27 Facts About Polo Grounds

Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963.

The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the sport of polo.

In baseball, the original Polo Grounds was home to the New York Metropolitans from 1880 through 1885, and the New York Giants from 1883 through 1888.

The Polo Grounds was the home field of the New York Yankees from 1913 through 1922 and the expansion New York Mets in their first two seasons.

The Polo Grounds was demolished over a period of four months that year and a public housing complex, known as the Polo Grounds Towers, was built on the site.

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Original Polo Grounds stood at 110th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, directly across 110th Street from the northeast corner of Central Park.

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.

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.

Polo Grounds III was the stadium that made the name nationally famous.

However, the Polo Grounds became better suited for football due to the new seating placement.

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

Polo Grounds remains the only player to die from an injury sustained in a Major League Baseball game.

Polo Grounds' end was somewhat anticlimactic, especially compared to other "Jewel Box" parks.

Polo Grounds was forced to lay off the stadium's maintenance staff in order to stay afloat.

Frustrated with the Polo Grounds being obsolete and dilapidated, and with no maintenance staff or any prospect of their 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.

Various incarnations of the Polo Grounds were well-suited for football, and hundreds of football games were played there over the years.

Polo Grounds were used for many games by New York-area college football teams such as Fordham and Army.

Polo Grounds held its fair share of international soccer matches as well over the years.

In domestic league soccer, the Polo Grounds was the home to the New York Nationals of the American Soccer League in 1928.

On September 14,1947, the Polo Grounds hosted the final of the All-Ireland Senior Gaelic Football championship between Cavan and Kerry.

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 took the crown from Patterson at Yankee Stadium.

One of the oddest features at the Polo Grounds were the deep dimensions in straight away center field.

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.

Polo Grounds then stopped and turned around, as the crowd stood and acknowledged the departure of Franklin D Roosevelt, who was in attendance that day.

Babe Ruth hit many of his early signature blasts at the Polo Grounds, reaching the center field seats on several occasions.

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Polo Grounds hit several centerfield home runs at other ballparks which exceeded 500 feet.

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.