May 1, 1883: The Birth of the New York Giants

May 1, 1883: The New York Gothams defeat the Boston Beaneaters, 5-3, at a field at the northeast corner of Central Park in New York, 110th Street and 5th Avenue, a former polo field owned by newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett. It was nicknamed "The Polo Grounds."

New York, the largest city in America, and Philadelphia, the 2nd-largest city in the East, had been without teams in the National League since the end of the 1876 season, when, struggling financially, the New York Mutuals and the Philadelphia Athletics were unable to pay their travel expenses and complete their schedule. Rather than help them out, William Hulbert, President of the NL, threw them out of the League, which struggled badly without the big cities.

In the 1879, 1880, 1881 and 1882 seasons, a team called the Troy Trojans played in the NL, in Troy, New York, across the Hudson River from the State capital of Albany. That team went out of business, and some of its players were signed by a new team placed in the League, to represent New York City.

To make it clearer: The Troy team did not move to become the New York Gothams. And the Worcester Ruby Legs, who went out of business after the 1882 season, were replaced by, rather than became, another new team, the Philadelphia Quakers. That team, as previous Philadelphia teams had been, was nicknamed the "Phillies," and the name "Philadelphia Phillies" became official in 1890.

In 1885, the Gothams hired Jim Mutrie as their manager. He called his players "my big boys, my giants." And they have been known as the Giants ever since. They won the Pennant in 1888 and 1889.

Due to City politics, they had to move, and found a new home, in Upper Manhattan, with Harlem to the south, Washington Heights to the west, and a curve in the Harlem River to the east and north. It was wedged under a cliff called Coogan's Bluff. Pretty much every sport you could imagine but polo would be played on the site, but it was still called the Polo Grounds.

They won the Pennant in 1904, and the World Series in 1905. In 1911, the Polo Grounds burned down, and a new ballpark was built on the site. In this stadium, originally named Brush Stadium for team owner John T. Brush but eventually renamed the Polo Grounds, the Giants won the Pennant in 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1917, but lost the World Series each time.

They won 4 straight Pennants, beating the New York Yankees in the World Series in 1921 and 1922, and losing to the Yankees in 1923 and the Washington Senators in 1924. They won the World Series in 1933, avenging their earlier loss to the Senators. They won Pennants in 1936, 1937, 1951 and 1954, losing the 1st 3 of these to the Yankees, and, in the last of these, beating the Cleveland Indians.

The changing face of New York City, and the changing economics of baseball, led the team's owner, Horace Stoneham, to move them to San Francisco for the 1958 season. They won a Pennant in 1962, but lost the World Series to the Yankees. though usually in contention, they didn't win another Pennant until 1989, losing the Series to the cross-Bay Oakland Athletics. They won another in 2002, losing the Series to the team now known as the Los Angeles Angels.

Finally, they won the World Series in 2010, beating the Texas Rangers. They also won in 2012 over the Detroit Tigers, and 2014 over the Kansas City Royals.

A football team named the New York Giants began play at the Polo Grounds in 1925. That team now plays a few miles outside the City, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but, unlike the baseball team, retains the New York Giants name.

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May 1, 1883 was a Tuesday. These other games were played in baseball that day:

In the National League:

* The Providence Grays beat the Philadelphia Quakers, 4-3 at Recreation Park in Philadelphia. The Quakers became the Phillies. The Grays, who had won the Pennant in 1879, would do so again in 1884, but only last one more season before going out of business.

* The Cleveland Blues beat the Buffalo Bisons, 7-4 at Kennard Street Park in Cleveland. The Blues only lasted one more season; the Bisons, one more after that.

* The Chicago White Stockings beat the Detroit Wolverines, 7-4 at Recreation Park in Detroit. The White Stockings would become the Cubs. The Wolverines would win the Pennant in 1887, but, like the Grays, find their title-winning players' salary demands too much, and fold after just 1 more season.

In the American Association:

* The New York Metropolitans lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3 at Oriole Park in Baltimore. These "original Mets" also played at the Polo Grounds. In fact, they were the 1st team that Jim Mutrie managed. They won the AA Pennant in 1884, and lost a postseason series to the Providence Grays. But they went out of business after the 1887 season.

The Orioles joined the NL in 1892, after the AA folded. They won Pennants in 1894, 1895 and 1896. But they went out of business after the 1899 season, and bear no relationship to the current American League team of the same name.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, 4-0 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. These Athletics would win the AA Pennant in 1883, but went out of business in 1890, and bear no relationship to the AL team of the same name, now in Oakland. The Alleghenys joined the NL in 1887, and became the Pirates in 1890.

* The Louisville Eclipse beat the Columbus Buckeyes, 6-5 at Recreation Park in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes went out of business after the 1884 season. The Eclipse became the Louisville Colonels in 1885, won the AA Pennant in 1890, joined the NL in 1892, and went out of business after the 1899 season.

* And the Cincinnati Red Stockings beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-5 at League Park in Cincinnati. The Red Stockings were founded in 1880, and bore no connection besides name to the team of the same name that was the 1st openly professional baseball team, in 1869. They won the AA Pennant in 1882. In 1890, they joined the NL, and changed their name to the Reds.

The Browns won the AA Pennant in 1885, 1886, 1887 and 1888. In 1892, they joined the NL. In 1900, they became the Cardinals, and an AL team would be named the St. Louis Browns. That team became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954.