Polo Grounds 1911

[Gojira]

Originally Posted by knight1376

very true.....the very first place they played in Manhattan, was miles away to the south, that I think is where they played polo. I cant remember all the details, but I think they were moved out of that spot by the city for a park. And therefore they kept calling the polo grounds, and as you said...polo was never played there. I cant remember the first name of that first team,it might have been the Gothams. Then they became the Giants....

Polo Grounds 1 was at 110th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. On the northeast corner directly across from Central Park. The first team to play there were the New York Metropolitans beginning in September 1880.

When the Mets were given an opportunity to join the National League, the owners instead decided to organize a new team, the New York Gothams (who eventually became the Giants). While the 2 teams shared the original Polo Grounds, they had 2 diamonds and grandstands. One for each team. The field was divided into eastern and western fields (I would LOVE to see this worked out somehow in OOTP ). This proved unworkable because of faulty surfacing of the western field. The 2 teams shared the eastern field until the Mets moved to Staten Island. The park was in use through the 1888 season. In 1889 the Giants played home games at 3 different parks in the NYC area before moving into Polo Grounds 2 at Coogan's Bluff.