OT: Very cool nighttime aerial shot of Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium
- Thread starter brodo
- Start date
That last Polo Grounds was around from about 1911 to 1964. But there were three previous Polo Grounds at other locations. And the Rutgers football team is the only college to play football at all of them.
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anon_ivydyf0amkzay
Guest
Saw several games at the polo grounds, Giants and Mets. Was a pretty weird stadium. Built for football not baseball. Had an amazingly short left field (I think) foul line.
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anon_ivydyf0amkzay
Guest
In 1963 it was 279' down the left field line; 258' to right, and 483' to center. After the games, players would walk from the dugout out to the centerfield fence, up some steps to where the clubhouses were located.
This is my twitter account:
https://twitter.com/OTBaseballPhoto
I posted the above photo last year in the OP, I also suspect it wasn't two baseball games going on but a game going on at Yankee Stadium and some kind of other event at the Polo Grounds, maybe taken from 1958 to 1961 for after the Mets left in 1964.
https://twitter.com/OTBaseballPhoto
I posted the above photo last year in the OP, I also suspect it wasn't two baseball games going on but a game going on at Yankee Stadium and some kind of other event at the Polo Grounds, maybe taken from 1958 to 1961 for after the Mets left in 1964.
The dimensions along right field was 279' but left field was even shorter at 258', and on top of that the Polo Grounds upper deck lip extended about 21 feet over the field as seen here:
So you can imagine how frustrating a place it could be for pitchers.
Yes, the Yankees built the original Yankee stadium in the Brox right across the Harlem River from the Polo Grounds. (which, as the name implies, was built for polo, not football or baseball) in Manhattan. Center field was 480 feet from home plate. Otherwise Willie Mays could not have made the great back-to-the-plate catch in the 1954 World Series against Vic Wertz and the Cleveland Indians. It was said that the right field pole was so close that a pitcher, without turning his head, could hear fans there ask each other for a match. As for left, Bobby Thomson's line drive in the 1951 playoffs ("the shot heard round the world") would never have been a home run in any other ballpark. Did you know that the ball he hit was never recovered?
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anon_ivydyf0amkzay
Guest
playing left field at the PG must have been a nightmare...kinda like left center and the old old Yankee Stadium...
296' and 279' down the lines and something like 470' to the base of the clubhouse in center. Centerfield bleachers were up a little from the clubhouse. Only 8 HRS were ever hit into the bleachers and I believe Lou Brock hit one of them. Maybe Colon would have made it #9.
Yankee Stadium, in its pre-1970s configuration, had a terrible left field to play. As Yogi Berra said, "it gets late early out there." He would know -- he played a considerable amount in left field. The Yankees once had an excellent prospect, Norm Sieburn, who couldn't master left field, so Berra and Bob Cerv did it a lot. BTW, the purpose of the trade for Roger Maris was to get a left-handed left fielder -- but Maris turned out to be a lot better in right field.
Most of the time in the 50' s the Giants and Yankees were rarely home at the same time. But throw in Brooklyn and somebody was always home. I was a Giant fan and went to the PG a lot in those days. Actually got a pencil with the scorecard !
Saw Sam Jethro of the Boston Braves steal home at the Polo Grounds. My father & I were sitting between home & first. Birds eye view. Ump banged him out. He was so safe that the Giant fans booed. As Dodger fans, don't know what we were doing there. My Uncle, a Giant fan, probably gave us the tickets. Also got a pencil with the scorecard at Ebbets.
Saw games in all 3 stadiums in the mid 50's. Too young to remember much about Ebbets Field or the Polo Grounds although I did go see the Mets later on. First Yankee game I saw in person they lost to Boston on a Vic Wertz grand slam over the auxiliary scoreboard in RC. I think I cried.
Whoever played CF, Giants and opponents had to cover a lot of ground and backup plays. YS left field was different because it was rounded at the base of the fence and a ball down the line could hug the wall and elude the fielder. The PG had the high wall and the carrom was more predictable. Line drives were very rarely caught straight away because of the short distances and many went for HRS. Don Mueller was great at playing right field, but the Giants had so many good OFers. I even recall Jim Hearn, a pitcher, hitting an inside the park HR to deep left center. Not sure, but the Gotham Bowl could have been there for a few years.
At least until very recently, the Phillies gave out a stub of a pencil with the purchase of a "program.' (too expensive to be a scorecard). But I remember the Yankee Stadium pencils as much more impressive -- except they lacked an eraser!
Playing right field in Ebbets Field was also a challenge. In 1952, the Yankees would be visiting the Dodgers at Ebbets Field for the first two games of the series. Casey Stengel took Mickey Mantle out to right field and Stengel showed Mantle how there was a base to the wall, a wall, and then a screen -- and a ball hit off any was in play. He took a baseball and walked Mantle around, showing him all the dead spots in the wall and making Mantle play the carons. Finally, Mantle, this 22-year old kid from the sticks, said, "Mr. Stengel, however did you learn all this?" Stengel snapped back, "I used to play right field right here for the Brooklyn Dodgers! Did you think I was born old!"
Playing right field in Ebbets Field was also a challenge. In 1952, the Yankees would be visiting the Dodgers at Ebbets Field for the first two games of the series. Casey Stengel took Mickey Mantle out to right field and Stengel showed Mantle how there was a base to the wall, a wall, and then a screen -- and a ball hit off any was in play. He took a baseball and walked Mantle around, showing him all the dead spots in the wall and making Mantle play the carons. Finally, Mantle, this 22-year old kid from the sticks, said, "Mr. Stengel, however did you learn all this?" Stengel snapped back, "I used to play right field right here for the Brooklyn Dodgers! Did you think I was born old!"
I am pretty sure this is correct.
The short line was right field.
In 63, I saw the Cards play the Mets and both Julian Javier and Minnie Minoso hit what would have been 'can of corn' fly ball outs to RF only to see them become HRs at the Polo Grounds.
Minoso came from the White Sox to the Cards with the rare combination of 180 HRs and 180 stolen bases.
The HR he hit to right field that night was the only one he ever hit in the National League.
When he came to the Cards, he was supposedly 40 years old. However, I would bet that he was probably 45 or so.
He really faded fast after the trade..
Dusty killed Cleveland in the series. Giants also had Monte Irvin and Hank (not Bobby) Thompson. They could loan guys out. Also had Lockman, Speake, Cepeda and Bill White at 1st base.
All PG pencils had erasers with NYG lettering and I think there were multiple colors.
Distances sound right and a big 483 on the clubhouse center support with two staircases.
Yes, each team played each other 22 times during the season (22 x 7 =154, the pre-expansion schedule length)
It was like a battle every time and it would never end. The old stadiums were neat and both had their own personalities. Was trying to remember what channel the Giants were on. Yanks were were on WPIX 11 and thought Dodgers were on 9. Did Giants and Dodgers share a channel ? Just think how many great players each team had by today's standard.
Yes, Dodgers were on 9 & Yanks on 11. Can't remember the Giants channel. Don't believe Giants were on 9. They may have shared 11 with the Yanks. And yes each team was loaded with great players, both position & pitchers. They were all complete ball players & could do anything. With only 8 teams in each League & the Minors starting in D ball they really honed their craft & had to be awfully good to make it all the way up. Most of the guys today would have to buy a ticket to get into the ball park. And yes the old stadiums certainly did have their own personalities.
That's what I meant: a left hand hitting left fielder. Obviously, it's impossible to effectively play left field if one throws left, because one won't be able to make throws to second without shifting feet. It would be like having a left-hand throwing shortstop. Sorry I wasn't clearer. BTW, if I remember right, you're the good "Ru-Kidding" not the "RU Kidding" who used to haunt the CE board.
Piel' s or Shaefer ? Don't think Grabblingers was around in those days. 1948, amazing. Wonder what Yogi thought ?
Except in the 1955 WS. Sandy Amoros took over for Jim Gilliam in left field in game 7 just in time to make a great running left handed catch of Yogi' s slicing drive into the left field corner. Sandy Amoros was listed on the roster as LF and pinch hitter. Also, made a great throw on the play.
The other weird thing or not about the PG was that both bullpens were in the field of play, not fenced off. Saw Bill Taylor hit a line drive off the right field bullpen roof to win an extra inning game.
The John T Brush stairway, circled in red, leading down from Coogan's Bluff, was recently renovated and still exists to this day.
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