The Polo Grounds: Essays and Memories of New York City's Historic Ballpark, 1880-1963

by Stew Thornley (Editor)

Overview

In an era of unique baseball stadiums, the Polo Grounds in New York stood out from the rest. With its horseshoe shape, the Polo Grounds had extremely short distances down the foul lines and equally long distances up the alley and to center field. Some of baseball's most historic moments—Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard Round the World, Willie Mays' Catch, Fred Merkle's infamous blunder—happened at the Polo Grounds.

This book offers descriptive text and photographs that give a sense of the glory of this classic ballpark. Additionally, it contains historical articles and memories submitted by more than 70 former players who played at the Polo Grounds.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786478972
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	02/26/2019
Series:	McFarland Historic Ballparks , #5
Pages:	296
Sales rank:	306,653
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Stew Thornley is the official scorer for the Minnesota Twins home games and a member of the Official Scoring Advisory Committee for Major League Baseball. He lives in Roseville, Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments
Part I: History and Background
The Polo Grounds: Owners and Landlords (Bill Lamb)
Early Polo Grounds: Players Who Homered There (Alan Cohen)
Next Stop—Cooperstown (Tom Edwards)
By the Numbers: The Five Polo Grounds Ballparks (Ron Selter)
Polo Grounds Seating, Dimensions and Design (John Pastier)
Black Baseball at the Polo Grounds
• Part I: Notable Players, Teams and Performances (Tom Edwards) 107
• Part II: The New York Cubans (Rory Costello) delete109 delete
The Boys of the Polo Grounds: Youth Baseball, 1944–1958 (Alan Cohen)
White Circled Targets Drawn in Crayon: The Untold Story Behind
the Tragic Shooting of Bernard Doyle at the Polo Grounds (Dan VanDeMortel)
Voice of the Giants: Russ Hodges (Stew Thornley)
When the Circus Came to Town: The New York Mets
at the Polo Grounds, 1962–1963 (Scott Ferkovich)
Memorable Games
• Metropolitans 4, Nationals 2: September 29, 1880 (Richard Hershberger) delete175 delete
• New York Giants 2, St. Louis Browns 1: October 16, 1888 (Bill Lamb) delete178 delete
• New York Giants 1, Boston Beaneaters 0 (13 innings): May 12, 1890 (Joel Rippel) delete179 delete
• New York Giants 1, Chicago Cubs 1: September 23, 1908 (Norm King) delete181 delete
• New York Giants 1, New York Yankees 0: October 13, 1921 (T.S. Flynn) 185 delete
• American League 9, National League 7: July 10, 1934 (Stew Thornley) 188 delete
• Boston Braves 9, New York Giants 0 (forfeit): September 26, 1942  (James Forr) 191 delete
• Brooklyn Dodgers 5, New York Yankees 1, New York Giants 0: June 26, 1944 (Mike Huber and Rachel Hamelers) delete193 delete
• New York Giants 5, Brooklyn Dodgers 4: October 3, 1951 (Scott Ferkovich) delete196 delete
• New York Giants 5, Cleveland Indians 2 (10 innings): September 29, 1954 (Gregory Wolf) 199 delete
• New York Mets 8, Philadelphia Phillies 6: April 28, 1962 (Alan Cohen) delete202 delete
• National League Latin Players 5, American League Latin Players 2: October 12, 1963 (Rory Costello and Robert Dominguez) 205 delete
Part II: Memories
The Polo Grounds: View from the Bleachers (Arnold Hano)
The Book and the Batboy (David Butwin)
Dr. Fan (Seth C. “Dr. Fan” Hawkins)
Fred Stein (Interview by Steve Treder)
Home Address: Polo Grounds (Jerry Schwab)
Saving the Polo Grounds (Tom Edwards)
The Polo Grounds Was My Playground (Ed Logan)
The Fans Remember
The Players Remember
About the Contributors
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

The essays flow smoothly from one topic to the next, making this an easy read from cover to cover. This book should be a welcome addition to most sports history or stadium architecture collections...recommended”—Choice

From the Publisher