Before Shea Stadium opened 51 years ago on April 17, 1964, the Mets played their first two seasons in the Polo Grounds. This we all know, because Shea Stadium wasn’t ready when the Mets joined the National League in 1962. What I didn’t know was that, as late as the summer of 1961, there was
Category Archives: History
April 16, 1915: Newark goes big league
After sweeping the Terrapins in Baltimore to begin their existence 3-0, the Newark Peppers traveled up to Brooklyn’s Washington Park and lost two games to the Tip-Tops. Harry Moran lost the first one after taking a 7-5 lead into the ninth inning. Brooklyn player/manager Lee Magee opened the inning with a single and stole second. After
April 10, 1915: Falkenberg leads Peppers to win No. 1
On April 10, 1915, the Newark Peppers played their first game at Baltimore’s Terrapin Park. Some 17,000-20,000 fans turned out. “Terrapin Park, the home of the local organization, was packed from one corner to the other, until the crowd overflowed onto the field,” Emanuel Daniel reported in Sporting Life. His dispatch went on to
When New Jersey was major league
Remember the Newark Peppers? You wouldn’t. Chances are no one alive today would have actual memories of the one summer New Jersey boasted its own major league baseball (not capitalized on purpose) team. That’s because this year marks the 100th anniversary of that summer — 1915, when the short-lived Federal League placed a team
Hinchliffe Stadium snowed in
A couple of weeks ago on a photo trip to Paterson’s Great Falls, I peered over at Hinchliffe Stadium and noticed the main gates were open. Inside on what had been the football playing field (and deep in the outfield) were piles of snow. Such piles are not so unusual in the northeast this winter, but these