Reviews"I think Stew Thornley's book on the Polo Grounds is a worthy one. There are other books on old ball parks...but I don't think anything else is as definitive on this historic ball park. Thornley brings to life not only the various Polo Ground sites but the significant figures in Giants lore-John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott, and Willie Mays among others. I think I know more than a little about the Giants and the Polo Grounds, but I found myself learning more about the team and the ball park. Thornley has done exhaustive research.... I would want this book in my library for sure." -Stan Isaacs, National Headliners Award-winning sportswriter, former columnist for Newsday, and co-author (with Marty Glickman) of The Fastest Kid on the Block "I went to high school at Boys High in Brooklyn and after classes we ran to Ebbets Field to try to sneak in before game time. But on weekends I took the subway to my true love, the Polo Grounds, to root for my heroes-Mell Ott, Carl Hubbell, and the great Jo-Jo Moore from Gausse, Texas. Thanks, Stew, for bringing it all back so vividly." -Larry Ritter, author of The Glory of Their Times
Dewey Decimal796.357/06/87471
Table Of ContentContents Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Oddest of the Odd Chapter 2 The Original Polo Grounds Chapter 3 Major League Baseball in New York Chapter 4 New Location, Same Name Chapter 5 Polo Grounds III Chapter 6 A Grand New Stadium Chapter 7 Home Runs and Hubbell Chapter 8 The Final Years Chapter 9 Boxing to Buffalo Bill Appendix A Polo Grounds Park Factors Appendix B Summary of Championship Events and Other Highlights at the Polo Grounds Essays on Sources Index
SynopsisMore than thirty years after its demolition, the Polo Grounds -- like some other urban neighborhood parks such as Ebbets Field, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Wrigley Field -- still holds a place in the hearts of baseball fans. The Polo Grounds was the home of the New York Giants from John McGraw and Christy Mathewson to Carl Hubbell and Mel Ott to Willie Mays and Leo Durocher. It was also home to the Yankees when Babe Ruth's home run production was soaring (which led to "the House that Ruth built") and home to the Mets in their painful early years. From "Merkle's Boner," which cost the New York Giants a pennant, to Bobby Thomson's homer, which won them one, Stew Thornley retells the legendary events of the park and its legendary personalities. He reveals little-known facts too: When the championship Giants and Yankees played in the 1921 and 1922 World Series, it wasn't a "subway series," because the two teams shared the same ballpark. The team Bays was playing for when he hit his firstd home run in the Polo Grounds was not the Giants, but the Birmingham Black Barons. The Polo Grounds was also the site for the Negro World Series games in 1946 and 1947.Fans cherish not only the historic moments and team traditions of these stadiums, but treasure their physical peculiarities. Like the "Green Monster" at Fenway Park, the unusual horseshoe shape of the Polo Grounds made the park a special place to play. Stew Thornley analyzes the effect of the very short porches along the foul lines and of a cavernous center field on home run production and hitting in general. Baseball wasn't the only sport played in the Polo Grounds. The footbal Giants played here from 1925 to 1955, but the stadium was better known for some of the great college games, including the 1924 Army-Notre Dame game in which the "Four Horsemen" of Notre Dame were christened. Numerous boxing title bouts were held at the Polo Grounds, and it also hosted tennis, rodeo, midget auto racing, outdoor opera, ice skating, and religious rallies., The story of New York's Polo Grounds. From Merkle's Boner which cost the New York Giants a pennant, to Bobby Thomson's homer, which won them one, Stew Thornley retells the events of the park and its legendary personalities.