SEPTEMBER 18, 1963-
FROM THE BOWERY BOYS NEW YORK CITY HISTORY

http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-polo-grounds-final-game-50-years.html

Thanks to NYGPS Member Ed Logan for finding this article which explains the last baseball game played at the Polo Grounds between the Mets and the Phillies., 50 years ago last week.

Fifty years ago today, the final game was played at the Polo Grounds, the legendary sports field that had once been home to the New York Yankees, the New York Giants (both baseball and football), and the New York Mets in their debut season.

The last game at the Polo Grounds was hardly memorable. The Mets were in their second season, almost as forgettable as their first. The team went 40-120 in its inaugural season, one of the worst results for a season in baseball history. In their second season, they fared marginally better (51-111). The Mets last home game of their second season — and the last game ever here — was a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-1.

Hardly anyone cared. No, really, that’s how the New York Times put it. “Hardly anyone cared”

“The smallest crowd to watch the Mets at the Polo Ground — 1,752 paying customers — turned out for this finale at the Harlem ball yard. Maybe the fact that there had been two previous major league ‘last games’ at the Polo Grounds took a bit(e) from the occasion.”

The writer is referring to the last game by baseball’s New York Giants in 1957 and the Mets last game from the 1962 season, when there were supposed to move into their new digs at Shea Stadium. But Shea wasn’t ready, and the Mets remained at the Polo Grounds for a final season, apparently to an audience of crickets.

“There wasn’t too much fuss and bother about the affair yesterday,” the Times lamented.

The Mets first game at Shea Stadium was in April 17 the following year. The brand-new stadium dazzled; the Mets did not. They lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3. One week earlier, April 10th, their former home was torn down

Was at site today. Looking good. Probably a few weeks away from use. Looking forward to re-dedication. Here are two shots. Many more pictures on our yahoo page. Just click on Join button on tool bar above to navigate to yahoo page.

The last meeting of the year will take place on September 19 at 6:30pm at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse . Thanks Jay Goldberg once again!! The Giants (What happened!!) will be in town that week playing both the Mets and the Yankees. Our guest speaker will be NYGPS Member and current Giants executive Mr. Peter Magowan. Mr. Magowan is the major reason why the present day club still honors its glorious roots in NY. AT&T Park, his showcase while he was the chief managing partner of the team, spotlights many of the great moments, players, teams, and events that happened well over 55 years ago, 3,000 miles away. Mr. Magowan continues his passion and love for the history of the team to this day. Last year at NY Giants Night at At&T Park, he gave a tremendous speech concerning the team’s legacy and also paid compliments to our organization. Here is the video for those who haven’t seen it.

Mr. Magowan will be accompanied by Robert Garratt who wrote a terrific expose on Horace Stoneham. Mr. Garratt will share his thoughts on Stoneham’s tenure as owner. Much to the chagrin of many, Stoneham did many wonderful things for the baseball world writes Garratt.

This will be a tremendous evening!! You need to RSVP ASAP. Space is limited!! When you RSVP, please send it on a separate email to GIANTSGURU@GMAIL.COM so that everybody doesn’t continue to get this email and your email thus get cluttered with unwanted mail.

Thanks to many of you for your continued support. Please try to RSVP regardless of you coming or not.-Gary

As a bonus that day for those who can attend:
NYGPS Member and past guest speaker Larry Hogan will be conducting a discussion about the legendary clubhouse men of the New York and San Francisco Giants, who are at the center of his new book, So Many Seasons in the Sun, at the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center at 1PM at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center. Contact info is below should you have questions I can’t answer

By Casey Pratt

Throwing a strike isn’t an act exclusive to the pitchers on the mound when inside AT&T Park in San Francisco. Select fans can also attempt to obtain strikes in an ultra-exclusive two-lane bowling alley on the suite level.
The bowling alley soft launched on Friday and it is part of what the team is calling “The Gotham Club.” In addition to the bowling alley, there’s a bar, pool tables, and game room. If you’re roaming the ballpark, don’t bother trying to find it. It’s behind an obscurely marked door and well guarded.
The only way to get inside is if you are a season ticket holder and a member of a premium club. Anyone that has ever played for the Giants is also automatically a member of the club.
The Gotham Club and its new bowling alley is just one of three exclusive “Gotham” areas that will be hidden inside the ballpark by next season. Next season the Giants will be building a the “Gotham Clubhouse” somewhere in centerfield. They already have the “Gotham Bullpen” in right field.
The clubs were given their Gotham theme to honor the franchises roots as the New York Gothams back in the 1800s. All three of these areas are supposed to duplicate spots that existed inside the Polo Grounds in New York.
Members of the Gotham Club are given access to the swanky off limits areas inside the ballpark and invitations to special team events. Field of Teams requested access to the Gotham Club, but was denied permission to go inside and shoot video of the club.

Appears to be a great new read from author Joe Konte. (Thanks to NYGPS Member Barry M. for the find) Brian Wilson’s signing with the Bums will only add to the fire. Here is the synopsis from Amazon.com:
Games between the Dodgers and Giants are never just another day at the ballpark. Dating back to the late nineteenth century—when the teams embodied the competitive spirit of rival metropolises of New York and Brooklyn—the Giants-Dodgers rivalry gained intensity throughout the early twentieth century. The cheering and jeering continued unabated until 1957, when the clubs backed the moving vans up to the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field, and took their rivalry to new venues in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Indeed, Brooklyn–New York baseball was a tough act to follow, but the West Coast version didn’t take long to fire up the emotions. Only six games into the first West Coast season, the clubs had their first beanball dustup. The venue had changed but the venom remained, and the rivalry became author Joe Konte’s obsession. Fifty-five years ago, he attended one of the first Giants-Dodgers games ever played outside of New York. A longtime newspaper editor and baseball fiend, Konte understands what is so special about what is one of the most significant rivalries in American sports. And so—via statistical analysis, game summaries, roster scrutiny, manager matchups, season recaps, and more—he has put together a rivalry bible. Focusing primarily on the California years, but also providing background on the origins and the New York years, The Rivalry Heard ’Round the World captures the spirit and intensity of one of the greatest rivalries in American sports.

Thanks to NYGPS Member and Mets Blogger Extraordinaire Greg Prince

for posting this.

New book on the NYG Hall of Famer by David King.

Description:
Though Ross Youngs has been enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame since 1972, few have given his remarkable career its due. Born in Shiner and raised in San Antonio, Youngs played his first game as a professional at the age of sixteen, and just three years later, his contract was purchased by the New York Giants, one of baseball’s elite teams in the early twentieth century. Tragically, his promising career ended when he died from an illness at age thirty in 1927. Join author David King in a journey to discover the amazing Youngs as he was and the incredible legacy he left behind. Visit our Facebook page for ordering details!!

Found this on the net!!The Hall of Fame career of Mays starts with this letter.

Posted: Wednesday, 07/17/13
THE TRENTONAIN
By Jay Dunn
jdunn@trentonian.com

Fred Snodgrass, Hack Wilson, Mickey Owens and Bill Buckner were all good ball players. Yet every one of them had the misfortune to misplay a ball at a critical moment in a World Series game. No matter how good they were, their critical misplays will always be part of their legacies.
In baseball parlance, such players are called goats.Curiously enough, however, none of them would rank at the top of anyone’s list of being the most notorious goat of all time. Not even close.
A player named Fred Merkle put himself at the top of baseball’s all-time goat list in 1908. In the past 105 years no one has challenged his status.
Unlike the other famous gaffes, Merkle’s defining moment did not come in a World Series, and it did not involve a misplayed ball. It involved a base running mistake that actually was quite common in his era.
Merkle was the runner on first base when teammate Al Bridwell delivered what appeared to be a game-winning hit, scoring a runner from third, in a crucial September game. All Merkle had to do was run down to second and tag the base, but instead he ran straight to the clubhouse. That mistake cost his team, the New York Giants, the 1908 National League pennant.
Merkle was a teenager and seldom-used reserve on that team. He started at first base for the only time all year Sept. 23 when the Giants hosted the Chicago Cubs in a critical afternoon game. The teams were in a virtual tie for first place, and each led the third-place Pittsburgh Pirates by only one game.
To fully understand what happened that day, there are some facts you need to know.
The game was played in the Polo Grounds, an oval-shaped ballpark with a very deep center field and both clubhouses positioned beyond the centerfield wall. The moment a game ended it was traditional that the spectators were allowed to run onto the field while the players made a desperate dash for those clubhouses. Understand, also, that in 1908 every manager was his own third-base coach. The first-base coach was a player not in the lineup, usually a pitcher. On this day Joe “Iron Man” McGinnity was coaching first for the Giants. Continue reading →

JAY GOLDBERG AND ROBERT MURPHY

Another classic night at the Clubhouse—-Bergino Baseball Clubhouse at 67 East 11th Street in the East Village. Owner Jay Goldberg was again a most gracious host supplying cold beer and water for the crowd that attended the Robert Murphy book talk regarding his, AFTER MANY A SUMMER.

Murphy spoke for quite a while on the Legend of Horace Stoneham. Although Stoneham was a much more stoic figure than O’Malley, never the less there was still much information for all of us in attendance to swallow…This topic from 1957 and the years leading up to the departure of the two storied franchises from NYC will never go away. More and more information continues to come out and with the internet we can find out so much.

Murphy was able to sell a number of books and signed them as well. .Some people already had the book and brought it for him to sign. He was most gracious in doing so and fielded numerous questions after his lengthy presentation. Many of the audience were senior members and added to what Murphy needed to fill in which delighted him for sure.

Senior NYGPS Member Perry Barber, who was in attendance, presented Murphy with a shirt bearing the logo of his book.. (See photo).He was very happy with that gift as well as a NY Giants mini-desk batting helmet which were both given on behalf of the NY Giants Preservation Society. As usual Gary organized this event and did a short talk promoting the organization which is still in its infant stage but growing in leaps and bounds.

I am so glad that I could make this meeting and share some stories about this historic topic of the evening. (having come in from Arizona)

Steve Rothschild