Huskee11
The Sultan
- Joined
- May 8, 2016
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Didnt Ruth play at the Polo Grounds and it was like 460 in center field?
Yankee Stadium opened in 1923. The House that Ruth built. Ruth played 3 seasons at the Polo Grounds, and hit 54 and 59 homers there in two of the years.
Almost impossible to hit one out of the Polo Grounds to center field. Most baseball fans have seen replays of Willie Mays catch of a Vic Wertz drive to center in the 1954 World Series, one of the greatest catches ever. That was at the Polo Grounds.
But, the dimensions down the lines were very short. 257 feet to right, maybe 275 to left. Bobby Thomsen`s "shot heard round the world" at the Polo Grounds in 1951 probably didn`t travel much more than 300 - 320 feet. Also, there was an overhang for the second deck so a fly ball didn`t even have to travel that far. Saw the Mets play there a couple of times against my favorite team, the Braves, and my favorite player, Hank Aaron.
Both Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds were very deep in center. For home runs, both stadiums favored dead pull hitters. Yankee Stadium was a better hitters` ballpark for lefties like Ruth, Gehrig and Maris. Not sure it did DiMaggio any favors.
Interesting how the old ballparks in the heart of the city were configured. They worked with the space they had.