Hilltop Park

Lore & Background

The ballpark's formal name, as painted on its exterior walls, was American League Park. Because the park was located on top of a ridge of Manhattan Island, it was nicknamed Hilltop Park, and its team was most often called the New York Highlanders (as well as the Americans and the Yankees). This "Highland" connection contrasted with their intra-city rivals, the Giants, whose Polo Grounds was just a few blocks away, in the bottomland under Coogan's Bluff.

Hilltop Park sat on the block bounded by Broadway, 165th Street, Fort Washington Avenue, and 168th Street. The structure consisted of a covered grandstand stretching from first base to third base and uncovered bleacher sections down the right and left field lines. Originally built in just six weeks, the park sat 16,000, with standing room for an additional 10,000 or so. The bleachers were covered in 1911, and also bleachers to seat an additional 5,000 fans were built in 1911 (partially to accommodate Giants fans, who were temporary tenants after the Polo Grounds fire) in center field.

The field was initially huge by modern standards — 365 ft to left field, 542 ft to center field and 400 ft to right field. An inner fence was soon constructed to create more realistic action. Both the park and the nickname "Highlanders" were abandoned when the American Leaguers left, at the beginning of the 1913 season, to rent the Polo Grounds from the Giants. The Polo Grounds had a far larger seating capacity, and by that time was made of concrete due to the 1911 fire. Hilltop Park was demolished in 1914.

Reader's Guide

There was no hint that the club would eventually become baseball's greatest dynasty. The Boston Globe giddily called the game "The greatest victory ever won in outdoor sport." Although the Highlanders failed to win the league title, their unexpected presence in the pennant race ultimately led to the stabilization of the modern World Series. The Giants were on their way to winning the National League flag, and they announced ahead of time that they had no intention of playing against their cross-town rivals in a post-season World Series. Although Boston prevailed in the American League race, the Giants stuck with their plan, and no Series was played. The resulting public outcry spurred the Giants' owner to organize a committee and establish rules for how future Series were to be conducted.