About Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds, located in upper Manhattan's Coogan's Bluff, was one of the most distinctive ballparks in baseball history. Its horseshoe shape created absurdly short foul lines — just 279 feet to left and 258 feet to right — while center field stretched an astonishing 483 feet from home plate.
The stadium served as the primary home of the New York Giants from 1911 until their move to San Francisco after the 1957 season. It also hosted the Yankees before Yankee Stadium opened in 1923, and gave the expansion Mets their first home in 1962-63.
Bobby Thomson's legendary "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in 1951 and Willie Mays' iconic over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series both happened here, cementing the Polo Grounds in baseball lore.
Fun facts
- Center field was so deep that a clubhouse was built in play, 483 feet from home plate.
- The Giants and Yankees played each other in the World Series at the Polo Grounds in 1921 and 1922 — both teams' home park.
- Despite its name, polo was never actually played at this particular version of the Grounds.
- A fan could hit a home run down the right-field line at 258 feet but fly out to dead center at nearly 500 feet.
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