St. George Cricket Grounds

The St. George Cricket Grounds were a ballpark on Staten Island, NY that was used by two major league teams, the New York Metropolitans of the American Association and the New York Giants of the National League.

The ballpark,s actual name should actually be St. George Grounds, as cricket was no longer played there by the time a ball field was set up; there was a measure of confusion with the prestigious "St. George Cricket Club", that was based in Manhattan, NY but never actually used that field (the cricket club that once played here was the "Staten Island Cricket Club".

In any case, the location had been used by the New York Militia and National Guard both before and during the Civil War and was owned by millionaire John Vanderbilt, who sold it in 1871 to pay some debts. The cricket club leased some of the land, and some of the first tennis courts in the United States were also built on the property. Developer Erastus Wiman decided to take advantage of improving transportation links with other New York boroughs to erect a great entertainment facility on the grounds, the centerpiece of which would be a baseball park. He needed a team to play there and late in 1885 bought the Metropolitans from John Day, who also owned the Giants and ran the Metros as a sort of "B team".

The ballpark, lavishly built by the standards of the day at a cost of $51,000, opened for the 1886 season and was located next to a ferry terminal operated by Wiman to draw fans from the more populous boroughs. Even with that, spectators found it difficult to get to and from the grounds and attendance soon suffered. There were great views of New York's harbor to be had, and there were numerous other attractions nearby, included large illuminated fountains that could be seen from Manhattan. The grounds were also used for elaborate stage shows (with the stage being in play in right field, since it could not be moved to accommodate the ball club), but all of that could not help the fact that crowds were disappointing and Wiman was losing a lot of money, especially when the 1887 edition of the team proved to be awful.

At the end of the 1887 season, Wiman sold the team to Charles Byrne, owner of the Brooklyn Grays, who had not intention of keeping the team on Staten Island. In fact, he folded the franchise a few weeks later, retaining the Metros' best players for his own team. Wiman continued to operate the grounds though, with other grandiose stage shows. In 1889, another team came to use the ball field, the Giants, when they ran into problems with the city of New York who had decided to run a street through the lot where their own ballpark, the first incarnation of the Polo Grounds, was located, leaving them homeless. However, the St. George Grounds were in poor shape by then, with the grass in awful condition and the stage still occupying a large part of the outfield and creating all sorts of problems. The weather also failed to cooperate and John Day quickly secured a large empty lot in Manhattan where he built a new ballpark - the second Polo Grounds - in record time, and the team was able to move there in a matter of weeks, abonding St. George for good.

Related Sites

• St. George Grounds (Staten Island, NY) at the SABR Bio Project