Baseball, as American as apple pie, really is “the New York game.” While its precursors come from many places – from Jamestown to Prague – the rules of American baseball and the modern ways of enjoying it were born from the urban experience and, in particular, the 19th-century New York region.
The sport (in the form that we know it today) developed in the early 1800s, played in Manhattan’s many open lots or New Jersey public parklands and soon organized into regular teams and eventually leagues. The way that New Yorkers played baseball was soon the way most Americans played by the late 19th century.
But it wasn’t until the invention of regular ball fields – catering to paying customers – that baseball became truly an urban recreational experience. And that too was revolutionized in New York.
Just in time for spring and the new Major League baseball season, Tom and Greg are joined by the acclaimed Kevin Baker, author of The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City to discuss the early history of the sport and its unique connections to New York City.
This show is truly the ultimate origin story of New York baseball, featuring tales of the city’s oldest and most legendary sports teams – the Yankees, the Dodgers, and the Giants. AND the New York Metropolitans – a different team than today’s Mets located in Queens.
Where was baseball played? Kevin shares the secrets of New York baseball’s earliest venues – from the many Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan to Ebbets Field in Brooklyn
This is a true five-borough origin story! With stops at Hilltop Park (Manhattan), Yankee Stadium (Bronx), Fashion Race Course (Queens), Washington Park (Brooklyn), and St. George Cricket Grounds (Staten Island) among many other sites.
FEATURING the surprising link between baseball and Boss Tweed and his notorious political machine Tammany Hall
PLUS How did segregation distort the game and where did Black ballplayers play the sport? What was baseball like before Jackie Robinson?
Visit our website for more information
#334 Midnight Cowboy (Bowery Boys Movie Club)
Rewind: The Secret Origin of Comic Books
#333 Tearing Down King George: The Monumental Summer of 1776
#332 Welcome to Yorkville: German Life on the Upper East Side
Rewind: Seneca Village and New York's Forgotten Black Communities
#331 The East Side Elevateds: Life Under the Tracks
#330 The Silent Parade of 1917: Black Unity in a Time of Crisis
#329 The First Ambulance: The Humans (and Horses) That Saved New York
#328 Chop Suey City: A History of Chinese Food in New York
#327 Listener Stories: At Home In New York Part Two
#326 Listener Stories: At Home in New York Part One
#325 The Staten Island Quarantine War
#324 Moving Day! Madness and Mayhem in Old New York
#323 The Bowery Wizards: A History of Tattooed New York
#322 Nickelodeons and Movie Palaces: New York and the Film Industry 1893-1920
#321 Lauren Bacall ... At Home At The Dakota Apartments
#320 Hart Island: The Loneliest Place in New York
#319 The Tale of Charging Bull and Fearless Girl
#318 Moonstruck: That's Amore!
#317 Vaccinated: New York and the Polio Outbreak
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Lore