THE OLD-FASHIONED BALLYARDS

As this blog mentioned before, the New York City area at one time was the Mecca of baseball. It had three separate teams: The Brooklyn Dodgers, The New York Giants and of course the New York Yankees. But they needed places to play, which were separate but equal as they say.

On any given day during the baseball season, from the turn of the century until the mid fifty’s, a fan could purchase a ticket at either the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field or Yankee Stadium. But what was there before these parks came into being, and how did the parks become what they were?

YANKEE STADIUM

On March 12, 1903 the New York franchise is approved as a member of the upstart American League. The team will play in an all-wood park on 168th Street and Broadway. Because of its location: the site is one of the highest spots in Manhattan, the club will be known as the "Highlanders" and their home field "Hilltop Park."  In 1913, the Highlanders move to the Polo Grounds, the home of the New York Giants and call themselves the Yankees.

April 18, 1923, Yankee Stadium opens with a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox before a reported crowd of 74,200. Babe Ruth hits the Stadium's first home run. And so the first of three Yankee Stadiums are built, two on the original site and a third next to the original site.

The original Yankee Stadium had some very unique features. First off, it didn’t yet have the left and right field upper decks when it was built. That didn’t happen until 1928 and 1937 respectively. Along the upper decks hanging from the front was the famous façade, that still symbolizes the Yankees, and in deep left centerfield were the famous monuments that stood in fair territory. Left center field was 461 feet away from home plate, shortened from 491 feet! The new stadium would favor left-handed power hitters with the right-field foul pole only 295 feet from home plate (though it would shoot out to 429 by right center). The left-field pole measured only 281 feet from home plate: a 395-foot left field area and 461 to left center neutralized right-handed hitters. Many a home run went to die in Yankee Stadium back in those days.

POLO GROUNDS

Originally, the team with the tradition: was not the Yankees, but the New York Giants. The great and fiery John McGraw orchestrated the Giants into numerous National League championships and World Series titles. The original Polo Grounds was a wooden park that really dated to the turn of the century and before.

Originally named the New York Gothams, the team started playing in the National League in 1883. The original Polo Grounds was located adjacent to Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 110th and 112th Streets in the neighborhood of Harlem, New York. Upon eviction from the Polo Grounds after the 1888 season, the Giants moved uptown and renamed various fields the Polo Grounds which were located between 155th and 159th Streets in the New York City neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights. The Giants played at the Polo Grounds until the end of the 1957 season, when they moved to San Francisco.

The ball yard had its quirks, like any ballpark in the early years of baseball. Originally built not to play polo but baseball, the centerfield clubhouse with steps leading up to it and the left fields and right field stands that enveloped the field were added later on in 1923, after the original construction. The field dimensions were: Left Field - 279 ft, Left-Center - 450 ft, Center Field - 483 ft, Right-Center - 449 ft, and Right Field - 258 ft. The bullpen was located in the bends of the left and right field walls. One interesting fact is that Yankee Stadium was within walking distance to the Polo Grounds, by simply crossing the river.

EBBETS FIELD

Originally, when Ebbets Field first opened in 1913, the dimensions were much larger. It didn’t yet have the centerfield and left field stands that were later added on. In 1929 the press box was added, and originally only from third base around home plate and down the right field line was double-decker seating, and a concrete bleacher from third base to the fence. The total capacity was only 18,000 people and with expansion later to over 30,000!

Prior to Ebbets Field, named after Charlie Ebbets who rose from a ticket salesman to owner, the Dodgers played all their games at Washington Park. Ebbets bought all the property that comprised the ballpark in parcels in a place called Pig Town, to build his new ballpark: Ebbets Field.

The field had a wall that was originally part of the park that ran from the right field stands to center field. In the wall was a scoreboard and the wall was made of concrete with a concave then convex slant to it that made balls take a funny bounce. On top of the wall was a messed screen. The center field had the stands jutting outward and small nooks and crannies that occurred. The bullpens were situated in foul territory next to the lines in the outfield.

The ballpark had a reputation of being a bandbox and was considered small, but if you look at the dimensions especially along the left field side, it wasn’t all that small. Left field: 348 ft. left-center: 351 ft Center field: 384 ft. Right-center: 344 ft. and Right field: 297 ft.

That’s all I wrote, folks!