Up for auction we have a very unique  Baseball collectable: New York's old Polo Grounds baseball stadiums, circa 1951. This antique silverware storage box has been gutted, re-purposed, and transformed into a tribute to the baseball home of the New York Giants, among other tennants, throughout much of the 20th Century.

A little about the park:

POLO GROUNDS FACTS #

 

  • Originally named for owner John T. Brush.
  • The phrase “Hot Dog” was coined by NY Journal sports cartoonist Tad Dorgan when he couldn’t remember how to spell the word “dachshund” in describing the “red hot dachshund sausages” served at a game here in April 1901.
  • The Polo Grounds Towers (four 30-story apartment buildings) now stand where the field used to be. Willie Mays Field (an asphalt playground with 6 basketball backboards) is where center field used to be; a brass historical marker notes the spot.
  • The outfield was slightly sunken. A manager, standing in his dugout, could see only the top half of his outfielders. At the wall, the field was 8 feet below the infield.
  • Right-center wall sloped gradually from 11 feet at pole to 12 feet at the bleachers.
  • Left-center wall sloped from 16 feet, 9.75 inches at the pole to 18 feet in left center, then abruptly fell to 16 feet and then to 14 feet and sloped gradually to 12 feet at the bleachers.
  • Fred Merkle’s blunder occurred here on September 23, 1908, resulting in the infamous Cubs-Giants October 8, 1908 replay of the game.
  • Morris Jumel Mansion, on Coogan’s Bluff, overlooked the ballpark.
  • Coats of arms of all the teams in the National League were displayed on the top of the grandstand until they were removed in the 1920s.
  • On August 16, 1920, Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by the Yankees’ Carl Mays. At the time, batters did not wear helmets. Chapman died 12 hours after he was hit, on August 17. He remains the only player to die from an injury sustained in a major league baseball game.
  • In the winter of 1922-23, the concrete double decks were extended all the way to either side of the new concrete bleachers in center, housing the clubhouse. Unfortunately, the Roman Coliseum facade frescoes were removed during that winter also.
  • The bleachers in center were remodeled in 1923.
  • Site of the All-Star game in 1942 and 1934.
  • A 2-foot-square section of sod from center field was removed and taken to San Francisco (where the Giants moved to) in the fall of 1957.
  • Home plate was moved out toward center several feet by the Mets in the winter of 1961-1962.
  • In 1962 and 1963 the Howard Clothes sign on the outfield wall promised a suit to any player hitting it.
  • Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard Round the World” homer occurred here at 4:11 PM on October 3, 1951 against the Dodgers and ended the “Greatest Game Ever Played.”
  • Demolition started on April 10, 1964, using the same wrecking ball that had demolished Ebbets Field.

 

 

Why a Cigar Box Stadium?  A great looking conversation piece for your den, or as a great place to toss the dice if you play one of the several excellent tabletop baseball games on the market such as Strat-O-Matic, or APBA. It has felted interior sidewalls, and has been lined on the interior bottom with one-piece of .030 transparent plastic to protect your dice-throwing surface, and to ensure a true dice roll. Its approx dimensions are 14 1/2" x 10 3/4" x 3" and may become a family heirloom to be passed down from one baseball-loving generation to the next.  If you play dice baseball, what better way to suspend your dis-belief, and imagine yourself at  the old Polo Grounds, Willie Mays running down Vic Wertz's vicious line drive in the vastness of Center Field and history can be re-lived on your tabletop with this great dice baseball stadium..... The box is in very good condition.

Buyer agrees to pay $22.50 Shipping & Handling. No foreign shipping unless thru Global Ship Program offered by eBay. Seller agrees to ship within 3 business days of cleared purchase.