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The Giants of The Polo Grounds: The Glorious Times of Baseball's New York Giants
The expanded and revised edition! A big free-wheeling uncensored FUN read about a great team, a great ball park and a great city. The Giants of The Polo Grounds is the definitive work on baseball’s New York Giants and their tenure in New York City. An “Editor’s Choice” of The New York Times when it was first published more than 20 years ago, the book was also a Spitball Magazine nominee for the Best Baseball Book of the year. Author Noel Hynd, a former contributor to Sports Illustrated, has now created a new edition that maintains all the previous text, but expands the work to more than 600 pages from the original 375. Included this time are more stories about McGraw, Ott, Durocher and Mays and their opponents, plus more on the men and women from other sports and various fields of entertainment who also were ‘giants’ of the Polo from boxers Jack Dempsey and Sugar Ray Robinson to entertainers Annie Oakley and Tallulah Bankhead to football’s Red Grange and soccer’s Béla Guttmann. The Giants of The Polo Grounds is the story of a famous team, a renowned ball park, an invincible spirit and America’s most vibrant city from the 1880’s to the 1950’s. The new edition is packed with remarkable anecdotes about Broadway, New York politics, good guys and bad guys who made the Giants' era in New York unique and memorable. The new edition, practically the equivalent of two volumes, also features more than 100 photos and illustrations, most of them new, some rarely seen. Critical Praise for The Giants of The Polo Grounds “A compelling and comprehensive history of an extraordinary ball club.” - New York Times “Grandly digressive! The owners, stars like Mathewson and Mays, various eccentric players are all here in this vivid history by Sports Illustrated contributor Hynd.” - Publishers’ Weekly “Fans of all ages will treasure the crazy quilt text for its stylish recall of the game’s summer roots.” -Kirkus Library Journal “Just plain enjoyable as baseball is supposed to be.” - The Pennsylvania Gazette Think of it as a grand slam into the center field bleachers in the bottom of the 9th!
- GenresBaseballSportsNonfiction
636 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 1988
About the author
Noel Hynd
62 books221 followers I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 26, 2019
The baseball team currently known as the San Francisco Giants started its baseball life in New York City, moving west in 1958. During its stay in the Big Apple, which spanned over eighty years, the team had a rich history and played in a famous ball park, the Polo Grounds. This excellent book by Noel Hynd captures that colorful time the Giants played their home games in the borough of Manhattan.
Probably the most famous man to wear a New York Giants baseball uniform was John McGraw, the firey manager who first made a name for himself as a player with the original Baltimore Orioles franchise. Hynd dedicates a significant portion of the book detailing the McGraw years of the team and explains in great detail how the franchise was really his team, even though he wasn’t the sole owner. Practically every detail one would want to learn about Mr. McGraw and some of his star players like Christy Matthewson can be found in this book.
This isn’t to say that other eras and people important to the history of the Giants are overlooked either. This is especially true for the team in the 1800’s as a reader will learn much about not only the Giants, but the entire game itself during that time. Hynd talks about the 1890 players’ revolt, the Giants using other celebrities to entice fans to come to games, such as Gentleman Jim Corbett and even talks about other teams in New York City throughout the book. One item this reader learned in this section of the book was that the current team playing in Queens was not the first baseball team named the New York Mets. A professional team was formed in the 1870’s called the New York Metropolitans, but that name was deemed too long and was shortened to Mets.
Coverage of the team after John McGraw retired is just as comprehensive, especially for the 1951 and 1954 seasons when the Giants were involved in one of the most famous pennant races ever (1951) and then engineered one of the bigger upsets in World Series history up to that point (1954) with the aid of a catch by Willie Mays. It is one that a reader may have heard about before. Just like with the early history and the McGraw years, Hynd writes with great detail about the ups and downs of the Giants, the key personnel and even about some of the other New York teams.
The detailed writing doesn’t stop at just baseball as readers will learn about many famous events that took place at the Polo Grounds, such as legendary boxing matches. Legendary actors and actresses who either had some type of connection to the team or had other important connections to New York also received some mention in the book. This makes the book that is an excellent source for information on anything remotely associated with the Giants and should be one that is included in the library for readers who are interested in the New York Giants at any time in their rich history.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
Probably the most famous man to wear a New York Giants baseball uniform was John McGraw, the firey manager who first made a name for himself as a player with the original Baltimore Orioles franchise. Hynd dedicates a significant portion of the book detailing the McGraw years of the team and explains in great detail how the franchise was really his team, even though he wasn’t the sole owner. Practically every detail one would want to learn about Mr. McGraw and some of his star players like Christy Matthewson can be found in this book.
This isn’t to say that other eras and people important to the history of the Giants are overlooked either. This is especially true for the team in the 1800’s as a reader will learn much about not only the Giants, but the entire game itself during that time. Hynd talks about the 1890 players’ revolt, the Giants using other celebrities to entice fans to come to games, such as Gentleman Jim Corbett and even talks about other teams in New York City throughout the book. One item this reader learned in this section of the book was that the current team playing in Queens was not the first baseball team named the New York Mets. A professional team was formed in the 1870’s called the New York Metropolitans, but that name was deemed too long and was shortened to Mets.
Coverage of the team after John McGraw retired is just as comprehensive, especially for the 1951 and 1954 seasons when the Giants were involved in one of the most famous pennant races ever (1951) and then engineered one of the bigger upsets in World Series history up to that point (1954) with the aid of a catch by Willie Mays. It is one that a reader may have heard about before. Just like with the early history and the McGraw years, Hynd writes with great detail about the ups and downs of the Giants, the key personnel and even about some of the other New York teams.
The detailed writing doesn’t stop at just baseball as readers will learn about many famous events that took place at the Polo Grounds, such as legendary boxing matches. Legendary actors and actresses who either had some type of connection to the team or had other important connections to New York also received some mention in the book. This makes the book that is an excellent source for information on anything remotely associated with the Giants and should be one that is included in the library for readers who are interested in the New York Giants at any time in their rich history.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
September 12, 2020
Very thorough, and sometimes lively, account of the NY Giants baseball franchise.
Some of the chapters lack context and continuity from the prior chapter. There are also a number of tangents that have nothing to do with baseball. Organization could have been better.
4 stars. The writing was pretty solid.
Some of the chapters lack context and continuity from the prior chapter. There are also a number of tangents that have nothing to do with baseball. Organization could have been better.
4 stars. The writing was pretty solid.
September 2, 2018
Noel Hynd who usually is writing works of fiction gave into his avocation of baseball fan to write a
history of the fabled New York Giants who started in the National League in 1883 when they moved
from Troy, New York until 1957 when in the following year Horace Stoneham their owner moved them
to San Francisco.
The book is Giants of the Polo Grounds and everything but polo was played there. The concrete and
steel structure near Coogan's Bluff near the Harlem River came into existence in 1911 and it remains
one of baseball wierdest playing fields. It was a U shaped stadium with short foul lines and a massive
centerfield where a herd of buffalo could have been supported on the grass. No centerfielder for the
New York Giants ever had to worry about playing balls off the wall. It was close to 500 feet to dead
center. Few balls ever were hit out of there, in fact I was present as a lad at the Polo Grounds when
the New York Mets revived the old stadium for their first two seasons and Lou Brock of the Cubs did
hit one to dead center. Lots of inside the park homers though.
The Giants and their ownership were always well tied to New York's Tammany Hall, never more so
than when Andrew Freedman who was a Tammany real estate magnate owned them at the turn of
the last century. He was the Donald Trump of owners, knew nothing of baseball and was afraid to
have anyone around who did know something. The only lasting legacy he left the Giants was in
hiring John McGraw as manager.
McGraw and his star pitcher Christy Mathewson were the image of New York baseball. From 1902
until 1932 McGraw and his Giants won 10 pennants, a record only equalled by Casey Stengel and
the Yankees and Stengel learned managing from McGraw, McGraw's fanatical will to win at any
price stamped the character of the team. McGraw became a part owner of the team in 1918 with
Tammany connected Charles Stoneham and Judge Francis McQuade.
You'll find all of them here in the book. Pitchers like Mathewson, Carl Hubbell, and Sal Maglie,
infielders like Fred Lindstrom, Bill Dahlen, Fred Merkle, and Eddie Stanky and Bill Terry, outfielders like Mel Ott and Willie Mays. McGraw was succeeded by two of his players Terry and
Ott as manager and later Leo Durocher who really reinstalled a fighting will to win in that team.
No book on the Giants would be complete without mentioning their rivals across the East River the
Brooklyn Dodgers. From the owners to the players to the fans this was one intense rivalry maybe
the biggest New York sports ever had. Ironically both moved to the west coast and continued the
rivalry there. And of course there was the relentless New York Yankees in the Bronx who would be
the likely World Series foe for the Dodgers or Giants or any other team that broke through in the
National League to win the pennant.
When Branch Rickey integrated baseball with bringing Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers, I always
felt that geography should have dictated the Giants to be the ones who integrated. Their Harlem
location should have said to Horace Stoneham that signing black players was the way to go. Had
they had the Dodger black stars plus Willie Mays they might still be here and drawing like crazy
at a refurbished Polo Grounds. Then you'll discover that imagination wasn't Horace Stoneham's
chief virtue.
They're gone now, but from moving from Troy to moving to San Francisco the whole history of
the Giants is there for you to see in their Manhattan years.
history of the fabled New York Giants who started in the National League in 1883 when they moved
from Troy, New York until 1957 when in the following year Horace Stoneham their owner moved them
to San Francisco.
The book is Giants of the Polo Grounds and everything but polo was played there. The concrete and
steel structure near Coogan's Bluff near the Harlem River came into existence in 1911 and it remains
one of baseball wierdest playing fields. It was a U shaped stadium with short foul lines and a massive
centerfield where a herd of buffalo could have been supported on the grass. No centerfielder for the
New York Giants ever had to worry about playing balls off the wall. It was close to 500 feet to dead
center. Few balls ever were hit out of there, in fact I was present as a lad at the Polo Grounds when
the New York Mets revived the old stadium for their first two seasons and Lou Brock of the Cubs did
hit one to dead center. Lots of inside the park homers though.
The Giants and their ownership were always well tied to New York's Tammany Hall, never more so
than when Andrew Freedman who was a Tammany real estate magnate owned them at the turn of
the last century. He was the Donald Trump of owners, knew nothing of baseball and was afraid to
have anyone around who did know something. The only lasting legacy he left the Giants was in
hiring John McGraw as manager.
McGraw and his star pitcher Christy Mathewson were the image of New York baseball. From 1902
until 1932 McGraw and his Giants won 10 pennants, a record only equalled by Casey Stengel and
the Yankees and Stengel learned managing from McGraw, McGraw's fanatical will to win at any
price stamped the character of the team. McGraw became a part owner of the team in 1918 with
Tammany connected Charles Stoneham and Judge Francis McQuade.
You'll find all of them here in the book. Pitchers like Mathewson, Carl Hubbell, and Sal Maglie,
infielders like Fred Lindstrom, Bill Dahlen, Fred Merkle, and Eddie Stanky and Bill Terry, outfielders like Mel Ott and Willie Mays. McGraw was succeeded by two of his players Terry and
Ott as manager and later Leo Durocher who really reinstalled a fighting will to win in that team.
No book on the Giants would be complete without mentioning their rivals across the East River the
Brooklyn Dodgers. From the owners to the players to the fans this was one intense rivalry maybe
the biggest New York sports ever had. Ironically both moved to the west coast and continued the
rivalry there. And of course there was the relentless New York Yankees in the Bronx who would be
the likely World Series foe for the Dodgers or Giants or any other team that broke through in the
National League to win the pennant.
When Branch Rickey integrated baseball with bringing Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers, I always
felt that geography should have dictated the Giants to be the ones who integrated. Their Harlem
location should have said to Horace Stoneham that signing black players was the way to go. Had
they had the Dodger black stars plus Willie Mays they might still be here and drawing like crazy
at a refurbished Polo Grounds. Then you'll discover that imagination wasn't Horace Stoneham's
chief virtue.
They're gone now, but from moving from Troy to moving to San Francisco the whole history of
the Giants is there for you to see in their Manhattan years.
May 12, 2013
Interesting history of Baseball in New York through 1951. If you enjoy baseball you will enjoy this book.
April 4, 2024
The definitive history of the New York Giants and the Polo Grounds. Great collection of history and anecdotes, put together in a well-told and interesting way.
November 25, 2025
I enjoyed this book's writing style. Some books like this can be very dry. This book is the exact opposite of that. I enjoyed the reminiscences of the fans who remember attending games there with their fathers or family friends. I liked all the pictures and stories of the people who were indirectly associated with the Polo Grounds and the Giants. I'm glad to see a book about the entire history of the NY Giants. It's an underwritten subject. There are scores of books about the Brooklyn Dodgers and even more about the Yankees. Most of the Giants books are about the McGraw/Matheson era and the rivalry with the Dodgers. But this covered the history from beginning to the bitter end.
My appreciation of your book was tempered by several mistakes that were made. First of all, the author claimed Tim Keefe struck out 540 batters in 1886. According to Baseballreference.com, which the author said in his acknowledgements he used for his statistics, Keefe struck out only 297 batters. He also claimed Silver King pitched 586 innings for the Brown Stockings in 1888. He was closer this time as King pitched 584.2 innings. He wrote that Bill Dickey hit .322 in 1937 but BR says he hit .332. Finally, in the description of game 3 of the 1951 NL playoff, he wrote, "Maglie tried to keep Robinson from pulling the ball into the right field stands." That would be accurate if Jackie Robinson were a left handed hitter which he most certainly was not.
I know it comes across like I'm picking nits but I think it's important to get things right because if you catch one thing wrong, who knows what else could be wrong.
My appreciation of your book was tempered by several mistakes that were made. First of all, the author claimed Tim Keefe struck out 540 batters in 1886. According to Baseballreference.com, which the author said in his acknowledgements he used for his statistics, Keefe struck out only 297 batters. He also claimed Silver King pitched 586 innings for the Brown Stockings in 1888. He was closer this time as King pitched 584.2 innings. He wrote that Bill Dickey hit .322 in 1937 but BR says he hit .332. Finally, in the description of game 3 of the 1951 NL playoff, he wrote, "Maglie tried to keep Robinson from pulling the ball into the right field stands." That would be accurate if Jackie Robinson were a left handed hitter which he most certainly was not.
I know it comes across like I'm picking nits but I think it's important to get things right because if you catch one thing wrong, who knows what else could be wrong.
April 9, 2020
The best part about the book was the subject matte-the Giants. I've been reading this book since last May, off and on. But with the shelter in place situation, I crashed through this big book which takes the Giants' history back to its earliest days. As a tour guide for the Giants, I know a lot of this stuff but no will be able to add many stories to my presentations. In addition to the baseball stories, Hynd included side-bars about other things, like boxing matches, early women's baseball (before League of their Own-era), mascots and the like. I found them to be a nice addition.
The writing style is ok but I did like many of Hynd's clever little remarks-bits of sarcasm, references to future events, droll comments about a player's abilities, piccadilloes, foibles. They added a "sassy" flair to the day to day baseball stories.
If you LOVE the Giants and your jonesing for some baseball, this is the book for you. It might take you a season (especially a shortened one) to read.
The writing style is ok but I did like many of Hynd's clever little remarks-bits of sarcasm, references to future events, droll comments about a player's abilities, piccadilloes, foibles. They added a "sassy" flair to the day to day baseball stories.
If you LOVE the Giants and your jonesing for some baseball, this is the book for you. It might take you a season (especially a shortened one) to read.
January 19, 2025
Wonderful experience, as someone that has sweet childhood memories with the SF Giants, I can only imagine how heartbroken it must’ve been for New Yorkers to see their precious teams go so far away, destroy their temples and leaving them with nothing, something that was an integral part of your life, that you took for granted, suddenly gone…. It is meditative of the state of human existence itself, should we adopt the Buddhist approach to life? When understood that at some point all that we’ve loved will eventually be gone forever, should we then abdicate every form of attachment? (impermanence) Or perhaps the Nietzschean approach, since we know we shall eventually lose all that’s loved to us, we have to attach ourselves even more to it, enjoying while we can in full, after all, how worth would life really be without the love and attachment we have to what’s precious to us?
July 13, 2020
Polo Grounds Remembrances
Growing up in New York City during the 1950’s I remember a few trips to see the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. This a delightful trip through the ages about the Giants and ultimately the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. The book not only covers the Giants but other events (concerts, prize fights and even midget racing!). The stories about the participants were fascinating and informative. It is a large book (over 600 pages) but well worth the effort. Highly recommended.
Growing up in New York City during the 1950’s I remember a few trips to see the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. This a delightful trip through the ages about the Giants and ultimately the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. The book not only covers the Giants but other events (concerts, prize fights and even midget racing!). The stories about the participants were fascinating and informative. It is a large book (over 600 pages) but well worth the effort. Highly recommended.
November 16, 2018
Great read.
Noel Hynd did a great job of recreating the eras of baseball between 1880 and 1930. The book flowed easy and kept my interest throughout the book.
The author was kind enough to e-mail the chapter on Bobby Thomson's shot heard 'round the world. As an old Brooklyn Dodger fan I considered skipping that chapter but wound up reading it.
I hope he writes another chapter in Polo Grounds history-the early 60s when the Mets and Titans (now Jets) played at the Polo Grounds.
Noel Hynd did a great job of recreating the eras of baseball between 1880 and 1930. The book flowed easy and kept my interest throughout the book.
The author was kind enough to e-mail the chapter on Bobby Thomson's shot heard 'round the world. As an old Brooklyn Dodger fan I considered skipping that chapter but wound up reading it.
I hope he writes another chapter in Polo Grounds history-the early 60s when the Mets and Titans (now Jets) played at the Polo Grounds.
April 17, 2020
Excellent book on a storied past
Being a long time Giants fan but never having gone to the Polo Grounds this book was a revelation. The book goes back to the start of New York baseball . the author does take you to different tangents but I found them amusing and educating. Enjoy the book ..
Being a long time Giants fan but never having gone to the Polo Grounds this book was a revelation. The book goes back to the start of New York baseball . the author does take you to different tangents but I found them amusing and educating. Enjoy the book ..
May 21, 2020
Memories
I am not old enough to remember John McGraw but later memories were great. I have been a baseball fan since the early 40s. This brought back days with my dad at Briggs Stadium, later called Tiger Stadium. It was an enjoyable down memory lane......Skeeters Webb, George Kell, Pat Mullin.
I am not old enough to remember John McGraw but later memories were great. I have been a baseball fan since the early 40s. This brought back days with my dad at Briggs Stadium, later called Tiger Stadium. It was an enjoyable down memory lane......Skeeters Webb, George Kell, Pat Mullin.
April 15, 2019
A very good and well told story
I grew up watching and listening to the Yankees kick the White Sox butts. I soon realized that there cross town rivals were a very good team. This book is much more than a Giants story it's a great baseball ball story.
I grew up watching and listening to the Yankees kick the White Sox butts. I soon realized that there cross town rivals were a very good team. This book is much more than a Giants story it's a great baseball ball story.
April 12, 2020
Though the author is a bit chatty and in love with his use of language, it's a pretty solid history of a historic franchise that doesn't get half the attention of the Brooklyn Dodgers despite a huge advantage in pennants and championships.
December 31, 2020
Such an excellently written, wonderfully expansive history of the New York Giants and the Polo Grounds. If my grandfather were alive, huge New York Giants fan that he was, he would have loved this book. If you want to learn all about this incredible ball club (plus other historical and pop culture happenings between the 1880s and 1950s), this is the book for you.
April 26, 2025
An Interesting Account of the Major Events, Which Took Place in the Stadium
The author clearly knows his subject and is enthusiastic about it. The style is easy- to - read and very enjoyable.
The author clearly knows his subject and is enthusiastic about it. The style is easy- to - read and very enjoyable.
October 16, 2025
This a great history/drama of early baseball read. My favorite radio baseball announcers Jon Miller and Dave Fleming mentioned it in their 'book club' late into a game. I'm glad they turned me into it!
January 25, 2019
Justin McGuire's Baseball by the Book podcast - January 2019
June 10, 2019
A wonderful ride
Absolutely a wonderful exploration of a great time. Not just of baseball but of people, politics and the times they lived in.
Absolutely a wonderful exploration of a great time. Not just of baseball but of people, politics and the times they lived in.
September 21, 2023
Wonderful stories, terrific narrative … horrendous misspellings and typos throughout.
July 2, 2025
An exhaustive treatise about the NY Giants. This book could have used a good proofreading.
April 28, 2026
Closer to 3 3/4 stars
Read if a fan of baseball history or of the NY Giants (my husband)., otherwise you probably won’t enjoy it.
Read if a fan of baseball history or of the NY Giants (my husband)., otherwise you probably won’t enjoy it.
July 20, 2018
This one picks up when Mr. McGraw makes his first appearance on page 98 and careens through to the end. There's a romance and grit to the old New York Giants that Noel Hynd does a marvelous job of capturing, and his ability to highlight the mores and deeds of certain players (the weight loss travails of James "Shanty" Hogan of Somerville, Mass, for example) makes this book a study of great sweep and minute observation at the same time. This is a winner of a read.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews