Hilltop Park - History

History

American League baseball came to New York City in 1903 when gambler Frank J. Farrell and former New York City Police Chief William S. Devery, bought the Baltimore Orioles franchise for $18,000. They established the team at Hilltop Park, a hastily constructed wooden park seating about 16,000 fans, on the west side of Broadway between 165th and 168th streets. Opening Day came on April 30, 1903, when the New York Highlanders played the Washington Senators.

The ballpark site was quite large for its time (9.6 acres or nearly double the size of many ballpark sites of that era), and the south portion of the land plot was used for the parking of first carriages and later automobiles. The shape of the land plot was a large trapezoid with right angles at the site’s northeast and southeast corners. The left field foul line ran mostly North to South and was parallel to Fort Washington Road (the western boundary of the park). The left field foul line would, if extended about twenty additional feet, have intersected 168th Street at less than 90°. The right field foul line would, if extended, have intersected Broadway (the eastern boundary of the park) at more than 90°. The ballpark site was thus trapezoidal in shape and large for the Deadball Era.

The seating capacity of 16,000 was also rather large for this time period. Capacity in the dead-ball Era was a flexible concept. In accordance with the practices of the day, overflow crowds were allowed to stand in the perimeter of the outfield. In addition, for "big" games, additional standees were allowed down the foul lines and between home plate and the backstop. Thus the effective overall capacity of the park was closer to 25,000, although even when stuffed to the gills, it fell well short of the normal capacity of the Polo Grounds.

The original 1903 construction of Hilltop Park cost about $200,000, more than two-thirds of which was spent for rock blasting and excavations; and the groundskeeper of the Highlanders, Phil Schenck, laid out the playing field. The ballpark consisted of a covered grandstand of three sections, although it was not actually roofed until June 1 that season. Two sections of the grandstand were parallel to the foul lines and the third section was a short intermediate diagonal, which formed the backstop. The grandstand extended a short way past both first and third bases, and a clubhouse was located behind the center field fence. Single-deck bleachers that extended down both foul lines reached from the grandstand almost to the fences. The third base bleachers were not finished until June 1903. These first and third base bleachers angled towards the foul lines reducing the foul area at the fences to about fifteen feet. A modest-sized scoreboard was in fair territory down the left field foul line. The main entrance to the park was on Broadway and a ramp led up to the top of the first base grandstand. Unlike many of the other contemporary wooden ballparks-this one never burned.

Hilltop Park was not in good condition when it opened. There was a swamp in right field that had yet to be filled with rock, the outfield had no grass, the grandstand had not been completed, and players had to dress at their hotel rooms because the clubhouse was not completed. When Hilltop Park was finally completed, a single tier wooden covered grandstand extended from the third base dugout to homeplate, and around to the first base dugout. Uncovered grandstands extended to both foul poles. From behind homeplate, fans could see scenic views of the Hudson River and New Jersey Palisades. A bleacher section was placed in the center field corner around 1910, painted black to serve as a batter's eye screen.

After the Polo Grounds burnt down in 1911, the Highlanders/Yankees offered to share their facility with the New York Giants, and the grateful National Leaguers took up temporary residence in Hilltop Park. After two more seasons, the American Leaguers moved a few blocks east and south into the rebuilt Polo Grounds to sub-lease from the Giants, and the nickname Highlanders was dropped as the team was now strictly "the Yankees". The last big league game played at Hilltop Park was on October 5, 1912. The park was demolished in 1914.