The New York Giants And The Polo Grounds… Not Much Left, And That’s Not Right
This is a little ditty written in 1947 by Horace Stoneham, the New York Giants owner. It served as their fight song until 1957, in the days before online betting, when they ceased to be.
“We’re calling all you fans,
all you Giants ball fans.
Come watch the home team
Going places round those bases.
Cheer for your favorites
out at Coogan’s Bluff.
Come watch the Polo Grounders
do their stuff.”
Here is a photo of the top of the staircase, where it meets Edgcombe Avenue. As you can see, the entrance has been blocked off at street level. I wonder how long it has been since anyone walked on those stairs… the last remaining piece of the Polo Grounds.
Restored stairs, as of September 2013
(Detail of the plaque by the stairs.)
My granfather, Phil Niss, remembered when John McGraw…
… managed and Mel Ott would slide home.
… he remembered seeing Christy Mathewson pitch…
… and “Mugsy” manage the likes of Travis Jackson, pictured bellow:
I remember the “ol’ gal,” as she was in 1951, when the Scotsman [Bobby Thomson] did his thang…
Here’s Leo and Willie, taken the day the than, soon to be great Mays was called up from the Minneapolis Millers:
… and in 1952 when these heroes of mine made up the every day lineup of [with apologies to Russ Hodges] My Giants.
L-R Whitey Lockman, Davey Williams, Hank Thompson, Alvin Dark, Don Mueller, Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, and Wes Westrum…
… and in ’54, when they reached the top…
… and when Casey Stengel held court in the early Metropolitan days.
Here are some of my favorite pictures:
This was the last Willie Mays Baseball Card as a New York Giant [Topps 1957]
This was taken before the last game the Giants played in the Polo Grounds:
Here’s my least favorites, taken 1964:
Robert Zimmerman said it best. “I was so much older then, I’m younger then that now.”
Comfortably Zoned with Ralph Zig Tyko 
pete said,
January 28, 2008 at 12:26 pm
i thoroughly enjoyed visiting this site. i will return. pete
Ralph Zig Tyko said,
January 28, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Until that time, Pete, until that time. [With apologies to William Goldman]
Don Pudell said,
March 25, 2008 at 4:16 pm
This is wonderful. A model of the Polo Grounds sits on my desk. I was at the twi-night double header in August 1957 against the St. Louis Cardinals on the day the move was announced as well as at the last game in 1957. 1951 and 1964 were the greatest. As my father and I watched Willies catch in Game 1 of the World Series against Vic Wertz we started screaming. My mother game into the living room to see what was going on. I said, “Never in my life again will I see a catch like this,” and I was right.
Now I am a Met fan. However, nothing beat growing up 10 blocks from Ebbets Field and being a GIANTS FAN.
Joey B said,
March 11, 2010 at 12:01 pm
I am 56 and only saw the catch replayed. To me Williie Mays was, and always be the greatest ever. Joey B
Mark Silber said,
July 16, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Does anyone remember the game played when the Giants were down, runners were on, and word came from the opposing dugout to walk Don Mueller? The count was perhaps 2 and 0 to Mueller when, on the 3rd pitch or so, Mueller reached well out over the plate and singled off the outside pitch. the Giants won the game. I’m trying to locate a more accurate account of that game. Does anyone know if Mueller is alive and around?
Joe Pellino said,
June 18, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Yes, I remember Don Mueller’s hit on the intentional walk. I saw it on Channel 11. There must be a way to search it out on the internet.
Do you remember that Mueller broke his leg on a slide into third when Whitey Lockman doubled driving in a run with 2 out and making the score Dodgers 4..Giants 2 just before Bobby Thompson’s ‘Shot Heard Round The World’?
Judy said,
October 10, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Don Mueller is living in St. Louis. I by chance met him when my 80 year old father was recovering from bypass surgery. I have sat several times with Don and enjoy listening to his stories of his playing days. He talks of hitting corn kernels with a stick growing up and how he held the bat different than most that allowed him to place the ball so accurately. He turned 81 this past April.
Ralph Zig Tyko said,
December 5, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Judy,
Our seats were in the right field grandstand. Grandfather and grandson with the same view of things [Whitey Lockman’s grace, Willie’s heroics…] as #22. About 20 years ago, feeling nostalgic, I called Don and asked him if he’d take a moment and chat about those days. “You betcha,” and talk he did. What a mench, would have said my grandmother.
Jeff Stuart said,
April 11, 2009 at 9:37 am
THE END From Twilight Teams, by me, Jeff Stuart.
On Sunday September twenty-ninth, Russ Hodges, voice of the Giants, hosted the pre-game ceremonies before the Giants last game at the Polo Grounds. Virtually every generation of stars in Giant history was represented, including eighty-six-year-old Jack Doyle, who ¬ man¬ aged the club in the pre-McGraw era. Stars from previous Giant teams introduced at home plate on a warm sunny afternoon were Red Murray, George Burns, George “Hooks” Wiltse, Moose McCormick, Frank Frisch, Rosie Ryan, John “Hans” Lobert, Larry Doyle, Rube Marquard, Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott, Hal Schumacher, Billy Jurges, Monte Irwin, Sal Maglie, Buddy Kerr, and George “Kiddo” Davis. Recently retired players included Sid Gordon, and Willard Marshall, who also played for the Braves in their last season in Boston. Eighty-one-year-old George Levy, former stadium announcer who once used a megaphone to announce, “the ‘batreez’ for today’s game,” was also introduced. Each former Giant received a noisy ovation.
With a sense of occasion, Rigney started as many of the 1951 and 1954 pennant winners as he had available. Antonelli was on the mound with Wes Westrum behind the plate. Thomson and Lockman occupied opposite infield corners. Rhodes and Mueller flanked Mays in the ¬ outfield. Between innings Rosemary Clooney’s hit song, This Old House, played over the Public Address System.
If it mattered, the Pirates won, nine to one, behind Bob Friend. The Giants finished in sixth place, twenty-six games back of the League-Champion Milwaukee Braves. Rhodes sacrifice fly in the first inning scored Mueller with the final New York Giant run ever. The loss went to Antonelli. His eighteen losses were the most in his eight year career. The final out was recorded at four thirty-five Sunday, when Dusty Rhodes grounded a three two pitch to Dick Groat at short. Before the infielder’s throw reached first base, fans were leaping barriers, and surging toward the Giant clubhouse in center field.
The players fled for the safety of the center field clubhouses with Mueller, and a puzzled Rigney, puffing, and bringing up the rear. The fans chanted, “Hang Horace, Hang Horace.” The Giants’ owner, who maintained an apartment on the fourth floor of the blockhouse in ¬ center field. The chants soon turned to “We want Willie, we want Willie.” The usually accessible Mays, who still sometimes played stick ball with the kids in the streets outside his Harlem apartment, did not make a farewell appearance either.
The post game demonstration was motivated by a curious blend of anger, affection, annoyance, nostalgia, excitement, and curiosity. Most fans remained in the stands. Those on the field were mainly souvenir hunters. They ripped up home plate, the pitcher’s rubber, the bases, and even gouged out sections of outfield grass. Will Anderson, now a publisher in Portland, Maine, was at the game. Then a high school senior from Ardsley, New York, he claimed a heavy orange and black sign reading “To Upper Stands” as a souvenir. “What do those people in California know about baseball,” he mused. There was no heavy ¬ vandalism, or violence. The New York Police mostly monitored the activities, without intervention. They did, however, retrieve the bronze plaque that was removed from the Eddie Grant Memorial in center field from three teenage boys. The memorial, placed in 1921, honored the late Giant infielder who died in World War I. He was the only Major League baseball player ever killed in military service prior to the War in Viet Nam.
New York Times’ columnist Milton Bracker reported:
Officially, the last fan to leave the Polo Grounds was a woman: Mrs. Blanche S. McGraw. She had attended games at least three times a week when her husband, perhaps the greatest single figure in Giant history, managed the team. Her right eye moistened a little as she was asked what she remembered with greatest joy at the Polo Grounds. ‘Why Mr. McGraw winning pennants,’ she smiled. And which pennants? “All of them.”
Jeff Stuart said,
April 11, 2009 at 9:39 am
More from Twilight Teams. Availiable from me $7 includes shipping and handling.
DEMOLITION OF THE POLO GROUNDS
Demolition of the Polo Grounds began on April ninth, 1964, making way for a public housing project, known at the Polo Grounds Apartments. The Wrecking Corporation of America, tasked with destroying the grand old park had gotten so much publicity that it had changed its logo to a baseball, and its slogan to “On the Ball.” Harry Avirom, Vice President of the company, wielded a sledgehammer himself for the occasion. “One thing I’ll say for this place,” he said. “No collapse action here, very well built. It could have lasted forever.” But it didn’t. A two ton steel ball, painted like a baseball for the occasion, smashed into the concrete walls.
“Those chairs over there are for sale, three bucks each,” Avirom said, pointing to piles of green seats on the infield. The Birmingham Blue Dukes minor league team took five hundred seats. Yonkers Raceway purchased six hundred seats. The city of St. Augustine, Florida, took two thousand. Some went to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Others went to local schools.
The thirty foot flag poles sold for fifty dollars each. A couple of hundred spectators at the park looked for their own free souvenirs. A man from Yonkers took just an envelope of dirt.
Workers, wearing Giants’ baseball shirts, pounded the roof of the visitor’s dugout with sledgehammers. A black cat who had taken up residence there scrambled out of the dugout, paused for a last look, and ran off to search for a new home. “Cats and dogs who live here will be able to care for themselves,” said Avirom. “We slug harder than the Giants ever did in this park. Slug, bang, slam! Gotta make the right moves. Gotta take calculated risks. Yeah, yeah, something like baseball you could say. Getting at the Polo Grounds was something I’ve always wanted to do. This makes up for the sad day we went after Ebbets Field in 1960.” Avirom, a die hard Dodger fan, reveled in the destruction.
Crew member Stephen McNair, also a Dodger fan, pointed to the section of the left field fence below the “Section thirty-three” sign. “I’m going to take that down myself. History was made there.” Bobby Thomson hit the “Shot heard round the world” over that fence in 1951, keeping the Dodgers out of the World Series.
The scoreboard clock, one of the last items of historical importance to be removed, was frozen at ten twenty-four. It wasn’t clear whether it was morning or evening.
The demolition was completed on May thirtieth. On that same Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 38,472 at Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, the New York Mets defeated the San Francisco Giants, six to two. Willie Mays, in center field for San Francisco, tripled and singled.
Denis said,
October 23, 2011 at 1:45 pm
This was great. I really enjoyed your comments and recognized names from Ritter’s “The Glory of Their Times.” Thank you.
Ralph Zig Tyko said,
May 4, 2009 at 12:48 pm
The response to this post has awesome!! Thank you, one and all.
Zig
Richard Chilton said,
May 28, 2009 at 7:00 pm
What a great piece. I would like the book if availbale. I was at that last game with my wife, and I have to admit I went out to center field where Willie stood and took a piece of turf about 4″ X 4″ and have it to this day. The dirt, the grass long since died. It is a hallowed piece for me. I have the opening day ticket, April 18, 1957,Section 24, Box 2E, Seat 7 framed with the last game on September 29, 1957, Section 13, Box 2B, Seat 5. along with the front page of the Daily News They have hung proudly in my den for all these years.
dolores ferris lintz said,
July 2, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Are you Dick Chilton who lived in Leonia in the 50’s?? If so we had some great badminton games and a good Yankees/Giants battle going!!
Bob Lipman said,
July 17, 2010 at 4:50 pm
I too have my last NY Giant ticket stub. It was game # 37 on Monday, July 1, ’57. It was a reserved seat, lower tier, section 24, row I, seat 13. It cost all of $2.10. Could somebody tell me if this game was against the Cardinals?
Of course, the bonus treat was that I got to walk across the outfield when the game was over.
Although I had been to the Polo Grounds as early as 1950 to see the Giants take on Sam Jethroe and his Boston Braves, my most vivid memories are seeing Mays break in in ’51. I recall watching fielding practice, and could not believe as a nine-year-old boy, that a guy (Willie Mays) could throw a ball from fairly deep center to just beyond the pitcher’s mound, and in one bounce, land at home plate. The size of the Polo Grounds dead center field and the incredible arm of Willie made me in awe as a little boy.
One other thing that was so powerful in my memory. My high school English teacher in ’57 asked us to write an essay on a specific topic she offered. I was consumed with the Giants leaving New York; consumed and heartbroken. I asked her if I coulkd be excused from the assigned topic to “spill my emotions” about my beloved Giants bidding farewell. She complied. It took me a year of Les Keiter recreations from San Francisco to wean myself away from the Giants’ disappearance from New York. No wonder my hallway sports’ wall is filled with NY Giant memorabilia.
“Leading off, # 10, Davey Williams, second base. Batting in the # 2 position, Alvin Dark, shortstop. Batting third, the center fielder, Say Hey Willie Mays.” That was my speech as a kid playing stickball. Every at bat was a Giant name.
I treasure those days!
Martin Sablik said,
August 21, 2009 at 4:33 pm
I was eighteen years old when the Giants moved from the Polo Grounds and away at
college. However, as a diehard Giants fan in those days, I attended many many games—averaging 10 or 12 a season, mostly with my dad, since 1945. The Polo Grounds was a hallowed place to me. We sat mostly in the right field bleachers and I got many an autograph as the Giants players went back and forth from the clubhouse in center field. But when it started to rain, they let everyone into the grandstands to wait out the shower. I remember that stairway down Coogan’s Bluff from the streets above. There was an entrance into the upper grandstands from that stairway. I remember the shuttle from the 169 St el station in the Bronx. Often the visiting team would be coming up from their hotel in midtown Manhattan and would ride that shuttle. I got autographs from the 1948 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1950
Philadelphia Phillies and the 1949 Cincinnati Reds. I loved being at that old stadium. In my early years at the Polo Grounds, my favorite player was Johnny Mize. I remember how he battled Ralph Kiner for the home run title. Kiner would not have hit so many home runs if it weren’t for Greenberg Gardens, and Mize would not have hit so many home runs if it weren’t for the 250 ft right field foul line. Walker Cooper might have hit more home runs in another ball park, as he often hit into the power alleys, winding up with triples instead of home runs. I met Willard Marshall once
in the mid 1960s. He was a real estate broker, and I was thrilled to meet him.
I also remember my excitement in 1951 when the Giants won the pennant with Bobby Thomson’s walk-off homer. Ralph Branca was never the same pitcher after that. But it wasn’t the first home run that Thomson hit off Branca, and he never should have been brought in to face Thomson. Don Mueller was also a big favorite of mine because of his bat control. I hated to see him break his leg in the ninth inning of that game, and I always felt that if the Giants had Mueller, they might not have succumbed to the Yankees in the World Series.
Whoever started this blog has flushed us old Giant fans out of the woodwork.
ted schmeckpeper said,
November 19, 2009 at 9:49 pm
This is a wonderful web site. Unlike perhaps most of the posters above, I did not grow up in the New York area, but rather in Minnesota. I first became interested in baseball (as I now recall) in around fourth grade, in 1954. In those days my two favorite teams were the Giants and (can you believe?) the Dodgers! Willie and the Duke. :)
I came to this site hoping to somehow find out a trivial piece of information: did the Giants have their dugout on the first or third base side? I’m sure some of the fans that have posted here know the answer. It’s not an easy thing to find out on the web!
Ralph Zig Tyko said,
November 25, 2009 at 9:30 pm
First base, Ted… I remember it well.
Now, do you remember how close the Giants came to being the Minnesota Giants? Well, not that close after all. My friend, and author of an upcoming book about the Giants,Gary Brown, reminds that Walter O’Malley, and the Dodgers owned a AAA team in St. Paul. He would never have relinquished territorial rights.
Ralph Zig Tyko said,
February 10, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Comment:
http://www.gunnarnordstrom.com/dynamic/artwork_detail.asp?ArtworkID=845
let me know if this opens for you. It shows my 5-panel art piece of Mays making his famous catch as it looked when I placed it ON THE ACTUAL SITE WHERE HE CAUGHT THE BALL on the 50th anniversary, Sept 29, 2004.
Yesterday I did a 30 minute interview for NPR Radio talking about Mays and his catch; don’t know when it will air.
Best,
Thom Ross
B-R T -R
Al said,
March 3, 2010 at 7:00 pm
That was awesome. I love this site!!!
Martin Sablik said,
February 10, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Hi,
I am tickled to get notice of this new post by Ralph Zig Tyko. I was watching also on TV when Willie made that catch, and of course, the pictures of Willie are exactly the way I remember the catch. Showing 5 consecutive stills is a good way to show that catch. I would have preferred the Polo Grounds, however, as the backdrop, but I realize that the picture is an attempt at art and illustrates the way New Yorkers viewed Willie as one of their own. Willie actually played stickball with New Yorkers many times during the offseason and endeared himself to every New Yorker when he did that. The backdrop in the picture gives the viewer a sense of that kind of endearment that every New Yorker had for Willie.
I was reviewing the posted comments once again, and I noticed some comments early on about Don Mueller. I knew he was a great hitter, but did not realize how he came to have such good bat control. I do remember a game I attended in which he got three of the four hits that make up hitting for the cycle. I think he had a triple left. But I can tell you that everyone in the ball park had every confidence that he would find a way to hit for the cycle, and indeed he did it. I also remember the game in which he reached out across the plate and got a hit when they were trying to intentionally walk him. Unfortunately I was in a candy store listening to the game on the radio. The game was probably in 1954, and Mueller and Mays were dueling for the batting championship, which was ultimately won by Mays.
Oh, those glory days! — Martin Sablik
mike said,
March 3, 2010 at 11:03 am
Hi Zig:
fyi, I put a “Giants of the Polo Grounds” reunion photo signed by 24 New York Giants stars of yesteryear on eBay. The reunion was in 1991 in Belmont, NY. The auction ends Sunday night, March 7th, at 7:30 pm PACIFIC.
eBay Item number: 300402042427
I enjoyed your site; thought you and your visitors might be interested in this item.
Kindest National League Regards,
Mike
Eric Durocher said,
June 24, 2010 at 8:44 am
This is a beautiful page…thanks so much for sharing these pictures. I’ve looked everywhere for just a glimpse of the history of the Polo Grounds and those who graced its grounds throughout the years, and I do believe I have found it here. I was awestruck at seeing such pictures of all-time greats as Willie Mays, Casey Stengel, Christy Mathewson, Bobby Thompson, and of course, the many photos of the Polo Grounds. These images existed only in the stories my father would tell me when I was a kid turning into a teenager, of him growing up a Giants fan and attending games, that in newspaper print were only in black in white, but in person turned into the truest and purest colors a kid growing up in New York during the 40’s and 50’s could imagine. Don’t even mention the Yankees to my father…they do not exist to this day to him. They hurt a number of his teams growing up, from the Dodgers and Giants of his youth, to the Braves down south in the autumn days of his life.
His favorite player of all time, is, of course, Willie Mays. I presented him with a signed photo of the “The Catch” a number of years ago while I was in college. He placed it in his bedroom, where Willie had his ‘back” every day he went off to work. The first house-warming gift I received when my wife and 2-year old son moved into our own house 7 years ago was this picture. It is now the center-piece of my collection, where it hangs in the corner of the dark recesses of an unfinished basement, behind a plain door that opens into a small 14 x 14-foot room I call my own personal Hall of Fame. Only the best (I would imagine everyone has their own best list) reside there…some of the framed and signed photos include Willie and “The Catch”, Hank Aaron on Sports Illustrated when he hit 715, Cal Ripken, Jr., Ken Griffey, Jr., Bobby Cox, Cassius Clay, The Mick, Lou and Babe, The Gas House Gang, Joe Montana, Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, Leo, Johnny Unitas, Bear Bryant, Bobby Bowden, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Tommy Glavine, Smoltzie (one of the best trio of pitchers ever to head a rotation), Richard Petty (being from Atlanta, you can see I have some southern favorites), Tony Dorsett, Walter Payton, and a number of others who will no doubt be upset because I did not mention them here.
I also have pictures of a number of the great old stadiums, the cathedrals of worship for any religious sports fan. I’m trying desperately to find a worthy photo of the Polo Grounds, one that will tell its story just by looking back at you. Hopefully, I’ll have one soon. You would have thought that would have been one of the first inductees into my room!
I don’t have a lot, but I guess when one looks at his family, friends, and faith, he seems to think differently and puts things into their proper perspective…to take from Lou, I do consider myself the luckiest man alive. But just as I cherish those things, so do I this room and all it contains…the stories, past, present and future, of sports, one of the most binding and strongest stitches that holds the fabric of America together. I polish the fake hardwood floor with the same zeal and zest as I do the real cherry wood of the pool table it allows to stand on it, scrub the bathroom tile and toilet violently and make sure the 8 balls holds tight and runs straight on the rails. After a hard day at work, or when life throws me a curve, this is one of the the few places I can find the peace and solace to turn things around. I’ll have to take photos of all these things and post a flicker link so you can see them.
My wife hardly ventures down, but my two sons (5 and 9) live and breathe the history that emanates from the 4 walls of our pool room. And I tell them about every picture, going into detail the significance and aura of Americana it holds in our history. Once the lights turn on upon entering the room, you can almost hear the conversations these pictures and places were having cease to only weak whispers before we interrupted their game, to hang a new photo up, to take in a ball game on TV or to see who brought the better stick with them to the pool table that day. And I tell them about sports, baseball, the players, the moments you never forget, and those you wish you could, and I tell them about Leo Durocher.
I never knew who Leo Durocher was until I was around 5 or 6. That’s when I began to pick up on my father speaking of him, of going into stores to buy things, and hearing the person behind the counter ask my father and I if we was kin to Leo. Then my Grandfather from New York would come down and tell some tales, and I wish the years hadn’t robbed me of those memories…I’m sure his stories were rich and ripe with truths and embellishments about his cousin.
Durocher is hard name to hide in the deep South, as the phone book usually skips right past it in the majority of cities down here (and elsewhere I would imagine). So I was a bullseye for that question throughout the duration of my life. Leo and my great-grandfather were brothers. So I, unknowingly, had baseball blood, real Cooperstown, pennant-winning, World Series trophy, Babe Ruth beatings, no-hit/good fielding shortstop (the All-American Out) and Gas House Gang blood pumping through my veins.
And it took me years to fully understand the question, when my name was called in class at school, or on my ball team, or from an “old-timer” down at the local watering hole – “You any kin to Leo?” “Yes, sir” was always the answer, though I did not clearly know its connotation or connection for years, until my father educated me on baseball, on Willie Mays, the Polo Grounds and Leo Durocher. Loved and hated, sometimes by the same people in the same breath, I bared the significance of his name and mine, Durocher. My father met my mother while she was visiting relatives up North, and he came down for a visit and never went back. 44 years later, with three boys of his own, he has lost much of the accent that followed him down here, but he has lost no memories of where he came from, of his days at the Polo Grounds watching Willie patrol the outfield like a trooper does a highway, and of his HOF cousin Leo Durocher and the things he did for a boy growing up in the shadows of the New York Giants.
Bill Fata said,
July 24, 2010 at 11:15 am
I was born in 1950. My dad took me to my first game on August 25, 1957. Due to the wonders of the internet, I recently was able to see a box score of the game. I recall Reuben Gomez being the starting pitcher..The Giants won 10 – 1. The Reds sole score was on an Ed Bailey homerun to right field. When a Reds reliever came into the game, my dad told me the Giants won’t score again.. He was lit up and in looking at the boxscore it was Art Fowler, the future pitching coach..I can still can see Willie rounding second, heading to third, with his hat falling off. We were sitting in the upper deck, between first and home. Memories I will never forget.
bonezzz said,
April 17, 2011 at 6:34 am
To the Ghost of John Mcgraw – New York Never Forgets, Bring back the giants so us Yankee fans have a real team to hate again.
Bill said,
July 28, 2011 at 8:16 am
What I remember most of all about the Polo Grounds was when the Giants invited me to a workout on Friday, August 24, 1956. The letter said to bring my full baseball uniform, spiked shoes and glove. They said to report to the New York Giants’ clubhouse. I was impressed, an invitation to report to the Giants’ clubhouse and not the visitor’s clubhouse. I remember the beautiful green grass and the huge stands as I stood at third base. Willard Marshall was in charge of the workout and I can remember to this day brushing him back from the plate as I threw the ball around the horn. He definitely backed away I had a very strong arm.
So that is my Polo Grounds story, I received more correspondence and invitations from the Giants including Christmas Cards. As we all know, there wasn’t any money in a baseball career at that time. I was at the right place at the wrong time. For what its worth, I was invited by the Air Force to Pilot Training and went on to fly for over 50 years. I was 19 when I went to the Polo Grounds, and yes I still think about what might have been.
Baseball, definitely the greatest game?
Jaquel said,
April 13, 2012 at 11:34 pm
This is a very nice site, thank you for it.
I’m 35, born in 1977 the Giants were long gone by then. I was born and raised on Long Island, my LIRR line went to Shea Stadium and most of the Mets lived in my town during the 80s so naturally I’m a Mets fan.
My family would always tell me about how the Giants and Dodgers used to be in New York and how great baseball was back then, how electric New York would get with all 3 teams battling for supremacy.
The older I’ve gotten I find myself drawn to finding out as much as I can about the Giants and Dodgers when they were still in New York. I can’t help but to find myself drawn to the Giants history. I also can’t help to feel that Giants leaving New York is not seen as much of a tragedy as the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn and it bothers me there is barely any recognition for the club. The Giants are portrayed as some sort of stepchild in New York, which couldn’t be father from the truth.
It would be nice to see that buying replica New York Giants jersey’s and hats maybe clothing would be as easy as finding Brooklyn Dodgers gear.
I’m a Mets fan, win, lose or severe collapse…but I can’t help to feel if the Giants stayed, I would’ve been a Giants fan. One could argue that if Robert Moses convince O’Malley to build that domed stadium in Flushing and the Dodgers moved to Queens, naturally my train line would pass by it, but I just can’t see myself being a Dodgers fan.
Anyway. There are some of us out there who weren’t born when all this went down, but wish if they could, have the Giants in New York.
Frank Manero said,
March 6, 2013 at 11:45 am
Shame they didn’t keep the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field and now the original Yankee Stadium.NOW I AM DONE WITH SPORTS AND THE OFFICALS OF NEW YORK CITY ARE THE WORST! HOW CAN THEY BE VOTED IN OFFICE?
Haarausfall said,
April 24, 2013 at 2:12 am
I almost never leave a response, but after looking at
some of the comments on this page The New York Giants And The Polo Grounds Not Much Left, And Thats Not Right | Pushing
on the Doors of Life Marked “Pull”. I do have some questions for you if it’s okay. Could it be only me or does it seem like some of these responses look like they are coming from brain dead visitors? :-P And, if you are writing on other social sites, I’d like
to follow you. Could you post a list of every one of all your social networking sites like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
J. Daniels said,
March 8, 2014 at 7:09 am
Great pictures.
Ralph Zig Tyko said,
March 8, 2014 at 12:58 pm
Thanks J.Daniels. Correction made.
paul said,
July 14, 2014 at 11:54 am
Nice to see this page. I was born in ’47..my Dad took me to the Polo Grounds for the first time in 1952. Between then and their final season in ’57 I went to that old ballpark many, many times. Willie was my childhood hero and I still insist he was the greatest ever. I witnessed “The Catch” in person in “54. Film of the catch does not capture the magnificence of that play!. But oh how I loved that weird, bathtub shaped ballpark. So much so, that it is the centerpiece of a novel I am writing called “Coogan’s Bluff.
Celeste Johnston said,
January 12, 2015 at 9:41 pm
would love to read it!
Celeste Johnston said,
January 12, 2015 at 9:40 pm
I just found this website and I am so glad that I did. I grew up a Giants fan. Born in 1965 I am a San Francisco Giants fan but I have always revered their history in New York. In 1983 I started listening to games of my own accord, as opposed to my mom or dad turning on the Giants game and dear Lon Simmons telling us of the latest foibles and failures of my boys in orange and black. The Giants hadn’t had a whole lot of recent success at that time, not even having won the division since 1971. 1951 stood as a hallowed time in my mind.my Giants having found success in the most improbable of ways, not unlike the 2014 Giants if I think about it. But I digress. I loved the 1951 Giants and that beautiful special old ballpark that they played in. I even wrote a story imagining that I had somehow traveled back in time to Game three October 3 1951. I thought that if I could write about it would almost be like being there. Since I have been a fan I have always had a love affair with the Polo Grounds, my Giants played there. Though it will forever remain an unrequited love because the old girl was taken down in 1964 one year before I was born. So thank you for this website and some wonderful old pictures and stories.
Ralph Zig Tyko said,
April 6, 2015 at 3:28 pm
Glad ypu found this!!
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August 10, 2015 at 2:39 am
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Kathy said,
September 25, 2015 at 12:14 pm
I went to my first baseball game at Yankee Stadium in 1964 and on the way home, we drove by the half-demolished Polo Grounds. That sight has haunted me ever since. For some strange reason, it made me a Mets fan. Like a poster above, I have an unrequited love for the Polo Grounds and have made a hobby of searching for photos and videos of the place.