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"The Polo Grounds" was the name given to four different stadiums in upper Manhattan used from 1880 until 1963.
The first stadium was bounded south and north by 110th & 112th street and east and west by 5th & 6th avenue. All the later Polo Grounds were located at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue now Frederick Douglas Boulevard.
The fourth and final Polo Grounds was the Giants home until they moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season and had been a temporary home for the Yankees (1913-1922) and the Mets (1962-1963). The name "Polo Grounds" did not actually appear on any of the stadiums until the Mets posted it with a large sign in 1962.
It was there that Bobby Thomson's famous home run called "The shot heard round the world" occurred in 1951 and Willie Mays, a Giants outfielder at the time made a sensational catch off a fly ball hit by Vic Wertz of the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series.
Babe Ruth hit many of his earlier blasts at the Polo Grounds, reaching the center field seats on several occasions. His longest hit at the grounds over the right-center upper deck in 1921 was estimated at over 550 feet.
After the 1923 remodeling only four players ever hit a home run into the center field stands. One was Luke Easter of the Negro League in 1948 and on consecutive days June 17 & 18 1962 Hank Aaron and Lou Brook.
In 1961 the City of New York decided to claim the land under eminent domain for the purpose of condemning the stadium. The Coogan family which still owned the property fought this effort until it was finally settled in the city's favor in 1967.
The final incarnation of the stadium was demolished in 1964. Demolition of the Polo Grounds began in April of that year with the same wrecking ball used four years earlier on Ebbets Field. A public housing project now stands at that location today.
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