This day {September 29th} is both a great day and a very sad day in the history of the Polo Grounds... First the great day; on this day in 1954 Willie Mays made the most famous catch in World Series history... 'The Catch' it forever etched in my mind; I was only nine years at the time, and it was my first year of playing Little League... Now for the sad day; on this day in 1957 the New York Giants baseball team played their last game in the Polo Grounds...
You have an excellent memory and are absolutely correct!! The distance to Shibe Park's centerfield corner is 467 ft. In 1952 the Phillies put an inner fence of 447 in center so that the batting cage could be stored behind it in center field. Aaron was not noted as a long distance slugger like Ruth, Foxx, Mantle, and Allen but could still hit them a long way and certainly very often!
People would cry to holy hell once they saw the dimensions. 260/280 down the foul lines and 447/451 to the power alleys? The bullpens in play? 483 to the back wall in dead center? You'd see heads explode.
ckersh74 The Polo Grounds was built in the shape of a horseshoe. That explains the short distance down the right field & left field lines and the cavernous distance to center.
@@chatman2a Yep. I'm very well versed in the classic ballparks. My point was this: players today would have an unholy fit if they hit a ball 420+ to dead center, or either power alley, and didn't end up with a home run. Of course, they wouldn't turn down a 285-footer down either line, but they wouldn't remember that...
Hermanglimser, please note: Bobby T's home run was a line drive that cleared the left field wall directly above the 315 sign. Therefore, it would have been an out in some balls parks, a homer in several others. Nice job with the video. Wish it were longer.
Awesome upload! TY very much! Little known Polo Grounds fact: the Yankees shared the Grounds with the Giants for about 10 years before the original Stadium opened in '23. Babe Ruth hit a shot which CLEARED THE RF GRANDSTAND ROOF in right-center, ball estimated to travel 580-600 feet. Seriously, imagine seeing that in person? Read the book "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs". Stunning how many more HR he'd have gotten in today's parks. Otherworldly. Thanks again foe this post!
WOW how did you do that? Amazing virtual. One small nit: Matty's 1905 gen was in PoloGrounds IV, as this was built in 1911 as I recall. But Matty did pitch here. Amazing stuff. I got chills when you went under the right field overhang. Clearly, this was a park designed for the dead ball era. It was ill-suited to the live ball.
lol the pollo grounds is in mlb 2009 the show and its reallistic. only problem is you can never hit homeruns over the 487 foot center wall. it kinda sucks.. to bad you cant hit a mickey mantle homerun...
Can anybody tell me if there are actually people in the se- ats in this video, or am I see- ing things? You can tell ther- e are no players on the field.
Neat, if this is your work well done. I have always found this time in MLB stadium evolution more interesting because it was, put it here now build it. The donuts that popped up in Philly, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis and while not quite a donut Shea, were the future. Thank god that incredibly bland future only lasted 20 years.
Back then, it was to the advantage of left hand power hitters to be @ such places like League Field in Cleveland or the Baker Bowl in Philly. Just shoot the ball high and down the line. Routine fly outs today were homeruns in that era.
I have no connection with New York and the Polo Grounds was torn down long before I was born, yet If I had a choice to go back in time to any ballpark to see a game, it would absolutely be the Polo Grounds. There just seems to be something magical about that place. I envy those who actually got to see a game there.
Did Aaron's homer clear Shibe Park's 33-ft high fence between the right center flag pole and left field bleachers? I am a long time Phillies fan and baseball history enthusiast. My research as well as Bill Jenkinson's, a renouned professional historian, have only Babe Ruth and Dick Allen clearing the 33' high wall in center between the flag pole and bleachers.
Bobby Thompson's homerun was very rare indeed. Homeruns to left field in the old Polo Grounds seldom went into the lower left field seats owing to the left field upper deck overhanging the lower deck by23-feet. Bobby Thompson's homer would've made for a very difficult catch in parks that would've held it.
