Polo Grounds [III] / Brotherhood Park (1890-1911)

[RichardLillard1]

1904 and 1905 respectively.

[RichardLillard1]

Unsure of the date, sometime before the fire.

[RichardLillard1]

The wooden Polo Grounds next door to the ballpark of its former namesake renamed Manhattan Field.

[RichardLillard1]

Inside in I think 1909.

[Elvis]

Inside in I think 1909.

This is one of my all-time fav photos! I saw this one a few months ago full sized (I'm guestimating 1000 pix wide) - amazing! But I can't remember where I saw it!

Richard, Donald - anybody have the full-size version?

[StanTheMan]

After the Fire.... Giant and Philadelphia players at the PG.


Most of these photos are "out there" on the net... but I must Credit Donald for his excellent Polo Grounds Yahoo Group and photo album... where I got a few of the photos, including this one.

[StanTheMan]

Postcard... circa 1910.

[StanTheMan]

Pre-Fire... 1891 to 1911. Coogan's Bluff visible in the background. Fans could see all the outfield from there, and some of the second base area, iirc. When the park was rebuilt, the area behind the plate was much higher, and more of the park was abscured to fans on the Bluff.

[Williamsburg2599]

A sad day in baseball history:
polo%20demolition%2019641.jpg

[StanTheMan]

Here's the one of the kids in the trees, presumably for THAT game in 1908... the replay of the Merkle's Boner Game. Stew Thornley's book, The Land of the Giants has quite a bit of info on this game, and how it was probably the most anticipated sporting event ever in the USA at the time.... and probably held that mark until either Ruth came along, or until the first big boxing matches came about. From another PG thread... but definitely belongs here. You really could see a significant portion of the field from the Bluff.

This is pre fire.

[StanTheMan]

A larger version of a photo previously posted.... probably one of the most unique photos of the old wooden PG. Looks like the photographer was in the front few rows of the upper deck. You can see that the upper deck stops before the foul pole in left, but continues past the foul pole in right... as seen in some of the photos from the air previously posted.

[Williamsburg2599]

Polo Grounds fire of 1911

Players from the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies look at the debris from a fire that destroyed the Polo Grounds stadium on April 14, 1911.
Polo Grounds fire.jpg

[RichardLillard1]

Inside in I think 1909.



I just found something online that says the date for this photo is 13 October, 1910 during the series... I was way off!

This would explain the words in the grass as we have discussed and it would also be a good reason for the players wearing long sleeves and even jackets while on the field.

[JeepingBaseball]

Here's the one of the kids in the trees, presumably for THAT game in 1908... the replay of the Merkle's Boner Game. Stew Thornley's book, The Land of the Giants has quite a bit of info on this game, and how it was probably the most anticipated sporting event ever in the USA at the time.... and probably held that mark until either Ruth came along, or until the first big boxing matches came about. From another PG thread... but definitely belongs here. You really could see a significant portion of the field from the Bluff.

This is pre fire.

This photo alone is significant in defining the baseball capitol of the world. I know of no other stadium outside of New York in which generated this many fan and gave kids wonderful ideas of how to see the show. From the look of things, that tree looks pretty damn high too! Got to love New York

[StanTheMan]

A view of the old wooden PG from Center. A good look at Coogan's Bluff as well, and how fans could see the field from up there....