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John L, Rockland County, NY -- Mar 15, 2007 17:18 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 5
Hi,
I have posted some footage my grandfather shot of an Army Navy game played at what I first thought was the Polo Grounds sometime in the 1920s. Some people who have seen it think it may be Yankee Stadium, making the game 1930 or 1931 according to Wikipedia...
Can you tell whether this is the Polo Grounds or Yankee Stadium?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URfkVLCtn8k
Thanks so much.
John L
Bill Dovhan, Cambridge, MA -- Apr 14, 2008 01:37 AM
1 visit(s). My rating: 9
It hard to tell by the washed out quality of your grandfather’s old movie. The clips are very short and there is no panorama view of the stadium.
For a clearer look at the 1951 Polo Grounds see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nT7opK5rOs pause at 0:27 seconds.
Search/Google for other pictures but the tell tale, most identifiable thing about the Polo Grounds IV (1911-1963) was the large clubhouse beyond the CF nook. It looks like your movie has the nook @ 0:11 seconds, but @0:27 of the 1951 clip the CF nook is clearly seen.
The clubhouse had a large Chesterfield sign and later on a Knickerbocker beer sign. Fans would walk across the field to exit under the clubhouse. CF in this nook was 483', yea 483' from home plate.
Your movie does have the era characteristic columns, rising up holding up the roof causing obstructed views. All early stadiums had these (Tiger Stad,Fenway,Yankee Stadium,Polo Grounds,etc) but the upper deck in your movie does not have the steep characteristics of the original Yankee Stadium (House that Ruth Built).
At 0:07 of your movie there seem to be three or four apartment bldgs in the distance. This would support the site being the Polo Grounds
Brian S, Kerman, CA -- Jul 28, 2008 20:27 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 5
/\/\/\ Not sure if your question has been answered yet but it looks like Yankee Stadium up until 0:43, and then the Polo Grounds thereafter. Yankee Stadium had the football field running from home to left, which it is in the first part, while the Polo Grounds had it running from home to center.
Artie Anderson, Brooklyn, NY, NY -- Dec 03, 2008 16:51 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 5
Polo Grounds. First visit was June 17, 1962, where I was treated to Richie Ashburn (my soon to be idol) bunting a ball off homeplate on what I think was the FIRST pitch of the game and before it came down to the catcher, he legged it out for a single. He FLEW down the line.
The second thing was history being made. Lou Brock hit a home run into the bleachers. I need to correct something here. Someone said that "four players" hit home runs into the bleachers. Actually it was three players hitting four home runs. Joe Adcock hit TWO. The others were Brock, and THE NEXT DAY, Hank Aaron. Two of the four ever were hit on two consecutive days. Note: Adcock was in the dugout when Aaron hit his June 18th Home run.
Random impressions? Dull paint. Casey Stengel looked about 100 years old as he waddled out to the mound for pitching changes.
We were in Section 17 on the First Base line. June 17th was a double header, and the Cubs lineup included three Hall of Famers! Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Lou Brock. Also in the lineup was Kenny Hubbs (who died two seasons later in a plane crash at 22 or so) and Ron Santo. Amazing lineup for such a poor team.
Great memories for an 11 year old.
Chris Kule, Tunkhannock, PA -- Apr 04, 2009 23:48 PM
2 visit(s). My rating: 3
My father was postwar veteran attending Rutgers in the early 50's. Every year we would make a trip to the Polo Grounds, to see the Giants play the Cardinals... my father's favorite player was Stan Musial. We always sat in the bleachers. The first time we went must have been in 1953 and I remember the trains in the switching yard, the clubhouse and its steps, the Knickerbocker sign on the clubhouse, the monument, and the striped awnings over the bullpens. I distinctly remember that the outfielders left their gloves on the field when they went into the dugout at the end of an inning. CAK
Bernie Sullivan, Port St Lucie, FL -- May 20, 2009 14:57 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 5
I like this website.....I found it while looking for info on the Polo Grounds. As much as this may sound crazy, I'm trying to build a wiffle ball field in my back yard as a 1/4 sized "replica of the Polo Grounds...however, i can't find one exact dimension......
I know that homeplate to center field was approx 483 ft and homeplate to the left and right "inner walls" was approx 425 ft, making the centerfield "bulge" about 60 ft.
However, how WIDE is that center field "bulge". It looks like a possible square so I'm guessing 60 ft, but I've not found any "official" measurements.
can anyone help me....? if my 'creation is ever done...2-3 years I'll post photos...
Thanks,
Bernie
Greg Zyla, Sayre, PA -- Oct 15, 2009 19:09 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 8
Four players did hit homeruns into centerfield. Brcok and Arron on successvie days (If I recall(, Adcock and, here's the clincher, Luke Easter, when he played in the Negro Leagues. IThere was a big story in Smithsonian Magazine about him years ago, and while in Chicagoon business, I was able to cover the opener of the Phillies and Cubs atWrigley Field and after the game, I met with Harry kalas and Roichie Ashburh with the trivia question "who hit homers into the center field seats--they laughed at first, but when I told him there were fiour and everyone knew that adcock, Brock and Aaron had doneit, Richie was puffing on his pipe and Kalas (this is probably around 1990 or so) is guessing Josh Gibson. I gave Richie a hint that the fourth player who did it ended up with the Cleveland Indians, and then he guesses it correct. I sent Ashburn the story from Smithsonian, and sadly, Easter wasmurdered by a co-worker at TRW, where he worked after his career in the big leagues. Luje was a nighttime manager at TRW, and used to cash his workers paychecks so he could pay them in cash late Friday night.
But four players did do it, and Easter is the fourth.
Greg
Greg Zyla, Sayre, PA -- Oct 15, 2009 19:13 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 5
Sorry for my spelling and grammar errors,I hit the "go" button before proofing it. But it is fact--4 players did it.
Greg
Bryan Dowd, Langhorne, PA -- Jan 11, 2010 13:39 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 7
The video is definately Yankee Stadium; the 2nd and 3rd deck did not go all the way to the right and left field bullpens till sometime in the 1930's. The Polo Grounds had the distinctive clubhouse in center field. My first visit to the Polo Grounds was to see a Titans game in 1962. I remember the attendance being announced and thinking most people were disguised as empty seats.
Richard Simonetti, Croton On Hudson, NY -- May 03, 2010 21:05 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 9
My first game at the Polo Grounds was a Dodgers/Giants game back in 1947. I was only 5 years old but do remember the Giants won by a score of 5-2. Once my Dad took me to a night game in 1953 Dodgers/Giants. Again the Giants won 7-2 but the big happening in that game was when someone on the Giants singled to right. The runner took a wide turn at First and Dodgers Outfielder Carl Furillo Pumped Fake a throw to Second but instead turned and threw to first in an attempt to pick off the runner. The Ball never got there as Umpire Tom Gorman who was on the outfield grass with his head turned sideways toward second got hit square in the Temple. He went down like he was shot. They took him to Lenox Hill Hospital and a few innings later the Public Address Anouncer stated he was OK! It was the first time I ever saw an Umpire get Cheered!
Richard Simonetti, Croton On Hudson, NY -- May 03, 2010 23:05 PM
2 visit(s). My rating: 5
The Polo Grounds was not like any other BallPark in the Majors Past or Present. It's the only Ball Park that I know of where the Locker Rooms were not somewhere behind the Dugouts, but in the far off Club House in Center Field. Players from both teams would walk from the Club House to their Dugouts before the game, and when the game was over they would practiclly walk side by side Winner and Loser, The Victor & The Vanquished to the Club House. Can you imagine how Ralph Branca and the rest of the Brooklyn Dodgers felt after Bobby Thompson's ''Shot Heard Round The World'' Home Run gave the 1951 Pennant to the Giants? That's more than 500 feet from the Dugouts to the Club House. Im sure that's a walk that all those Dodgers and their Fans that day will never ever forget!
Paul B, New York, NY -- Aug 18, 2010 22:18 PM
10 visit(s). My rating: 8
I visited the Polo Grounds as a youngster growing up in the Bronx. I became a NY Giants fan, since they were more of a Cinderella team compared with the Yankees of the 1950s. I was broken-hearted when the Giants left for San Francisco in 1958. I went to the Polo Grounds with my parents, sometimes just with Mom, also with camp outings and other friends. I saw the NY Mets play there in 1962. My impressions? Just like Yankee Stadium, it was a ballpark where you went to see your team play. As a youngster, I was not yet a baseball conneisseur. The distances down the foul lines were rather short. I identified more with the players than the ballpark itself. Also, I attended the last game played there by the NY Giants, on September 29, 1957. The Pirates beat the Giants by the score of 9-1. I went out on the field after the game, and woundup taking home a small patch of the tarpaulin, which somebody handed me as a souvenir (not that this was legal to do, of course). After maybe 20 years, I discarded this souvenir. Still, the Polo Grounds and the NY Giants remain a fond memory of my childhood!
Joseph Johnston, Covington, LA -- May 14, 2018 10:06 AM
1 visit(s). My rating: 5
Drive-by only. July 3, 1963. We had tickets for the July 4 doubleheader at Yankee Stadium vs. the White Sox. My dad was driving the car; my mother and my two younger brothers and I were passengers looking for our hotel. We found ourselves on Coogan’s bluff driving south. There, down on the left, in its green glory, was the Polo Grounds! Very picturesque. I wish I had requested that my dad stop the car and someone hand me the camera so I could take a picture of it. The camera had black and white film in it, so we would have missed the green-ness of the ballpark. Here is a link with someone else’s photo of the Polo Grounds, taken from about the spot where I saw it(Scroll down): https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=31264
Except, in my memory, it was green.