View source for Polo Grounds

{{short description|Sports venue in New York City (1890–1963)}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox venue
| name              = Polo Grounds
| nickname          = "The Bathtub"
| image             = No Known Restrictions Polo Grounds during World Series Game, 1913 from the Bain Collection (LOC) (434431507).jpg
| image_size        = 250
| caption           = Polo Grounds IV during the [[1913 World Series]]<br>(<!--between the-->[[1913 New York Giants season|New York Giants]] and [[1913 Philadelphia Athletics season|Philadelphia Athletics]])<br>(below) Site of the original Polo Grounds, 1876–1888, between 110th and 112th Street, Manhattan
| location          = bounded by West 155th Street, [[Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)|Frederick Douglass Blvd.]] and [[Harlem River Drive]] in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]], [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]
| coordinates       = {{Coord|40|49|54|N|73|56|14|W|name=1891–1963 location of the Polo Grounds|region:US_type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline,title}} Polo Grounds III (1891–1963)<br>{{Coord|40|49|49|N|73|56|16|W|name=1890 location of the Polo Grounds|region:US_type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline}} Polo Grounds II/Manhattan Field (1889–1890/1891–1948)<br>{{Coord|40|47|53|N|73|57|2|W|name=1876–1888 location of the Polo Grounds|region:US_type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline}} Polo Grounds I (1876–1889)
| broke_ground      = 1890
| opened            = April 19, 1890
| renovated         = June 28, 1911
| expanded          = 1923
| closed            = {{end date and age|1963|12|14}}
| demolished        = April 10, 1964<ref name=tobetodn>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0YBfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZTAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5905%2C1453436 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=Idaho |agency=Associated Press |title=Historic old Polo Grounds to be torn down–finally |date=April 9, 1964 |page=13 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |access-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604003535/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0YBfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZTAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5905,1453436 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=wtdapgupi>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UEcqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_04EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5811%2C3668110 |work=Pittsburgh Press |agency=UPI |title=Walls tumble down at Polo Grounds |date=April 10, 1964 |page=35 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |access-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604175137/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UEcqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_04EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5811,3668110 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| owner             = [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]]
| operator          = New York Giants
| surface           = Grass
| construction_cost = 
| architect         = Henry B. Herts
| former_names      = Brotherhood Park (adjacent to Polo Grounds II, 1890)<br>Brush Stadium (1911–1919)
| tenants           = [[New York Metropolitans]] ([[American Association (1882–1891)|AA]]) (1883)<br>[[New York Giants (Players' League)|New York Giants]] ([[Players' League|PL]]) (1890)<br> [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] ([[National League (baseball)|NL]]) (1891–1957)<br>[[New York Giants (soccer)|New York Giants]] ([[American League of Professional Football|ALPF]]) (1894)<br>[[New York Yankees]] ([[American League|AL]]) (1913–1922)<br>[[New York Mets]] (NL) (1962–1963)<br>[[New York Brickley Giants]] ([[National Football League|NFL]]) (1921) <br> [[New York Giants]] (NFL) (1925–1955)<br>[[Columbia Lions football]] (NCAA) (1900–1922)<br>[[New York Nationals (ASL)|New York Nationals]] ([[American Soccer League (1921–1933)|ASL]]) (1927–1930)<br>[[Fordham Rams football]] (NCAA) (1928–1950; 1953–1954)<br>[[New York Giants (soccer)|New York Giants]] (ASL) (1930–1932)<br>[[New York Cubans]] ([[Negro National League (1933–1948)|NNL]]) (1939–1950)<br> [[New York Black Yankees]] (NNL) (1931–46)<br>[[New York Yanks|New York Bulldogs]] (NFL) (1949)<br>[[New York Jets|New York Titans/Jets]] ([[American Football League|AFL]]) (1960–1963)<br>[[Gotham Bowl]] ([[NCAA]]) (1961)
| seating_capacity  = 34,000 (1911)<br>55,000 (1923)
| dimensions        = '''Left field''': 279 ft (85&nbsp;m)<br>'''Left-center''': 450 ft (137&nbsp;m)<br>'''Center field''': 483 ft (147&nbsp;m)<br>'''Right-center''': 449 ft (136&nbsp;m)<br>'''Right field''': 258 ft (78&nbsp;m) [[File:PoloGroundsDimensions.svg|200px]]
}}
The '''Polo Grounds''' was the name of three stadiums in [[Upper Manhattan]], New York City, used mainly for professional [[baseball]] and [[American football]] from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1879 and demolished in 1889, was built for the sport of [[polo]]. Bound on the south and north by [[110th Street (Manhattan)|110th]] and [[112th Street|112th]] streets and on the east and west by [[Fifth Avenue|Fifth]] and [[Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)|Sixth (Lenox)]] avenues, just north of [[Central Park]], it was converted to a baseball stadium when leased by the [[New York Metropolitans]] in 1880.

The third Polo Grounds, built in 1890, and renovated after a fire in [[1911 New York Giants season|1911]], was in [[Coogan's Bluff|Coogan's Hollow]] and was noted for its distinctive [[bathtub]] shape, with very short distances to the left and right field walls and an unusually deep center field.

The original Polo Grounds was home to the New York Metropolitans from 1880 to 1885, and the [[History of the New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] from 1883 to 1888. The Giants played in the second Polo Grounds for part of the [[1889 New York Giants season|1889 season]] and all of the [[1890 New York Giants season|1890 season]], and at the third Polo Grounds from [[1891 New York Giants season|1891]] to [[1957 New York Giants (MLB) season|1957]]. The Polo Grounds was also the home of the [[New York Yankees]] from [[1913 New York Yankees season|1913]] to [[1922 New York Yankees season|1922]] and [[New York Mets]] in their first two seasons ([[1962 New York Mets season|1962]], [[1963 New York Mets season|1963]]). Each version of the ballpark held at least one [[World Series]]. The final version also hosted the [[1934 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1934]] and [[1942 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1942]] [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Games]].

In [[American football]], the third Polo Grounds was home to the [[New York Brickley Giants]] for one game in [[1921 NFL season|1921]] and the [[New York Giants]] from [[1925 New York Giants season|1925]] to [[1955 New York Giants season|1955]]. The [[New York Jets|New York Titans/Jets]] of the [[American Football League]] played at the stadium from the league's inaugural season of [[1960 New York Titans season|1960]] until [[1963 New York Jets season|1963]].

Other sporting events held at the Polo Grounds included [[Association football|soccer]], [[boxing]], and [[Gaelic football]]. Its final sporting event was a pro football game between the [[1963 New York Jets season|Jets]] and [[1963 Buffalo Bills season|Buffalo Bills]]. [[Shea Stadium]] opened in 1964 and replaced the Polo Grounds as the home of the Mets and Jets. The Polo Grounds was demolished and a public housing complex, [[Coogan's Bluff|Polo Grounds Towers]], was built on the site.<ref name=tobetodn />

==Polo Grounds I==
[[File:Polo Grounds original.png|thumb|left|The first Polo Grounds, Opening Day, 1888]]
[[File:Yale-Princeton May 30 1882.jpg|thumb|left|Earliest known image of Polo Grounds I, from 1882]]
The original Polo Grounds stood at 110th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, directly across 110th Street from the northeast corner of [[Central Park]]. The venue's original purpose was for the sport of [[polo]]. Its name was initially merely descriptive, not a formal name, often rendered as "the polo grounds" in newspapers. The [[New York Metropolitans|Metropolitans]], an independent team of roughly major-league caliber, was the first professional baseball team to play there, beginning in September 1880, and remained the sole professional occupant through the 1882 season. At that time the Metropolitans' ownership had the opportunity to bring it into the [[National League (baseball)|National League]], but elected instead to organize a new team, the [[New York Gothams]] — who soon came to be known as the Giants — mainly using players from the Metropolitans and the newly defunct [[Troy Trojans (MLB team)|Troy Trojans]], and entered it in the National League, while bringing what remained of the Metropolitan club into the competing [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]]. For this purpose the ownership built a second [[baseball diamond|diamond]] and grandstand at the park, dividing it into eastern and western fields for use by the Giants and Metropolitans respectively. Polo Grounds I thus hosted its first Major League Baseball games in 1883 as the home stadium of two teams, the American Association Metropolitans and the National League Gothams.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/park/58d80eca|title=Polo Grounds (New York) – Society for American Baseball Research|website=Sabr.org|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=May 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509051519/https://sabr.org/bioproj/park/58d80eca|url-status=live}}</ref> The dual-fields arrangement proved unworkable because of faulty surfacing of the western field, and after various other arrangements were tried, the Metropolitans and Giants alternated play on the eastern field in later years until the Metropolitans moved to the [[St. George Cricket Grounds]] on [[Staten Island]] in 1886.

Although the Giants would soon become the team of choice in the city, the "Mets" had a good year in 1884. They had started the season in a new facility called [[Metropolitan Park (Manhattan)|Metropolitan Park]], which proved to be such a poor venue that they moved back to the Polo Grounds within a few weeks. Despite that bit of drama, the Mets went on to win the American Association pennant. Their good fortune ran out when they faced the [[Providence Grays]] in the [[1884 World Series|World Series]], in which Providence pitcher [[Old Hoss Radbourn]] pitched three consecutive shutouts against them. All three games had been staged at the Polo Grounds.

An early highlight of Giants' play at the Polo Grounds was [[Roger Connor]]'s home run over the right-field wall and into 112th Street; Connor eventually held the record for career home runs that [[Babe Ruth]] would break July 8, 1921.

The original Polo Grounds was used not only for Polo and professional baseball, but often for college baseball and football as well – even by teams outside New York. The earliest known surviving image of the field is an engraving of a baseball game between [[Yale Bulldogs baseball|Yale University]] and [[Princeton Tigers baseball|Princeton University]] on [[Memorial Day|Decoration Day]], May 30, 1882.<ref>Harper's Young People, v. III (1882), p. 524.</ref> Yale and Harvard also played their traditional [[Thanksgiving Day]] [[American football on Thanksgiving|football game]] there on November 29, 1883 and November 24, 1887.<ref name=Bergin308>Bergin, The Game, p. 308</ref> (See [[#Football|Football]] below)

===Demolition and forced relocation===
New York City was in the process of [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811|extending its street grid]] into uptown Manhattan in 1889. Plans for an extended West 111th Street ran through the Polo Grounds. City workers are said{{by whom|date=June 2015}} to have shown up suddenly one day and begun cutting through the fence to lay out the new street. With the Giants having won the National League pennant the year before, as well as the [[1888 World Series|World Series]] there was significant sentiment in the city against the move; a bill was even passed by the state legislature giving the Giants a variance which would allow the park to stand. Governor [[David B. Hill]], who had campaigned for office on a "home rule" pledge, vetoed it on the grounds that whatever he might think of the forced destruction of the park, the will of the city government was to be respected. The loss of their park forced the Giants to look quickly for alternative grounds.

==Polo Grounds II==
[[File:Manhattan Field ca1901.JPG|thumb|left|Manhattan Field c. 1901 with Polo Grounds outfield in background. [[High Bridge (New York City)|High Bridge]] crossing the Harlem River at about 173rd Street is in the background. The bridge's center spans over the river itself were replaced by a large single span in the 1920s. The tower on the left is [[Highbridge Park|Highbridge Water Tower]]]]
The Giants opened the 1889 season at [[Oakland Park, New Jersey|Oakland Park]] in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]], playing their first two games there.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1889/PKL_JER011889.htm|title=1889 Log For Oakland Park in Jersey City, NJ|website=Retrosheet.org|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415211238/https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1889/PKL_JER011889.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Giants Ballparks: 1883–Present|url=http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/history/ballparks.jsp|website=Sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com|access-date=January 7, 2012|archive-date=May 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527021858/http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/history/ballparks.jsp|url-status=dead}}</ref> Four days later, they moved to the St. George Cricket Grounds (where the Metropolitans had continued to play until their demise following the 1887 season).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1889/PKL_SAI011889.htm|title=1889 Log For St. George Cricket Grounds in St. George, NY|website=Retrosheet.org|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415211236/https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1889/PKL_SAI011889.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Polo Grounds and Manhattan Field 1893.jpg|thumb|right|Map of the area in 1893]]
After closing out a homestand at the St. George Grounds on June 14, the Giants went on the road. Upon their return on July 8 they had relocated again, to a "New Polo Grounds" site within Manhattan at the far terminus of the then [[IRT Ninth Avenue Line|Ninth Avenue Elevated]] at 155th Street and 8th Avenue (now [[Frederick Douglass Boulevard]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1889/PKL_NYC091889.htm|title=1889 Log For Polo Grounds III in New York, NY|website=Retrosheet.org|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415211243/https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1889/PKL_NYC091889.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Newspaper accounts indicate that the seats from the original Polo Grounds were moved to the new Polo Grounds stands. Despite their vagabond existence during the first half of the 1889 season, the Giants began their stay at the new ballpark just 4 games behind the league-leading Boston club.<ref>[https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1889/07071889.htm#1 Events of Sunday, July 7, 1889] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323032604/https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1889/07071889.htm#1 |date=March 23, 2023 }}</ref> They rallied to win the pennant for the second consecutive year, as well as that year's [[1889 World Series|World Series]] against Brooklyn.

The new site was overlooked to the north and west by a steep promontory known as [[Coogan's Bluff]]. Because of its elevation, fans frequently watched games from the Bluff without buying tickets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hhoc.org/j-wright-hood-park/|title=J Wright Hood Park|date=May 23, 2018|website=Hudson Heights Owners Coalition|access-date=April 15, 2019}}</ref> The ballpark itself was in bottomland known as Coogan's Hollow. The grandstand had a conventional curve around the infield, but the shape of the property made the center field area actually closer than left center or right center. This was not much of an issue in the "[[Dead-ball era|dead ball era]]" of baseball. The land remained in the Coogan estate, and the Giants were renters for their entire time at Polo Grounds II, III and IV. The [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] played a pair of home series at this ballpark in late July and early August 1890.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1890/PKL_NYC091890.htm|title=1890 Log For Polo Grounds III in New York, NY|website=Retrosheet.org|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415211237/https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1890/PKL_NYC091890.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Merkles Boner game Polo Grounds Sept23 1908.jpg|thumb|Fans on Coogan's Bluff watch the infamous [[Merkle's Boner]] game between the Giants and [[Chicago Cubs|Cubs]], September 23, 1908]]
After the National League version of the New York Giants moved into Polo Grounds III in 1891, Polo Grounds II was sub-leased to the [[Manhattan Athletic Club]] and was referred to ever after as '''Manhattan Field'''. It was converted for other sports such as football and track-and-field.

The New York Giants leased Manhattan Field to the Columbia University football team for $14,000 in 1899 and $15,000 in 1900.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=March 20, 1900 |title=Passed Balls |url= |work=Philadelphia Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=6}}</ref>

The superstructure of Manhattan Field was demolished in 1911 following the fire that destroyed Polo Grounds III, but the site still existed as a field for 20 more years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/park/manhattan-field-new-york/|title=Manhattan Field (New York) – Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=January 8, 2022|archive-date=January 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108021540/https://sabr.org/bioproj/park/manhattan-field-new-york/|url-status=live}}</ref> Babe Ruth's first home run as a [[New York Yankees|Yankee]], on May 1, 1920, was characterized by ''[[The New York Times]]'' reporter as a "sockdolager" (i.e. a decisive blow), and was described as traveling "over the right field grand stand into Manhattan Field".<ref>http://1920yankees.blogspot.com/2006/12/may-1st-yankees-6-red-sox-0.html {{dead link|date=April 2019}}</ref> Bill Jenkinson's modern research indicates the ball traveled about {{convert|500|ft}} in total, after clearing the Polo Grounds double decked right field stand. Manhattan Field continued to be an occasional site for amateur sports reported in local newspapers as late as spring of 1942. In June 1948, the Giants again leased the Manhattan Field property, and had it paved over to serve as a parking lot for the Polo Grounds.

==Polo Grounds III and IV==
===Polo Grounds III===
Polo Grounds III was the stadium that made the name nationally famous. Built in 1890, it initially had a completely open outfield bounded by just the outer fence, but [[bleachers]] were gradually added. By the early 1900s, some bleacher sections encroached on the field from the foul lines about halfway along left and right field. Additionally, there were a pair of "cigar box" bleachers on either side of the "[[batter's eye]]" in center field. The expansive outfield was cut down somewhat by a rope fence behind which [[carriages]] (and early [[automobiles]]) were allowed to park. By 1910, bleachers enclosed the outfield, and the carriage ropes were gone. The hodge-podge approach to the bleacher construction formed a multi-faceted outfield area. There were a couple of gaps between some of the sections, and that would prove significant in 1911.

Known as '''Brotherhood Park''' when it opened in 1890, Polo Grounds III was the home of a [[New York Giants (PL)|second New York Giants franchise]] in the [[Players' League]]. The latter was a creation of Major League Baseball's first union, the Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players. After failing to win concessions from National League owners, the Brotherhood founded its own league in 1890. The Players' League Giants built Brotherhood Park in the northern half of Coogan's Hollow, next door to Polo Grounds II, otherwise bounded by rail yards and the bluff. Brotherhood Park hosted its first game on April 19, 1890, the same day the National League's Giants played their first home game of the season.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYI/1890-schedule-scores.shtml|title=1890 New York Giants Schedule|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=April 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411095714/https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYI/1890-schedule-scores.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> For the full 1890 season the two editions of the Giants were neighbors. When the teams played on the same day, fans in the upper decks could watch each other's games, and home run balls hit in one park might land on the other team's playing field. After the one season the Players' League folded, and the Brotherhood's members went back to the National League. The National League Giants then moved out of Polo Grounds II and into Brotherhood Park, which was larger. They took their stadium's name with them once again, turning Brotherhood Park into the new-new Polo Grounds. Between Polo Grounds II and III-IV, they would remain in Coogan's Hollow for 69 seasons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ballparks.com/baseball/national/pologr.htm|title=Polo Grounds|website=Ballparks.com|access-date=April 15, 2019}}</ref>{{Wide image|Polo Grounds Manhattan Field.JPG|600|Polo Grounds (III) (left) and Manhattan Field (aka Polo Grounds II) (right) c.1900}}
{{Wide image|Polo grounds panorama.jpg|600|Polo Grounds c.1905. The [[Morris-Jumel Mansion]] is on the upper right on top of Coogan's Bluff}}
===Fire and reconstruction as Polo Grounds IV===
[[File:Polo Grounds Fire.jpg|thumb|Giants players inspecting the burned ruins at the Polo Grounds, April 14, 1911]]
In the very early morning hours of Friday, April 14, 1911, a fire of uncertain origin swept through the stadium's horseshoe-shaped grandstand, consuming wood and leaving only steel uprights in place. The gaps between some sections of the stands saved a good portion of the outfield seating and the clubhouse from destruction. Giants owner [[John T. Brush]] decided to rebuild the Polo Grounds with concrete and steel, renting [[Hilltop Park]] from the Highlanders during reconstruction.

Progress was sufficient to allow the stadium to reopen just 2½ months later, June 28, 1911, the date some baseball guides date the structure. As configured, it was the ninth [[Jewel box ballpark|concrete-and-steel stadium]] in the Majors and fourth in the National League. Unfinished seating areas were rebuilt during the season while the games went on. The new structure stretched in roughly the same semicircle from the left field corner around home plate to the right field corner as prior but was extended into deep right-center field. The surviving wooden bleachers were retained basically as is, with gaps remaining on each side between the new [[fireproof]] construction.

[[File:Polo Grounds 1923.jpg|thumb|left|Polo Grounds expansion in progress during the 1923 season]]
The Giants rose from the ashes along with their ballpark, winning the National League pennant in 1911 (as they also would in 1912 and 1913). As evidenced from the World Series programs, the team renamed the new structure '''Brush Stadium''' in honor of their then-owner John T. Brush, but the name did not stick, and by the late 1910s it was passé. The remaining old bleachers were demolished during the 1923 season when the permanent double-deck was extended around most of the rest of the field and new bleachers and clubhouse were constructed across center field. This construction gave the stadium its familiar horseshoe or bathtub style shape, as well as a new nickname, "The Bathtub".

[[File:Polo Grounds grandstands.png|thumb|Seating diagram of the Polo Grounds, circa 1923]]
This version of the ballpark had its share of quirks. The "unofficial" distances (never marked on the wall) down the left and right field lines were {{convert|279|and|258|ft}} respectively, but there was a {{convert|21|ft|adj=on}} overhang in left field, which often intercepted fly balls that would otherwise have been catchable and turned them into home runs. Contrasting with the short distances down the foul lines were the 450-foot distances to deepest left and right center (the gaps); the base of the straightaway centerfield clubhouse stood 483 feet from [[home plate]], up a 58-foot runway from the grandstand corners on either side of the clubhouse (these corners were themselves {{convert|425|ft}} from home plate). The famous photo of [[The Catch (baseball)|The catch]] made by [[Willie Mays]] in the [[1954 World Series]] against [[Vic Wertz]] of the [[Cleveland Indians]] occurred immediately in front of the "batter's eye", a metal screen atop the grandstand wall directly to the right of the centerfield runway.  It would have been a home run in several other ballparks of the time as well as in most of today's modern ballparks. The [[bullpen]]s were actually in play, in the left and right center field gaps.<ref>{{cite book|last=Aronoff|first=Jason|title=Going, Going ... Caught!: Baseball's Great Outfield Catches as Described by Those Who Saw Them, 1887–1964|date=2009|publisher=McFarland Publishing|location=United States|pages=276}}</ref> The outfield sloped downward from the infield, and people in the dugouts often could only see the top half of the outfielders.
[[File:Yank vs Polo 1923 02 09.jpg|thumb|left|Field layout as of 1922, compared with Yankee Stadium]]
The [[New York Yankees]] sublet the Polo Grounds from the Giants during 1913–1922 after their lease on [[Hilltop Park]] expired. After the 1922 season, the Yankees built [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]] directly across the [[Harlem River]] from the Polo Grounds, which spurred the Giants to expand their park to reach a comparable [[seating capacity]] to stay competitive. Since nearly all the new seating was in the outfield, Yankee Stadium still had more desirable seats than did the Polo Grounds for watching baseball. However, the Polo Grounds became better suited for football due to the new seating placement.

The Giants' first [[night game]] at the stadium was played on May 24, 1940.

The Polo Grounds was the site of one of the most iconic moments in baseball history – the historic [[Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)|"Shot Heard 'Round the World"]] walk-off home run on October 3, 1951 that decided the hard-fought [[National League (baseball)|National League]] pennant playoff series between the Giants and their cross-town rivals, the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]].

===Deaths at the Polo Grounds===
[[File:Polo Grounds outside.jpg|thumb|Exterior of the Polo Grounds with [[Harlem River Drive|Harlem River Speedway]] in foreground, circa 1915. Note vacant lot, site of Manhattan Field.]]
On August 16, 1920, Cleveland Indians shortstop [[Ray Chapman]] was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by the Yankees' [[Carl Mays]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-16-1920-ray-chapman-suffers-fatal-blow-to-his-skull-on-pitch-from-carl-mays/ |title=August 16, 1920: Ray Chapman suffers fatal blow to his skull on pitch from Carl Mays |first=Joseph |last=Wancho |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research|SABR]] |access-date=August 22, 2020}}</ref> At the time, batters did not wear [[Batting helmet|helmet]]s. Chapman died 12 hours after he was hit, at 4:30&nbsp;a.m. on August 17. He remains the only player to die from an injury sustained in a Major League Baseball game.<ref name="Goodman, Rebecca 2005 250">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3IJtVP9WnXEC&q=Morrow+Ohio&pg=PA250 | title=This Day in Ohio History | publisher=Emmis Books | year=2005 | access-date=November 21, 2013 |last=Goodman|first=Rebecca | pages=250| isbn=9781578601912 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2818187 |title=Indians uncover lost Chapman plaque |date=March 29, 2007 |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |work=ESPN.com |author=Withers, Tom |access-date=March 11, 2017 |archive-date=November 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102121340/http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2818187 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On July 4, 1950, Bernard Doyle, a resident of [[Fairview, Bergen County, New Jersey|Fairview, New Jersey]], in his 50s, originally from [[Dublin]], Ireland, was struck and killed by a stray bullet while in his seat at the Polo Grounds.<ref>{{cite book|title= Big Town Big Time |author=Maeder, Jay |page=116 |publisher=Sports Publishing LLC |year=1998 |isbn=1-58261-028-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=29R4MyhnVb4C&pg=PT135}}</ref>  Doyle had brought a neighbor's son with him to see a [[Doubleheader (baseball)|doubleheader]] between the Dodgers and the Giants. Doyle was killed about an hour prior to the start of the first game.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0A16FC3B5B177B93C7A9178CD85F448585F9 |title=Mystery Bullet Kills Baseball Fan In Midst of Crowd at Polo Grounds |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 5, 1950 |access-date=October 30, 2011 |archive-date=June 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615132411/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0A16FC3B5B177B93C7A9178CD85F448585F9 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57812144/mysterious-bullet-kills-baseball-fan-at/ |title=Mysterious Bullet Kills Baseball Fan At Polo Grounds |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |newspaper=[[Albuquerque Journal]] |page=1 |date=July 5, 1950 |access-date=August 22, 2020 |via=newspapers.com |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614063742/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57812144/mysterious-bullet-kills-baseball-fan-at/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A 14-year-old boy later confessed to having shot a [[.45 ACP|.45 caliber]] [[pistol]] into the air from his rooftop at 515 Edgecombe Avenue, located {{convert|1120|ft|m}} from where Doyle was seated.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57812080/fatal-ball-park-shot-confessed-by-boy/ |title=Fatal Ball Park Shot Confessed by Boy, 14 |first1=Edward |last1=Dillon |first2=Neal |last2=Patterson |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |page=3 |date=July 8, 1950 |access-date=August 22, 2020 |via=newspapers.com |archive-date=September 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917004725/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57812080/fatal-ball-park-shot-confessed-by-boy/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Giants' final years===
The Polo Grounds' end was somewhat anticlimactic, especially compared to other "[[Ballpark#Jewel box ballparks|Jewel Box]]" parks.

Part of the problem was that the stadium was not well maintained from the late 1940s onward: while the baseball Giants owned ''the stadium'', the Coogan heirs still owned ''the parcel of land'' on which it stood, while the neighborhood around the stadium had begun to go to seed in the late 1940s. These, along with other factors, combined to restrict ticket sales, even when the Giants were playing well.

In 1954, for example, the baseball Giants drew only 1.1 million fans (compared to over two million for the [[1954 Milwaukee Braves season|Milwaukee Braves]]) despite winning the [[1954 World Series|World Series]].

The football Giants left for Yankee Stadium across the Harlem River following the [[1955 NFL season]], and the baseball Giants' disastrous [[1956 New York Giants (MLB) season|1956 season]] – most of which they spent in last place before a late-season surge moved them up to sixth – caused a further decline on ticket sales. The Giants' 1956 attendance was less than half of that for the Giants' World Series-winning 1954 season, and also ranked last in Major League Baseball.

Along with the departure of the football Giants and the consequential loss of their rent, this collapse of the baseball Giants' gate financially devastated franchise owner [[Horace Stoneham]], who was not nearly as wealthy as his fellow owners – the Giants were his sole source of income. To make matters worse, Stoneham was left with no money for stadium upkeep, and he was forced to lay off the stadium's maintenance staff in order to stay afloat.

The stadium also had very little parking; its final form had opened two years after the [[Model T]] was introduced. Due to the manner in which the stadium was designed, fans had to pour onto the field to exit via the center field gates, making for a problematic situation whenever attendance was anywhere near capacity.

[[File:Polo Grounds 1961 from Harlem River-B.jpeg|thumb|The Polo Grounds in 1961, seen from the Harlem River.]]
Frustrated with the Polo Grounds being obsolete and dilapidated, and with no maintenance staff or prospect of the stadium being renovated, Stoneham seriously considered having the Giants become tenants of the Yankees in the Bronx, or moving to a proposed stadium that would have been owned by the city.<ref name="auto"/>

After both of those plans fizzled, the Giants announced on August 19, 1957 that after 74 years of professional baseball in New York, they would relocate to [[San Francisco, California]] at the end of the season, following their long-time rivals Dodgers to the West Coast. The Giants had won five World Series titles in the Polo Grounds.

===The final years of the Polo Grounds===
The ballpark then sat largely vacant for nearly three years, until the newly formed [[Titans of New York]] (present-day [[New York Jets]]) began play in [[1960 American Football League season|1960]], followed by the newly formed Mets in 1962, using the Polo Grounds as an interim home while [[Shea Stadium]] was being built. As a 1962 baseball magazine noted, "The Mets will have to play in the Polo Grounds, hardly the last word in 20th Century stadia."

In 1961, the city of New York decided to claim the land under [[eminent domain]], for the purpose of condemning the stadium and building a high-rise housing project on the site. The Coogan family, which still owned the property, fought this effort until it was finally settled in the city's favor in 1967.<ref>Stew Thornley, ''Land of the Giants'', p.&nbsp;116</ref>

On September 18, 1963, 1,752 fans went to see the [[New York Mets]] play their last game at the Polo Grounds against the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] with a 5–1 Philadelphia win.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-18-1963-mets-lose-to-phillies-in-their-second-last-game-at-the-polo-grounds/ |title=September 18, 1963: Mets lose to Phillies in their second 'Last Game' at the Polo Grounds |first=Thomas J. Jr. |last=Brown |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research|SABR]] |access-date=August 22, 2020}}</ref> The game's highlights were later shown on [[Universal Newsreel|Universal-International Newsreel]]. On October 12, the Polo Grounds played host to one last exhibition contest, as Latin American All-Stars of the National League, managed by [[Roberto Clemente]] and behind the pitching of [[Juan Marichal]] and [[Al McBean]], defeated [[Hector Lopez]]'s AL Stars, 5–2.<ref>United Press International. [https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19630926.2.56&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22roberto+clemente%22+%22hector+lopez%22-------1 "Join Game Rosters"]. ''Madera Tribune''. October 12, 1963. Retrieved January 12, 2020.</ref><ref>Kieran, Chris. [http://www.mediafire.com/view/v9ark7rx5mb84zu/.png "NL Latin All-Stars Pin 5–2 Loss On AL Aces"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621034447/http://www.mediafire.com/view/v9ark7rx5mb84zu/.png |date=June 21, 2023 }}. ''Sunday News''. October 13, 1963. Retrieved January 12, 2020</ref>

The final sporting event played at the Polo Grounds was on December 14, 1963 when the now renamed AFL team New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills 19–10.

In the 1992 book ''The Gospel According to Casey'', by Ira Berkow and Jim Kaplan, it is reported (p.&nbsp;62) that in 1963, Mets manager [[Casey Stengel]], who had bittersweet memories of his playing days at the Polo Grounds, had this to say during a rough outing to pitcher [[Tracy Stallard]], whose greatest claim to fame had been giving up [[Roger Maris]]' 61st homer in 1961: "At the end of this season, they're gonna tear this joint down. The way you're pitchin', the right field section will be gone already!"

===Demolition===
The final iteration of the Polo Grounds was demolished in 1964,<ref name=tobetodn/><ref name=wtdapgupi/> beginning on April 10 with a wrecking ball bomb painted to look like a baseball, the same one that had been used four years earlier on [[Ebbets Field]].

The wrecking crew wore Giants jerseys and tipped their hard hats to the historic stadium as they began dismantling it, with a crew of 60 workers taking 4½ months to level the stadium. Stephen McNair, a Dodger fan, grabbed a sledge hammer as easily as Johnny Mize picked up a bat, marked off the left field fence beneath Section 33, and vowed, "I'm going to take that place down myself." It was the fence over which Bobby Thomson hit the home run that kept the Dodgers out of the World Series in 1951 and put the Giants in.

The foreman on the job, Abe Gach, shouted, "No, you don't. Be gentle over there. History was made there."

The Indians' bus passed the site in the midst of demolition while Cleveland was playing the Yankees: [[Dick Donovan]], eyeing the rubble, remarked, "Boy, they must have had a helluva game there last night."<ref>{{cite magazine|author=SI Staff|url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1964/06/08/baseballs-week|title=Baseball's Week|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=June 8, 1964|access-date=March 25, 2020|archive-date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325221815/https://vault.si.com/vault/1964/06/08/baseballs-week|url-status=live}}</ref>

The site is now home to the [[Polo Grounds Towers]], a public housing project opened in 1968, and managed by the New York City Housing Authority.

==Sports other than baseball==

===Football===
The various incarnations of the Polo Grounds were well-suited for [[American football|football]], and hundreds of football games were played there over the years.

The first professional football game played in New York City was played at the Polo Grounds on December 4, 1920. The game featured the [[Buffalo All-Americans]] against the [[1920 Canton Bulldogs season|Canton Bulldogs]] in the [[1920 APFA season|first year]] of the [[National Football League|American Professional Football Association]]. The Buffalo All-Americans won the game, 7–3. Some argue that the Buffalo All-Americans are tied with the Akron Pros for the first championship of the American Professional Football Association, which soon came to be known as the [[National Football League]]. In [[1921 NFL season|1921]] the NFL's [[New York Brickley Giants]] played the final game of [[1921 New York Brickley Giants season|their 1921 season]] against the [[1921 Cleveland Indians (NFL) season|Cleveland Indians]] at the Polo Grounds. The game ended in a 17–0 Giants loss.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.profootballarchives.com/1921apfabkn.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604234902/http://www.profootballarchives.com/1921apfabkn.html |url-status=dead |title=1921 Brooklyn Giants season|archive-date=June 4, 2012}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, the team folded. The Brickley Giants were originally formed with the intent of competing in 1919, and having all of their home games held at the Polo Grounds. However, after the team's first practice, the 1919 schedule, that began with an opening day game against the [[Massillon Tigers]], was scratched because of conflict with New York's blue laws. In 1919, the city allowed professional baseball on Sunday and the Giants thought the law would also apply to football. However, it was ruled that professional football was still outlawed on Sundays, so the team disbanded until 1921.

Other than the name, there is no relation between the Brickley Giants and the [[New York Giants|modern New York Giants franchise]].<ref>{{cite journal | title=Mr. Mara | journal=Coffin Corner | publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association | volume=6 | issue=11 and 12 | year=1984 | pages=1–2 | url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/06-11-199.pdf | author=Pro Football Hall of Fame | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127054212/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/06-11-199.pdf | archive-date=November 27, 2010 }}</ref>

Both the [[New York Giants]] of the National Football League and the [[New York Jets]] (then known as the Titans of New York) of the [[American Football League]] used the Polo Grounds as their home field before moving on to other sites. The Giants moved initially to [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]] in [[1956 NFL season|1956]] while the Jets, founded in [[1960 AFL season|1960]], followed the [[New York Mets]] to [[Shea Stadium]] in [[1964 AFL season|1964]].
The football Giants hosted the [[1934 NFL Championship Game|1934]], [[1938 NFL Championship Game|1938]], [[1944 NFL Championship Game|1944]], and [[1946 NFL Championship Game|1946]] NFL Championship Games at the Polo Grounds, while the [[1936 NFL Championship Game]],  originally scheduled for Fenway Park, was moved to the Polo Grounds by mutual agreement of Boston Redskins franchise owner George Preston Marshall, the Green Bay Packers, and the NFL due to low ticket sales in Boston; the Redskins would relocate to Washington in 1937.<ref>This was the first NFL Championship game to be held at a neutral venue, and is also the only time in NFL history that a team has declined home field advantage and elected to play at a neutral site.</ref>

====College football====
[[File:Army - Navy football at Polo Grounds.jpg|thumb|1916 [[Army–Navy Game]] at the Polo Grounds.]]
[[Columbia Lions football|Columbia University]] and [[Yale Bulldogs football|Yale University]], two of American football's oldest teams, played football in the original 110th Street Polo Grounds in the 19th century, for some games which were expected to draw large crowds, including the [[American football on Thanksgiving|Thanksgiving]] contests in 1883 and 1887.<ref name=Bergin308 /> (See also ''[[List of Harvard-Yale football games]]'').

The grounds were also used for many games by New York-area [[college football]] teams such as [[Fordham Rams football|Fordham]] and [[Army Black Knights football|Army]]. An upset victory by the visiting [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|University of Notre Dame]] over Army in 1924 led to [[Grantland Rice]]'s famous article about the Irish backfield, which he called "The [[Four Horsemen (American football)|Four Horsemen]]". The field was also the site of several [[Army–Navy Game]]s in the 1910s and 1920s.

===Soccer===
The Polo Grounds held its fair share of international [[association football|soccer]] matches as well over the years. In 1926, [[SC Hakoah Wien|Hakoah]], an all-[[Jews|Jewish]] side from [[Vienna]], Austria, "drew the largest crowds ever to watch soccer in America up to that time: three successive games drew 25,000, 30,000, and 36,000 spectators. The highlight of the tour was a May 1, 1926 exhibition game between Hakoah and an [[American Soccer League (1921–1933)|American Soccer League]] all-New York team which drew 46,000 fans to the Polo Grounds in New York."<ref>{{cite web|last=Holroyd|first=Steve|title=The Year in American Soccer – 1926|url=http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1926.html|work=American Soccer History Archives|access-date=August 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102021359/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1926.html|archive-date=November 2, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> (The ASL team won 3–0.)

On 1927, [[Club Nacional de Football]] played three matches of its [[Club Nacional de Football 1927 tour of North America|tour of North America]]. They played Flooring Indiana,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nacional vs Flooring Indiana |url=https://atilio.uy/partido:1000 |access-date=March 21, 2024 |archive-date=March 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321200334/https://atilio.uy/partido:1000 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Brooklyn Wanderers]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nacional vs Brooklyn Wanderers |url=https://atilio.uy/partido:1001 |access-date=March 21, 2024 |archive-date=March 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321200335/https://atilio.uy/partido:1001 |url-status=live }}</ref> and an [[American Soccer League (1921–1933)|American Soccer League]] all-star team.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nacional vs American League All-Star |url=https://atilio.uy/partido:1003 |access-date=March 21, 2024 |archive-date=March 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321200832/https://atilio.uy/partido:1003 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The first soccer played at the Polo Grounds was in 1894 when the owners of several major league baseball clubs formed the [[American League of Professional Football]] to fill their stadiums during baseball's off-season. Six famous baseball franchises of the era formed association football sections and fans were told that many would be fielding their baseball stars on the football field in the opening season. The [[New York Giants (soccer)|New York Giants]] soccer team took the field in all-white uniforms with black socks and played six games before the threat of a rival baseball league being formed diverted the owners’ attention away from their new venture and caused it to be suspended mid-season. The Giants lay third in the league after six games with two victories, having played their matches in midweek in front of attendances in the high hundreds paying 25 cents a game. Although the owners remained positive about the venture and wanted to run it again the following season, this never happened and the Giants' soccer team was no more.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/usadave/alpf.html|title=American League of Professional Football|website=Rsssf.com|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=December 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205015358/https://www.rsssf.org/usadave/alpf.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://national.soccerhall.org/images/history/hakoah.jpg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304052416/http://national.soccerhall.org/images/history/hakoah.jpg |url-status=dead |title=Soccer at the Polo Grounds|archive-date=March 4, 2009}}</ref>

On May 19, 1935, the [[Scotland national football team|Scotland national team]] toured the United States, and in their first game played against an ASL All-Star squad which was unofficially representing the United States. Scotland won 5–1 in front of 25,000 people at the Polo Grounds. In 1939, the Scots returned to America for another tour, and played at the Polo Grounds twice. In their first game at the Polo Grounds on May 21, 1939, Scotland tied the Eastern USA All-Stars 1–1 in front of 25,072 fans. In their second game at the Polo Grounds on June 18, 1939, Scotland beat the American League Stars 4–2.

Following World War II, on September 26, 1948, the [[United States men's national soccer team|USA]] beat [[Israel national football team|Israel]] 3–1 in their first ever game since independence before 25,000 fans at the Polo Grounds. On June 9, 1950, a crowd of 21,000 fans came to the Polo Grounds to watch an 'International Dream Double Header'. [[Beşiktaş J.K.]] of Turkey defeated the American Soccer League All-Stars 3–1, and then [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] defeated [[Jönköpings Södra IF|Jönköping]] (the top amateur team in Sweden) 4–0. On May 17, 1960, [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]] of England played [[Third Lanark]] of Scotland and lost 4–1 at the Polo Grounds in New York City. On August 6 of the same year, 25,440 patrons showed up at the Polo Grounds to watch the inaugural International Soccer League Final which saw [[Bangu Atlético Clube|Bangu]] of Brazil edge out [[Kilmarnock FC]] of Scotland 2–0. [[Bangu Atlético Clube|Bangu]]'s six games on Polo Ground had a total attendance of 104,274. The following year, 1961, may have been the last year documented that soccer was played at the Polo Grounds. The second edition of the International Soccer League held most of its game at the Polo Grounds, with a few games held in [[Montreal]]. On July 16, 1961 [[Shamrock Rovers]] beat [[Red Star Belgrade]] 5–1, on August 9, [[Dukla Prague]] beat [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] 7–0, and four days later on August 13, Dukla Prague beat Everton again 2–0, thus winning the Dwight D. Eisenhower Trophy. The combined attendance for both games at the Polo Grounds was 31,627. In domestic league soccer, the Polo Grounds was the home to the [[New York Nationals (ASL)|New York Nationals]] of the [[American Soccer League (1921–1933)|American Soccer League]] in 1928.

===Gaelic football===
The [[New York GAA]] occasionally played major [[Gaelic games]] matches in the Polo Grounds. In [[Gaelic football]], the [[1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final|1947 All-Ireland final]] between [[Cavan county football team|Cavan]] and [[Kerry county football team|Kerry]] was held at the Polo Grounds on September 14 of that year. The only time an [[All-Ireland Final (disambiguation)|All-Ireland Senior Final]] has been played outside Ireland, it was the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] (GAA)'s commemoration of "Black '47", the worst year of the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]]. New York was chosen as a center for [[Irish Americans]], many descended from Famine exiles. Cavan emerged victorious in the game itself, fondly remembered for [[Radio Éireann]] commentator [[Michael O'Hehir]]'s successful pleas for the broadcast line to be extended as the game had run late.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/funeral-of-man-who-held-nation-spellbound-takes-place-in-dublin-1.110671 |title=Funeral of man "who held nation spellbound" takes place in Dublin |work=Irish Times |date=November 28, 1996}}</ref> The last Gaelic games match at the Polo Grounds was on June 1, 1958 when another Cavan side beat New York in [[Gaelic football]].

===Boxing===
The Polo Grounds was the site of many famous [[boxing]] matches. These included the legendary 1923 [[List of heavyweight boxing champions|heavyweight championship]] [[Jack Dempsey vs. Luis Ángel Firpo|bout]] between [[Jack Dempsey]] and [[Luis Ángel Firpo]], [[Harry Greb]]'s defense of the middleweight championship title against reigning World Welterweight Champion [[Mickey Walker (boxer)|Mickey Walker]] in July 1925, and [[Billy Conn]]'s [[Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn|near-upset]] over heavyweight champion [[Joe Louis]] in June 1941. It was also the venue for the [[Ingemar Johansson vs. Floyd Patterson II|rematch]] between World Heavyweight Champion [[Ingemar Johansson]] and former champion [[Floyd Patterson]] on June 20, 1960. In what turned out to be the last major boxing match at the Polo Grounds, Patterson became the first heavyweight boxer to regain the championship over the Swedish-born Johansson, who almost one year to the day [[Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson|took]] the crown from Patterson at Yankee Stadium.

===Motorsports===
The Polo Grounds were the site of three different oval tracks. The first track, a ¼ mile dirt oval, was used for midget racing in 1940 and 1941. The second, a 1/5 mile board track, was used briefly in 1948. The final track, a ¼ mile paved oval, was used for stock car racing in 1958 and 1959, after the Giants moved to San Francisco.<ref>{{cite book|first=Allan|last=Brown|title=The History of America's Speedways:Past and Present|publisher=Brown|location=Comstock Park, Michigan|page=502|edition=3rd|date=2003|isbn=0-931105-61-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Gordon Eliot|last=White|title=Lost Race Tracks:Treasures of Automobile Racing|publisher=Iconografix|location=Hudson, Wisconsin|page=78|date=2002|isbn=1-58388-084-4}}</ref>

==Open-air concert==
[[File:Verdi's Requiem - Zenatello, Lawrence, Gay, and Rothier, 1916.jpg|thumb|The performance of [[Requiem (Verdi)|Verdi's Requiem]] at the Polo Grounds in 1916]]
A performance of [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s [[Requiem (Verdi)|Requiem]] took place at the Polo Grounds on June 4, 1916, presented by the National Open Air Festival Society. It was given by a chorus of 1,200 singers (chorus master, [[Arnaldo Conti]]), selected from among the leading choral societies of New York; and an augmented [[New York Philharmonic Orchestra]] of 120 players. The soloists were [[Maria Gay]], [[:en:Louise Homer|Louise Homer]] (under the assumed name of 'Lucile Lawrence'),<ref>{{cite book |last=Marek |first=Dan H. |title=Alto: The Voice of Bel Canto |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year= 2016 |page=186 |isbn=9781442235892 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=200UDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA186}}</ref> [[Giovanni Zenatello]] (Gay's partner) and [[Leon Rothier]], and the performance was conducted by [[Louis Koemmenich]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Theatre |date=June 1916 |page=364a |title=New York's Greatest Open Air Musical Event |place=New York |url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2023/New%20York%20NY%20Theater%201913-1922/New%20York%20NY%20Theater%201913-1922%20%286688%29.pdf |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |access-date=August 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621085957/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2023/New%20York%20NY%20Theater%201913-1922/New%20York%20NY%20Theater%201913-1922%20(6688).pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |journal=New York Times |date=May 21, 1916 |title=Open Air Presentation of Verdi's Requiem |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/05/21/104237180.pdf}}</ref><ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/13148448625/ Further sources on Flickr] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104022737/https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/13148448625/ |date=November 4, 2016 }} about the event & photo (Library of Congress call number: LC-B2-3874-13).</ref>

==Features for baseball==
===Center field===
[[File:Mays 19540929.JPG|thumb|Willie Mays, The Catch and the 483 sign in 1954]]
[[File:Polo Grounds circa 1952.jpg|thumb|Center field in the 1950s, with famous [[Chesterfield (cigarette)|Chesterfield cigarettes]] advertisement visible above the clubhouse]]
[[File:1954 World Series game two.jpeg|thumb|Dusty Rhodes rounding first after hitting a home run over the short right field fence (rear) in the second game of the 1954 World Series|alt=A black and white image of right field and first base in a baseball diamond in a large stadium with filled stands. A runner is rounding first]]
One of the oddest features at the Polo Grounds were the deep dimensions in straight away center field. The wall was so far away from home plate, at {{convert|483|ft|m}}, that no batter ever hit home runs over it. Before its 1923 reconstruction, only [[Babe Ruth]] ever reached the centerfield stands; after 1923 only five players would reach the distant centerfield bleachers.<ref name="5CFHRs"/> The entire {{convert|60|ft|m|adj=on}} wall in dead center field was considered ''in play'', as were the clubhouse windows on the in-play side of the wall. The ground rules of the Polo Grounds were set up so that if a ball went through an open window in the clubhouse, it was a ground rule double, rather than a home run. Since no ball ever reached that area in the life of the stadium, that rule was never tested.

In Game 1 of the [[1954 World Series]], Giants outfielder [[Willie Mays]] made [[The Catch (baseball)|a sensational catch]] of a fly ball hit by the [[Cleveland Indians]]' [[Vic Wertz]] into deep center field, a catch which, in the words of NBC television sports announcer [[Jack Brickhouse]], "must have looked like an [[optical illusion]] to a lot of people", and which turned the tide of that Series in the Giants' favor.

On October 2, 1936, in Game 2 of the [[1936 World Series]], Yankees centerfielder [[Joe DiMaggio]] made a similar, though far less crucial, catch (his team being ahead 18–4) for the final out of the game.<ref>''Diamonds Are Rough All Over'', by Stanley Frank, Baseball Digest, July 1947, Vol. 6, No. 5, {{ISSN|0005-609X}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1193610020.shtml|title=1936 World Series Game 2, New York Yankees at New York Giants, October 2, 1936|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=June 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627145955/https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1193610020.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> The Giants' [[Hank Leiber]] hit a long fly ball to deep center field that DiMaggio caught in the runway, perhaps between {{convert|430|and|440|ft|m|sigfig=3|abbr=off|sp=us}} from the plate, and his momentum carried him partway up the clubhouse steps. He then stopped and turned around, as the crowd stood and acknowledged the departure of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], who was in attendance that day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/features/thestadium/the_magazine/parttwo_01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906065603/http://www.nydailynews.com/features/thestadium/the_magazine/parttwo_01.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 6, 2009|title=The Yankee Clipper Sails In – NY Yankees Magazine – NY Daily News|website=[[New York Daily News]]|date=September 6, 2009|access-date=April 15, 2019}}</ref>

Babe Ruth hit many of his early signature blasts at the Polo Grounds, reaching the center field seats on several occasions. His longest blast at the grounds, over the right-center upper deck in 1921, was estimated at over 550 feet. He also hit several centerfield home runs at other ballparks which exceeded 500 feet. Had Ruth played regularly in the remodeled Polo Grounds, theoretically he would have been capable of hitting the clubhouse if conditions were right. Neither he nor anyone else ever did, but a few came close.

After the 1923 remodeling, only five players ever hit a home run into the center field stands:<ref name="5CFHRs">Richman, Milton. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-13-sp-8907-story.html "Couple of Revolutionaries: Wilhelm and Brock Earned Shrine Spots"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240724145314/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-13-sp-8907-story.html |date=July 24, 2024 }}. ''Los Angeles Times''. January 13, 1985. Retrieved December 13, 2018. "While with the Cubs in 1962, Brock became one of only five known players to hit a ball into the right center field bleachers in the Polo Grounds. The ball Brock hit in a game with the Mets traveled nearly 500 feet. The only others to reach those bleachers in a regular National League game were Hank Aaron and Joe Adcock. Luke Easter deposited a ball in those bleachers while he was playing in the Negro leagues and Schoolboy Rowe also did during batting practice before an Old Timers' game [sic]. "</ref><ref name=Adcock-Homer>Sheehan, Joseph. [http://www.mediafire.com/view/2yjmno2155ruh3f/WILD_PITCH_IN_NINTH_TRIPS_NEW_%20(1).jpg "Adcock Homer to Bleachers in Center Helps Braves Top Giants"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621034449/http://www.mediafire.com/view/2yjmno2155ruh3f/WILD_PITCH_IN_NINTH_TRIPS_NEW_%20(1).jpg |date=June 21, 2023 }}. ''The New York Times''. April 30, 1953. Retrieved December 13, 2018. "Bobby [Thomson] chased the soaring drive all the way to the four-foot wall in front of the open stand to the left of the clubhouse corridor. [...] It landed ten rows up in the stand, after carrying approximately 475 feet. The 483 foot sign on the center-field flagpole supplied the basis for this distance estimate. [...] Schoolboy Rowe, the  Detroit pitcher, hit one about where Adcock's landed in batting practice prior to a 1933 exhibition game between the Giants and Tigers. And, in a Negro League contest in 1948, Luke Easter, now with the Indians, deposited a drive in the right-field sector of the divided stand."</ref>
* [[Schoolboy Rowe]], while taking batting practice before a pre-season exhibition game on April 8, 1933.<ref name=Adcock-Homer/><ref>Vidmer, Richards. [http://www.mediafire.com/view/uugkv98yht8zlnd/Giants_Subdue_Tigers_in_11th_O%20(1).jpg "Giants Subdue Tigers in 11th"]. ''New York Herald Tribune''. April 9, 1933. Retrieved December 13, 2018. "Rowe didn't exhibit any of his long-distance hitting ability after the game got started, but in the batting practice he parked a ball in the centerfield bleachers."</ref>
* [[Luke Easter (baseball)|Luke Easter]] in a [[Negro leagues]] game on July 18, 1948.<ref name=Adcock-Homer/><ref>[http://www.mediafire.com/view/cioua9i1v7un6e9/.png "Grays Beat Cubans Twice"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621034449/http://www.mediafire.com/view/cioua9i1v7un6e9/.png |date=June 21, 2023 }}. ''New York Herald Tribune''. July 19, 1948. Retrieved December 13, 2018. "In the nightcap Lucius [sic] Easter, of the winners, blasted a homer into the centerfield bleachers, nearly 500 feet from home plate."</ref><ref>Burley, Dan. [http://www.mediafire.com/view/z35vylqwvt55xel/.jpg "Hits Homer Into PG Bleachers, 490 Ft!"]. ''New York Amsterdam News''. July 24, 1948. Retrieved December 13, 2018. "Luscious Easter, giant Homestead Grays left fielder, who last Sunday hit the longest home run in memory at the Polo Grounds when he laced a serve by lefthander Pat Scantlebury of the Cubans into the right centerfield bleachers, sixth row, 490 feet from home plate."</ref>
* [[Joe Adcock]] on April 29, 1953.<ref name=Adcock-Homer/>
* [[Hank Aaron]] and [[Lou Brock]] on consecutive days (June 17 and 18) in 1962.<ref name=AEHiB>Walfoort, Cleon. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UDMoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6SYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5452%2C4288764 "Aaron's Epic Homer in 'Book'; Braves Romp, 7–1"]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. ''Milwaukee Journal''. June 19, 1962. Retrieved December 13, 2018. "By a coincidence, Lou Brock of Chicago had become the first player ever to hit a ball into the bleachers to the right of the scoreboard only Sunday when the Cubs played a doubleheader here."</ref>

===Right field===
The deep center field was complemented by the short right-field fence. Its [[foul pole]] was {{convert|258|ft}} from home, one of the shortest ever used in the major leagues. Since the early 20th century, home runs that just cleared a field's shortest fence had been known as "[[Chinese home run]]s", from a [[Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States|stereotype of Chinese immigrant workers]] as doing the bare minimum required for the low wages they received for menial labor. Within baseball, by the 1940s those home runs were largely associated with the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. The 511 career homers hit by Giants outfielder [[Mel Ott]], whose physique and batting technique were not those associated with [[power hitter|power hitting]], have often been downplayed because a significant number were hit to right at home, a criticism he often responded to by asking why few other hitters in the league were making that hit if it were so easy.<ref name="Baseball and the Mythic Moment">{{cite book|last1=Hardy|first1=James D. Jr.|title=Baseball and the Mythic Moment: How We Remember the National Game|date=2007|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=9780786426508|pages=32–34|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xCE35pZXU0QC&pg=PA33|access-date=March 18, 2015}}</ref>

[[Bobby Thomson]]'s "[[Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)|Shot Heard 'Round the World]]" that won the 1951 National League pennant for the Giants was hit over the left field fence. But arguably the best-remembered home run hit to the right side was the [[walk-off home run|walk-off]] three-run shot by [[Dusty Rhodes (outfielder)|Dusty Rhodes]], [[pinch hit|batting for]] [[Monte Irvin]] in the 10th inning of Game 1 of the 1954 Series, after Mays' catch had kept the Giants tied. It just barely cleared the fence, above the outstretched glove of the leaping outfielder [[Dave Pope]], leading [[Al López]], manager of the heavily favored Indians, to attribute the Giants' stunning victory in the Series opener to the ballpark's unusual dimensions.<ref name="Blame game">{{cite book|last1=Billheimer|first1=John|title=Baseball and the Blame Game: Scapegoating in the Major Leagues|date=2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786429066|pages=94–96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1bkbVyrKHMC&pg=PA94|access-date=March 18, 2015}}</ref>

===Bullpens===
Both the home and visitors' bullpens resided on the outfield warning track, situated, respectively, in the right-center and left-center power alleys, each roughly 450 feet from home plate.<ref>[http://www.andrewclem.com/Baseball/PoloGrounds.html#diag "Polo Grounds (V): Home of the former New York Giants (1911–1957)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521145928/http://andrewclem.com/Baseball/PoloGrounds.html#diag |date=May 21, 2022 }}. ''Clem's Baseball: Our National Pastime & Its 'Green Cathedrals' ''.</ref> Anyone seated on the bench was offered some measure of protection from the elements by what has been variously described as an awning,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hutmaker|first1=Gene|last2=Hutmaker|first2=Michael A.|title=Banned in the Bronx: The Yankee Haters Memoirs 1953—2005|date=2006|publisher=Virtualbookworm.com|isbn=1-58939-841-6|pages=98|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1wOx2_nFcMC&dq=bullpens+awning+%22polo+grounds%22&pg=PA98}}</ref> a canopy,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hirsch|first1=James S.|title=Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend|date=2010|publisher=New York: Scribner|isbn=978-1-4165-4790-7|pages=266|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Up4x7U20ZVUC&dq=bullpens+canopy+%22polo+grounds%22&pg=PA266}}</ref> or simply the top of the bullpen, as Pittsburgh sportswriter [[Les Biederman]] put it when, two years after the ballpark's demolition, he reminded readers that this had been the landing spot for [[Roberto Clemente]]'s first major league home run.<ref>Biederman, Les (September 17, 1966). "Roberto's Bat Softens Rivals For Buc Raids". ''The Sporting News''. p.&nbsp;6. "In his third big league game, Clemente hit his first home run off the top of the left-center bullpen in the Polo Grounds, an inside-the-park job off left-hander Don Liddle."</ref>

===John T. Brush Stairway===
{{Multiple image|direction=vertical|align=right|image1=Climbing brush stairway jeh.jpg|image2=John T Brush Stairway.JPG|width=250|caption1=The John T. Brush stairway ({{coord|40.8325|-73.93945|type:landmark_region:US-NY_scale:500|name=John T. Brush Stairway}})}}
[[File: Phoenix-Phoenix Municipal Stadium-1964-2.JPG|thumb|The main entrance of the [[Phoenix Municipal Stadium]] with the Polo Grounds light poles in the background]]
The only part of the Polo Grounds that still remains is the "John T. Brush Stairway",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=31264|title=The John T. Brush Stairway Historical Marker|website=Hmdb.org|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=February 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210235141/https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=31264|url-status=live}}</ref> which runs down [[Coogan's Bluff]] from Edgecombe Avenue to Harlem River Driveway at about 158th Street.<ref name=Stairway /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://forgotten-ny.com/2014/11/hamilton-and-washington-heights/ | title=HAMILTON and WASHINGTON HEIGHTS | work=[[Forgotten NY]] | date=November 2014 | access-date=November 6, 2014 | author=Walsh, Kevin | archive-date=November 5, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105120819/http://forgotten-ny.com/2014/11/hamilton-and-washington-heights/ | url-status=live }}</ref> The stairway, named for [[John T. Brush]]—the then-recently deceased owner of the Giants—opened in 1913 and led to a ticket booth overlooking the stadium. The stairway reportedly offered a clear view of the stadium for fans who did not purchase tickets to a game. A marker on the stairway reads: "The John T. Brush Stairway Presented By The New York Giants."<ref name=Stairway>{{cite news | url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/a-stairway-to-sports-history-from-the-polo-grounds/ | work=The New York Times | first=Timothy | last=Williams | title=A Stairway to Sports History From the Polo Grounds | date=February 19, 2008 | archive-date=July 11, 2011 | access-date=March 6, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711232516/http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/a-stairway-to-sports-history-from-the-polo-grounds/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Donations from the [[New York Giants]], [[New York Jets|Jets]], [[New York Yankees|Yankees]], [[New York Mets|Mets]], [[San Francisco Giants]], and [[Major League Baseball]] enabled a $950,000 restoration project that began in 2011. The restoration was scheduled to be completed in September 2012,<ref name=NYPost>{{cite news|last=Mixson|first=Colin|author2=Sanderson, Bill|title=San Francisco Giants make $50,000 donation to restore part of Polo Grounds|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/giants_tep_oVyC2TgF0Xim9tmo3Me4yL|work=Nypost.com|publisher=NYP Holdings, Inc.|access-date=November 26, 2011|date=November 7, 2011|archive-date=November 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113173112/http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/giants_tep_oVyC2TgF0Xim9tmo3Me4yL|url-status=live}}</ref> but after numerous delays, the restored steps opened finally in early August 2014.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/harlem-stairway-polo-grounds-back-isn-stadium-anymore-article-1.1893069 | work=New York Daily News | title=Harlem stairway to the Polo Grounds is back – even if there isn't a stadium anymore | date=August 5, 2014 | access-date=December 15, 2014 | archive-date=January 7, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107102526/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/harlem-stairway-polo-grounds-back-isn-stadium-anymore-article-1.1893069 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Polo Grounds light poles===
The light poles from the Polo Grounds remain in use at [[Phoenix Municipal Stadium]], Arizona State University's baseball field in [[Phoenix, Arizona]], built in 1964. When the stadium was built, [[Horace Stoneham]], owner of the San Francisco Giants, had the original Polo Grounds light poles shipped there. The Giants held spring training at the stadium's predecessor since 1947 and played at the new ballpark during spring training in 1964. The poles were installed in the stadium where they currently remain standing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.phoenix.gov/parkssite/Pages/sportsphxmuni.aspx |title=Phoenix Municipal Stadium |publisher=[[Phoenix, Arizona|City of Phoenix]] |year=2016 |access-date=March 14, 2016 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202001514/https://www.phoenix.gov/parkssite/Pages/sportsphxmuni.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Timeline and teams==
[[File:Game1 1912 World Series Polo Grounds.jpg|thumb|Crowd at refurbished Polo Grounds III, October 8, 1912, Game 1 of the [[1912 World Series]]]]
* Polo Grounds I
** Gothams/Giants ([[National League (baseball)|National League]]), 1883–1888
** Metropolitans ([[American Association (19th century)|American Association]]), 1880–1885
* Polo Grounds II (otherwise known as Manhattan Field)
** Giants (NL), 1889–1890
* Polo Grounds III (originally called Brotherhood Park, also known as Brush Stadium from 1911 to 1919)
** Giants ([[Players' League]]), 1890
** Giants (NL), 1891–1911
** Giants (NL), 1911–1957
** Yankees ([[American League]]), 1913–1922
** Giants ([[National Football League|NFL]]), 1925–1955
** [[New York Yanks|Bulldogs]] (NFL) 1949
** Titans/Jets ([[American Football League|AFL]]), 1960–1963
** Mets (NL), 1962–1963
** Cubans ([[Negro National League II]]), 1939–50
** Black Yankees ([[Negro National League II]]), 1931–1946

==Statistics==

===Dimensions===
Compiled from various photos, baseball annuals, ''The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball'' (Turkin & Thompson, 1951) and ''Green Cathedrals'' by Phil Lowry.
[[File:T&T Polo Grounds diagram 1951.svg|thumb|Diagram of the Polo Grounds drawn in 1951]]
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
|+1890–1911
! style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants|border=2}};"|Dimension
! style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants|border=2}};"|Distance
! style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants|border=2}};"|Notes
|-
|Left Field Line || {{convert|335|ft|abbr=on}} || Not posted
|-
|Center Field || {{convert|500|ft|abbr=on}} || Not posted
|-
|Right Field Line || {{convert|335|ft|abbr=on}}|| Not posted
|}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
|+1911–1922
! style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants|border=2}};"|Dimension
! style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants|border=2}};"|Distance
! style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants|border=2}};"|Notes
|-
|Left Field Line || {{convert|277|ft|abbr=on}} || Not posted
|-
|Center Field || {{convert|433|ft|abbr=on}} || Not posted
|-
|Right Field Line || {{convert|258|ft|abbr=on}} || Not posted
|}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
|+1923–1957, 1962–1963
! style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants|border=2}};"|Dimension
! style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants|border=2}};"|Distance
! style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants|border=2}};"|Notes
|-
|Left Field Line || {{convert|279|ft|abbr=on}} || Not posted—sometimes listed as 280
|-
|Left Field Upper Deck Overhang || about {{convert|250|ft|abbr=on}} ||
|-
|Shallow Left Center || {{convert|315|ft|abbr=on}} ||
|-
|Left Center 1 || {{convert|360|ft|abbr=on}} ||
|-
|Left Center 2 || {{convert|414|ft|abbr=on}} ||
|-
|Deep Left Center || {{convert|447|ft|abbr=on}} || Left of bullpen curve
|-
|Deep Left Center || {{convert|455|ft|abbr=on}} || Right of bullpen curve
|-
|Center Field || Approx. {{convert|425|ft|abbr=on}} || (Unposted) corners of runways
|-
|Center Field || {{convert|483|ft|abbr=on}} || Posted on front of clubhouse balcony, sometimes {{convert|475|ft|abbr=on}}
|-
|Center Field || {{convert|505|ft|abbr=on}} || (Unposted) sometimes given as total C.F. distance
|-
|Deep Right Center || {{convert|455|ft|abbr=on}} || Left of bullpen curve
|-
|Deep Right Center || {{convert|449|ft|abbr=on}} || Right of bullpen curve
|-
|Right Center 2 || {{convert|395|ft|abbr=on}} ||
|-
|Right Center 1 || {{convert|339|ft|abbr=on}} ||
|-
|Shallow Right Center || {{convert|294|ft|abbr=on}} ||
|-
|Right Field Line || 257&nbsp;ft. 3{{frac|3|8}} in. || Not posted—sometimes listed as 258
|-
|Backstop || {{convert|65|ft|abbr=on}} || Sometimes also given as {{convert|74|ft|abbr=on}}
|}

The disparities in some of the posted distances, notably straightaway center, have not been fully reconciled by researchers. The closest object in straight center field was the Grant Memorial, followed by the post supporting the overhang of the clubhouse (above which the 483 or 475 signs were posted), and a roll-up door several feet behind the overhang at ground level. The roof of the protruding part of the clubhouse sloped back and met the vertical wall of the larger part of the clubhouse. The exact objects referred to by the numbers 475, 483, and 505 can be speculated but remain unconfirmed. In 1931, additional box seats were built and the infield was moved 8 feet toward center field, while the 483 sign remained as-is. That at least accounts for the 483/475 (and also 433/425) discrepancies, though not identifying precisely what object the 483/475 signs referred to.

===Seating capacity===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants}};"| Years
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball primary style|San Francisco Giants}};"| Capacity
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1911–1916
| 34,000<ref name="baseball almanac">{{cite web |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/stadium/st_polo.shtml |title=Polo Grounds Historical Analysis |work=Baseball Almanac |access-date=November 23, 2011 |archive-date=December 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204011839/http://www.baseball-almanac.com/stadium/st_polo.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1917–1919
| 36,000<ref name="baseball almanac" />
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1920–1922
| 38,000<ref name="baseball almanac" />
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1923–1925
| 43,000<ref name="baseball almanac" />
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1926–1929
| 55,000<ref name="baseball almanac" />
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1930–1935
| 56,000<ref name="baseball almanac" />
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1937–1939
| 51,856<ref name="baseball almanac" />
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1940–1946
| 56,000<ref name="baseball almanac" />
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1947–1952
| 54,500<ref name="baseball almanac" />
|-
! scope="row" style="{{Baseball secondary style|San Francisco Giants}};"|1953–1963
| 56,000<ref name="baseball almanac" />
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Baseball|New York City}}
* [[Polo Grounds Shuttle]], an [[elevated railway]] shuttle to the grounds
* [[Bushman Steps]], a set of stairs descending to the grounds

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* Benson, Michael. ''Ballparks of North America''.
* Bergin, Thomas G. ''The Game: The Harvard-Yale Football Rivalry''. Yale Press, 1984.
* ''Harper's Young People''. "A Game of Base-Ball at the Polo Grounds, New York City, on Decoration Day — Yale vs. Princeton". Vol. III (1882), p.&nbsp;524.
* Lowry, Philip J. ''Green Cathedrals''.
* [[Stew Thornley|Thornley, Stew]]. ''Land of the Giants: New York's Polo Grounds''.
* [[Vic Ziegel|Ziegel, Vic]] (text), ''[[New York Daily News]]'' (photos), Guglberger, Claus (ed.) ''Summer in the City''. pp.&nbsp;8,71,126,184 provide good documentation of the distance-markers on the walls

==Further reading==
* Bracker, Milton ([[N.Y. Times News Service]]). [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114502769/ "Mixed Feelings Attend Exit of Giants at Polo Grounds"]. ''[[Chattanooga Daily Times]]''. September 30, 1957. p.&nbsp;12

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://ballparks.com/baseball/national/pologr.htm Ballparks.com: Polo Grounds]
* [https://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/polo-grounds/ Ballparks of Baseball: Polo Grounds]
* [http://www.andrewclem.com/Baseball/PoloGrounds.html Polo Grounds dynamic diagram at Clem's Baseball]
* [http://www.projectballpark.org/history/nl/polo1.html Project Ballpark, Polo Grounds I] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040307071143/http://www.projectballpark.org/history/nl/polo1.html |date=March 7, 2004 }}
* [http://www.projectballpark.org/history/nl/polo2.html Project Ballpark, Polo Grounds II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040229164938/http://projectballpark.org/history/nl/polo2.html |date=February 29, 2004 }} (covers second and third Polo Grounds)
* [https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804nm.g3804nm_g06116189311/?sp=42 Sanborn map, Manhattan Field and part of Polo Grounds, 1893] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909030238/https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804nm.g3804nm_g06116189311/?sp=42 |date=September 9, 2021 }}
* [https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804nm.g3804nm_g06116189311/?sp=43 Sanborn map, part of Polo Grounds, 1893] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909030244/https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804nm.g3804nm_g06116189311/?sp=43 |date=September 9, 2021 }}

{{Navboxes|list1=
{{s-start-collapsible|header={{s-sta|et}}}}
{{Succession box
 | title = Home of the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]]
 | years = 1883 – 1888<br />1889 – 1911<br />1911 – 1957
 | before = first ballpark<br />[[St. George Cricket Grounds]]<br />[[Hilltop Park]]
 | after = [[Oakland Park, New Jersey|Oakland Park]]<br />[[Hilltop Park]]<br />[[Seals Stadium]]
}}
{{Succession box
 | title = Home of the [[New York Yankees]]
 | years = 1913–1922
 | before = [[Hilltop Park]]
 | after = [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]]
}}
{{Succession box
 | title = Home of the [[New York Mets]]
 | years = 1962–1963
 | before = first ballpark
 | after = [[Shea Stadium]]
}}
{{Succession box
 | title = Home of the [[New York Giants]] (NFL)
 | years = 1925–1955
 | before = first ballpark
 | after = [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]]
}}
{{Succession box
 | title = Home of the [[New York Jets|New York Titans/Jets]]
 | years = 1960–1963
 | before = first ballpark
 | after = [[Shea Stadium]]
}}
{{Succession box
 | title = Host of the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]]
 | years = 1934<br />1942
 | before = [[Comiskey Park]]<br />[[Briggs Stadium]]
 | after = [[Cleveland Stadium]]<br />[[Shibe Park]]
}}
{{Succession box
 | title = Home of the [[Pro Bowl|NFL All-Star Game]]
 | years = 1941
 | before = [[Gilmore Stadium]]
 | after = [[Shibe Park]]
}}
{{Succession box
 | title = [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship]]&nbsp;<br />Final Venue
 | years = 1947
 | before = [[Croke Park]]
 | after = [[Croke Park]]
}}
{{end}}
{{New York Giants}}
{{New York Jets}}
{{New York Brickley Giants}}
{{New York Mets}}
{{New York Yankees}}
{{San Francisco Giants}}
{{New York Metropolitans}}
{{Columbia Lions football navbox}}
{{Fordham Rams football navbox}}
{{Manhattan Jaspers football navbox}}
{{NYU Violets football navbox}}
{{New York Cubans}}
{{Players' League}}
{{NewYorksportsvenues}}
{{Subway Series}}
{{Defunct NFL stadiums}}
{{Wooden baseball parks}}
}}

[[Category:1890 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:1911 fires in the United States]]
[[Category:1963 disestablishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:American Football League venues]]
[[Category:American football venues in New York City]]
[[Category:Baseball venues in New York City]]
[[Category:Boxing venues in New York City]]
[[Category:Columbia Lions football]]
[[Category:Defunct baseball venues in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct boxing venues in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct college football venues]]
[[Category:Defunct Major League Baseball venues]]
[[Category:Defunct multi-purpose stadiums in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct NFL venues]]
[[Category:Defunct soccer venues in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct sports venues in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Demolished sports venues in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Fordham Rams football]]
[[Category:Former sports venues in New York City]]
[[Category:Jewel Box parks]]
[[Category:Manhattan Jaspers football]]
[[Category:New York Giants (baseball) stadiums]]
[[Category:New York Giants stadiums]]
[[Category:New York Jets stadiums]]
[[Category:New York Mets stadiums]]
[[Category:New York Yankees stadiums]]
[[Category:NYU Violets football]]
[[Category:Players' League venues]]
[[Category:Polo in the United States]]
[[Category:Polo venues]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1890]]
[[Category:Sports venues demolished in 1964]]
[[Category:Upper Manhattan]]