The Bowery Boys: New York City History
Baseball, as American as apple pie, really is “the New York game.” While its precursors come from many places – from Jamestown to Prague – the rules of American baseball and the modern ways of enjoying it were born from the urban experience and, in particular, the 19th-century New York region. The sport (in the… Read More
The New York Mets, 2015 National League Champions and New York’s perpetual baseball underdogs, are only 53 years, formed in 1962 to fill the void after the departure of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New  York Giants* to California. But in name, at least, they’re older than even the Yankees. The first New York ball club… Read More
The New York State Pavilion in its prime. (NYPL) The New York Mets owe much to Robert Moses and the World’s Fair of 1964-65. The fledgling baseball team was still playing at the decrepit old Polo Grounds when plans were hatched for their new home out in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, named for their primary benefactor William… Read More
Above: the Columbia University football team, 1914 Click into the images for bigger view. The first two team photos were taken sometime in Fall 1914, on the Columbia University campus. (As in, in the middle of campus.) The first solo portraits were taken on Oct 24, 1914, during the Cornell vs Brown match-up at the… Read More
The Polo Grounds in 1923, the first year of a major expansion to accommodate fans of the New York Giants baseball team and a great many historic boxing matches (LOC) 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… Read More
Above: the crowds at the Polo Ground for Game One. Many of these same people were certainly on hand for the fateful Game Four. One hundred years ago today, in the frantic fall of 1912, even as the nation was in the midst of an intense three-way race to elect a new president, New Yorkers… Read More
At the legendary Polo Grounds 1925, where the Giants football team (after a couple false starts) finally make their mark on the sport.The New York Giants, currently in the playoffs and on their way to tackle the formidable Green Bay Packers this Sunday, are football’s oldest existing NFL team, and among its greatest — with… Read More
I’ve had a couple emails asking us to do a New York Giants podcast this week. Oh, had I known! We would have planned one. However, by the end of next month, we will unveil another major sports-themed podcast. In the meantime, here’s a few New York Giants’ non-statistical, history-related factoids to chew on and… Read More