. The name of the stadium referred to the stadium's original purpose as a polo stadium, but the field also saw use for college football and baseball.
Polo Grounds I was built around 1880, and the New York Metropolitans, and independent pseudo-professional team, were the first to be its occupants. In 1883, the Metropolitans' ownership created another team, the New York Gothams - later renamed the New York Giants, and moved them to the newly created National League. The Metropolitans were sent to the American Association. The two teams shared the field until the Metropolitans moved to Staten Island in 1886 and dissolved in 1887.
Polo Grounds I ceased to exist in 1889 when the city began expanding its roads' grid system that included a street to be built through the outfield. The Giants were nomadic for a few months, playing the first two games of the 1889 season at Oakland Park in Jersey City, and the next couple of months at St. George Cricket Grounds in Staten Island, the same field where the Metropolitans had played until 1887. On July 8 1889, the Giants finally began playing in the permanent home, now Polo Grounds II, at 155th and 8th Ave in Manhattan.
Polo Grounds II was only used until 1891 by the Giants, while another team called the New York Giants of the short-lived Player's League played in the new Polo Grounds III Park, which opened literally next door on the same plot of land, just north of Polo Grounds II. It was originally called Brotherhood Park, but when the Player's League dissolved the NL Giants moved out of Polo Grounds II and took the name of their stadium with them. It was in this park that Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a Yankee.
The outfield originally had no bleachers at all, but was bound by a fence. Bleachers were added periodically until 1910, until the outfield was full. Due to this hodgepodge construction, there were gaps between sections of seats, and when a fire in 1911 destroyed most of the park, those gaps saved much of the outfield stands. The park was late reopened that year.
The park got an facelift in 1923 with the addition of an upper deck, giving the park it's famous bathtub look. After the 1940s, the park began falling into disrepair, with less and less money coming in from ticket sales as people didn't want to go to the crumbling park, despite the Giants' successes. The Giants continued play at this latest incarnation of the Polo Grounds until 1957, when they left for San Francisco. The expansion team New York Mets played at the Polo Grounds for a few seasons in the early 60s while Shea Stadium was being built, but the city claimed the land on eminent domain and tore it down in 1964 to make a public housing project.
To finish, here are some noteworthy events in the history of New York City's Polo Grounds:
• May 1, 1920 - Babe Ruth's first home run as a Yankee, which traveled over the double-decker right field wall and it estimated at 550 feet.
• Bobby Thompson's 4-2, bottom of the ninth walk off home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951 that won them the Pennant. "The Shot Heard 'Round The World"
• Willie Mays' "The Catch" during Game 1 of the 1954 World Series against the Cleveland Indians.
Tune in next week for another edition of Lost MLB Parks.
