1.
Polo Grounds
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The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963. The third Polo Grounds, built in 1890 and renovated after a fire in 1911, is the one generally indicated when the Polo Grounds is referenced. It was located in Coogans Hollow and was noted for its distinctive shape, very short distances to the left and right field walls. As the name suggests, the original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876, in baseball, the original Polo Grounds was home to the New York Metropolitans from 1880 until 1885, and the New York Giants from 1883 until 1888. The Giants played in the second Polo Grounds for part of the 1889 season and all of the 1890 season, and at the third and fourth Polo Grounds from 1891 through 1957. The Polo Grounds was also the field of the New York Yankees from 1913 until 1922. It hosted the 1934 and 1942 Major League Baseball All-Star Games, in football, the third Polo Grounds was home to the New York Brickley Giants for one game in 1921 and the New York Giants from 1925 to 1955. The New York Jets of the American Football League played at the stadium from the inaugural season of 1960 through 1963. Other sporting events held at the Polo Grounds included soccer, boxing, the last sporting event at the Polo Grounds was a football game between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills on December 14,1963. Shea Stadium opened in 1964 and replaced the Polo Grounds as the home of the Mets and Jets, the Polo Grounds was demolished over a period of four months that year and a public housing complex, known as the Polo Grounds Towers, was built on the site. The original Polo Grounds stood at 110th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, directly across 110th Street from the northeast corner of Central Park. The venues original purpose was for the sport of polo, and its name was merely descriptive, not a formal name. For this purpose the ownership built a second diamond and grandstand at the park, dividing it into eastern and western fields for use by the Giants and Metropolitans respectively. Polo Grounds I thus hosted its first Major League Baseball games in 1883 as the stadium of two teams, the American Association Metropolitans and the National League Gothams. George Cricket Grounds on Staten Island in 1886, the original Polo Grounds was used not only for Polo and professional baseball, but often for college baseball and football as well—even by teams outside New York. The earliest known surviving image of the field is an engraving of a game between Yale University and Princeton University on Decoration Day, May 30,1882. Yale and Harvard also played their traditional Thanksgiving Day game there on November 29,1883, New York City was in the process of extending its street grid into uptown Manhattan in 1889. Plans for an extended West 111th Street ran through the Polo Grounds, City workers are said to have shown up suddenly one day and begun cutting through the fence to lay out the new street
2.
Tim Keefe
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Timothy John Tim Keefe, nicknamed Smiling Tim and Sir Timothy, was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominating pitchers of the 19th century and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964. Keefes career spanned much of baseballs formative stages and his first season was the last in which pitchers threw from 45 feet, so for most of his career he pitched from 50 feet. His final season was the first season in which pitchers hurled from the distance of 60 feet,6 inches. Keefe was born on January 1,1857 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and his father Patrick was an Irish immigrant. When Tim Keefe was a child, Patrick served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, Patrick was a prisoner of war for several years. All four of Patricks brothers were killed in the war, Tim had been named two of them. Tims brother became a major and fought in the Spanish–American War, after the war, Patrick had high expectations for his son, and the two frequently fought over Tims pursuit of baseball. With the help of former pitcher Tommy Bond, Keefe persisted. Keefes early professional career included minor league stints in Lewiston, Clinton, New Bedford, Utica, Keefe entered the major leagues in 1880 with the Troy Trojans. He immediately established himself as a pitcher, posting an astounding 0.86 ERA in 105 innings pitched. Despite the sterling ERA, he managed but a 6–6 record, pitching in 12 games, on July 4 of that year, Keefe pitched both ends of a doubleheader against Columbus, winning the first game with a one-hitter, the second a two-hit gem. He went 41–27 over 619 innings pitched with a 2.41 ERA and 361 strikeouts and his 1884 campaign was almost as dominant, winning 37 games, losing 17, and striking out 334. Day, who owned the Metropolitans and the New York Giants of the National League, moved Keefe and Mutrie to the Giants. Here, Keefe joined future Hall of Famers Buck Ewing, Monte Ward, Roger Connor, Mickey Welch, Keefe went 32–13 with a 1.58 ERA and 227 strikeouts. In 1887, Keefe sat out several weeks of the season after he struck a batter in the head with a pitch and he had arguably his greatest season in 1888, when he led the league with a 35–12 record,1.74 ERA and 335 strikeouts. He won 19 consecutive games that season, a record that stood for 24 years, the Giants played the St. Louis Browns of the American Association in a postseason series for the Dauvray Cup, and Keefe added four more wins to his tally. Keefe even designed the famous all-black funeral uniforms the Giants wore that season, Keefe was very well-paid for his career, yet he was a leading member of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players, an early players union that fought for the welfare of players
3.
John Montgomery Ward
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John Montgomery Ward, known as Monte Ward, was an American Major League Baseball pitcher, shortstop, second baseman and manager. Ward was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Renovo and he led the formation of the first professional sports players union and a new baseball league, the Players League. Ward attended the Bellefonte Academy in the early 1870s and, at 13 years of age, in his short time there, he helped jumpstart a baseball program and is often credited for developing the first curveball. However, he was kicked out of school for pushing an upperclassman who attempted to haze him down a flight of stairs, the following year, in 1874, his parents James and Ruth died. He tried to make it as a salesman, but when that proved unsuccessful. It was there that he re-discovered baseball, in 1878, the semi-pro team that he was playing for folded, which opened the door for him to move on to a new opportunity. He was offered a contract to pitch for the Providence Grays of the still new National League, Wards first season with the Grays was a successful one, going 22–13 with a 1.51 ERA. He played that season exclusively as a pitcher, but during the two seasons he played increasingly in the outfield and at third base. Ward had his two finest seasons as a pitcher, going 47–19 with 239 strikeouts and a 2.15 ERA in 1879 and 39–24 with 230 strikeouts and he pitched nearly 600 innings each year. As a 19-year-old pitcher, he won 47 games and led the 1879 Providence Grays to a first-place finish, in 1880, he began to play other positions. On June 17,1880, Ward pitched the second game in baseball history, defeating future Hall of Famer Pud Galvin. Lee Richmond had thrown baseballs first perfect game just five days before, the next perfect game by a National League pitcher would not happen for 84 years, when Jim Bunning pitched a perfect game in 1964. Ward also expanded his role to include managing when he became a player-manager for the teams final 32 games, winning 18 of them. The seasons of 1881 and 1882 were the first in which he played games in the outfield than he pitched. This was due to an arm injury he originally incurred sliding into a base. By this time, however, the Grays felt his best days were behind him, Ward moved to the New York Gothams in 1883. An injury to his arm while running the bases during the 1884 season ended Wards pitching career. As he could not wait for his arm to heal before he returned to the field and he replaced Jim Price as the Giants manager for the final 16 games of the 1884 season
4.
Mickey Welch
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Michael Francis Welch, nicknamed Smiling Mickey, was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the pitcher to accumulate 300 career victories. Welch was born in Brooklyn, New York, and played 13 seasons in the major leagues and he was very successful with an effective curveball, a change of pace, and a version of the screwball. During his 13 major league seasons, he posted 20 or more wins nine times, Welch was born Michael Francis Walsh in Brooklyn, New York, to Irish immigrant parents John and Mary Walsh. He later adopted the last name Welch, the name change may have been spurred by a sportswriters mistaken recording of the name in a box score. The new last name may have distinguished him from the number of men in Brooklyn at the time named Michael Walsh. Off the baseball field, Welch used his name throughout his life. When he was growing up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, Welch made his major league debut in 1880, winning 34 games for the Troy Trojans. On July 6,1880, he pitched a one-hitter against the Cleveland Blues, Welchs totals dipped during the following two seasons, when he began to split starts with Tim Keefe, who also went on to win more than 300 games. The duo would only enjoy moderate success over the course of three seasons with the Trojans, a team never finished higher than fourth in the National League during its four-season run. After the Trojans disbanded after the 1882 season, the New York Gothams replaced them, taking many of the Troy players and he resumed a heavy workload in 1883, throwing 426 innings in 54 games. This time he split pitching duties with John Montgomery Ward in what turned out to be Wards final season as a regular pitcher, in 1884, he went 39-21 with 345 strikeouts and a 2.50 ERA. Welch holds the record for most consecutive batters struck out to begin a game, with 9, the record was not recognized for many years because of confusion over a dropped third strike. In the third inning of game, a third strike was dropped by New York catcher Bill Loughran. As a result, that batter safely reached first base, though modern scorekeeping would credit a pitcher with a strikeout in this situation, such an event was not always recorded as a strikeout by sportswriters of that era. Baseball historian Harry Simmons helped Welch to receive recognition of the feat in the 1940s. Tom Seaver struck out ten batters in 1970, but no pitcher has done that at the beginning of a game. Joe Cowley of the 1986 Chicago White Sox has come the closest to Welchs record, in 1885, when he went 44-11 with 258 strikeouts and a 1.66 ERA
5.
Road (sports)
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A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
6.
Buck Ewing
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William Buck Ewing was an American Major League Baseball player and manager, and is widely regarded as the best catcher of his era and is often argued as one of the best players of the 19th century. Born in Hoagland, Ohio, Ewing joined the National League in 1880 as a member of the Troy Trojans and that year he would hit 10 home runs, while batting.303. Ewing was equally renowned for his defensive abilities, writing in the 1938 Spalding Guide, John Foster said of him, As a thrower to bases Ewing never had a superior, and there are not to exceed ten men who could come anywhere near being equal to him. Ewing was the man of whom it was said, He handed the ball to the second baseman from the batters box, primarily a catcher, Ewing was versatile enough to play all nine positions and fast enough to steal 354 bases. He hit.300 in ten different seasons, playing until 1897 with the Giants, Cleveland Spiders and Cincinnati Reds, Ewing posted consistently superb offensive numbers. Arguably his best season was in 1893 with the Spiders when he batted.344 with 6 home runs,122 RBI,47 stolen bases and 117 runs. In 1890, when a revolt led to the formation of the short-lived Players League. Lingering resentment in the wake of the establishment and demise has often been suspected as a reason for his limited play in 1891. In addition to playing, Ewing managed for seven seasons, the 1890 Giants, the 1895–1899 Cincinnati Reds and he compiled a 489-395 record for a.553 winning percentage. Ewing also as used as an American Association umpire for two games on June 28 and July 4,1882, Ewing died of diabetes in Cincinnati. In the first elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he, three years later, in 1939, they were among the first 19th century players elected and Ewing became the first member who was primarily a catcher. He was named one of the top five players from the 19th century in a 1999 poll by the Society for American Baseball Research
7.
Joe Gerhardt
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John Joseph Joe Gerhardt, also known as Move Em Up Joe, was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1873 to 1893. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as a second baseman, Gerhardt was born in 1855 in Washington, D. C. His father, Joseph Gerhardt, was an immigrant from Prussia who was in the restaurant business and was a Colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War and his mother, Dorah, was an immigrant from the Hesse Cassel, which is now part of Germany. Gerhardt played five seasons in Louisville, Kentucky, for the Grays, Eclipse and Colonels, and five seasons in New York City for the Mutuals, Giants, Metropolitans and Gladiators. Across all 15 major league seasons, he appeared in 1,078 games,893 as a second baseman,85 as a third baseman,63 as a first baseman, and 33 as a shortstop. Gerhardt was a weak hitter, compiling a.227 career batting average and he twice led his league in assists at any position and regularly ranked among the league leaders in putouts. Double plays and fielding percentage by a second baseman between 1877 and 1890 and his career range factor of 6.46 remains the highest in major league history for a second baseman. He also ranks eighth among all second basemen in major league history with 558 errors at second base. In a 1922 story on Gerhardt, New York sports writer John M. Foster compared Gerhardt to baseballs other great second basemen and concluded, None had anything on Move Em Up Joe Gerhardt. Gerhardt became a player-manager on two different occasions, in 1883, for the Louisville Colonels, and in 1890, for the St. Louis Browns and his managerial record totaled 72 wins against 61 losses. Gerhardts nickname, Move Em Up Joe came from his war cry, Move em up, Gerhardt was an early advocate of the sacrifice play to move base runners forward. Upon Gerhardts death, New York sports writer John M. Foster went so far as to call Gerhardt the original inventor of the theory in baseball. In 1900, Gerhardt was living in Manhattan with his wife Edith and was employed as a hotel manager, by 1910, Gerhardt and his wife had moved to Liberty, New York, where Gerhardt was the proprietor of a liquor retail business. Gerhardt and his wife at that time had a daughter, Alva, Gerhardt later lived in Middletown, Orange County, New York. As of 1919, he was employed in N. D. Mills cigar store, at the time of the 1920 Census, he was living in Middletown with his wife, Edith, and daughter, Alva, and was employed as a salesman in a cigar store. Gerhardt died from a heart attack in Middletown at age 67. The attack reportedly struck him in front of the Middletown post office as he was walking to work after having been ill for a week and he was buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Washington, D. C. List of Major League Baseball player–managers Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
8.
History of the New York Giants (baseball)
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The San Francisco Giants existed in the New York metropolitan area from 1883–1957. Prior to the start of the 1958 season, the moved to San Francisco, California. During the clubs tenure in New York, it won five of the franchises eight World Series wins and 17 of its 24 National League pennants, for most of that time, the Giants played home games in the Polo Grounds in the Upper Manhattan region of New York City. The Giants had intense rivalries with their rivals, the New York Yankees. The New York-Brooklyn rivalry soon evolved into the Los Angeles-San Francisco rivalry, numerous inductees of the Baseball Hall of Fame played for the New York Giants, including John McGraw, Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, and Travis Jackson. The Giants began as the baseball club founded by millionaire tobacconist John B. Day and veteran amateur baseball player Jim Mutrie, the Gothams, as the Giants were originally known, entered the National League in 1883, while their other club, the Metropolitans played in the American Association. Nearly half of the original Gotham players were members of the disbanded Troy Trojans, louis Browns in an early incarnation of the World Series. They repeated as champions the year with a pennant and World Series victory over the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. It is said that one particularly satisfying victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mutrie stormed into the dressing room and exclaimed. From then on, the club was known as the Giants, the Giants original home stadium, the Polo Grounds, also dates from this early era. It was originally located north of Central Park adjacent to Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 110th and 112th Streets, the Giants were a powerhouse in the late 1880s, winning their first two National League Pennants and World Championships in 1888 &1889. But nearly all of the Giants stars jumped to the upstart Players League, whose New York franchise was named the Giants. The new team built a stadium next door to the Polo Grounds. With a decimated roster, the NL Giants finished a distant sixth, attendance took a nosedive, and the financial strain affected Days tobacco business as well. The Players League dissolved after the season, and Day sold a minority interest in his NL Giants to the defunct PL Giants principal backer, as a condition of the sale, Day had to fire Mutrie as manager. Although the Giants rebounded to third in 1891, Day was forced to sell a controlling interest to Talcott at the end of the season. Four years later, Talcott sold the Giants to Andrew Freedman, when Freedman offered Rusie only $2,500 for 1896, the disgruntled hurler sat out the entire season
9.
Roger Connor
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Roger Connor was a 19th-century Major League Baseball player. He played for teams, but his longest tenure was in New York. He was the player whom Babe Ruth succeeded as the home run champion. Connor hit 138 home runs during his 18-year career, and his home run record stood for 23 years after his retirement in 1897. Connor owned and managed minor league baseball teams after his playing days and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by its Veterans Committee in 1976. Largely forgotten after his retirement, Connor was buried in an unmarked grave until a group of citizens raised money for a marker in 2001. Connor was born in Waterbury, Connecticut and he was the son of Irish immigrants Mortimer Connor and Catherine Sullivan Connor. His father had arrived in the United States only five years before Rogers birth, the family lived in the Irish section of Waterbury, known as the Abrigador district, which was separated from the rest of the city by a large granite hill. Connor was the third of children born to the family. Connor left school around age 12 to work with his father at the brass works. Connor entered professional baseball with the Waterbury Monitors of the Eastern League in 1876, though he was left-handed, Connor was initially a third baseman, in early baseball, left-handed third basemen were more common than they are in modern baseball. He came to the National League in 1880 as a member of the Troy Trojans. In Connors first year with the Troy Trojans, he teamed with future Hall of Fame players Dan Brouthers, Buck Ewing, Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch, also on that 1880 Trojans team, though much older, was player-manager Bob Death to Flying Things Ferguson. Though Connor, Ferguson and Welch were regularly in the lineup, the team finished in fourth place with a 41-42 win-loss record. Connor committed 60 errors in 83 games and sustained a shoulder injury and he later played for the New York Gothams, and, due to his great stature, gave that team the enduring nickname Giants. Connor hit baseballs first grand slam on September 10,1881 and his grand slam came with two outs and his team down three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, a situation known today as a walk-off home run. George Vecsey, in The New York Times wrote, Roger Connor was a complete player — a deft first baseman and he led the NL with a.371 average in 1885. On September 11,1886, Connor hit a ball out of the Polo Grounds
