Polo Grounds interview with Arnold Hano

[hbwriter]

I went down to Laguna Beach week before last to interview Arnold Hano (author of "A Day in the Bleachers") for a radio show I do called The Pop Culture Road Trip. He was gracious enough to write a foreword for my new Polo Grounds book and I thought it might be interesting to visit with him for a while and hear more of his memories about the park (which he started going to in the mid-1920s as a young boy). He tells some great stories, totally paints a picture that puts you in the park and makes some astute observations on the game today--hope you enjoy it if you get a chance to listen (we talk for about an hour).

The interview:
http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-podcasts/71-the-pop-culture-road-trip-with-chris-epting/3036

The book:
http://www.amazon.com/Early-Polo-Grounds-Images-Baseball/dp/0738562874/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240237035&sr=8-3

[POLO GROUNDS 1957]

I really enjoy talking to and reading what former players and fans say about playing at and going to see games at the Polo Grounds.i have talked to alot of former players and fans over the years about the Polo Grounds.this is a great interview. i have 2 copys of Mr Hano book A Day In The Bleachers which is a great book about going to the 1st game of the 1954 World Series at the Polo Grounds.Mr Hano comment about sitting behind the posts at the PG bring back to my mind a Long Talk that i had with Former Brooklyn Dodger and original 1962 Met Clem Labine who told me that NONE of the classic ballparks were perfect including Ebetts Field. i sat in the worst seats in Old Comiskey Park which were located in the outfield corners and really enjoyed the ball game.The Polo Grounds was not perfect either but it was a Classic Ballpark.

[hbwriter]

PG--thanks for listening to the interview--Mr. Hano is a real pleasure to speak with and I hope at some point you get to read the foreword he wrote in The Early Polo Grounds--it's yet another lovely piece of baseball writing from this master.

[hbwriter]

--and thanks to Jay for this piece:

http://jay.typepad.com/william_jay/2009/04/the-early-polo-grounds.html

[alpineinc]

Enjoyable interview! Thanks for posting.

[hbwriter]

my pleasure, alpine

[POLO GROUNDS 1957]

Well i got my copy of the book today from Barnes & Noble and its great.i do hope that there will be other books coming out soon that will cover the stadiums years up to its demolition in 1964.

[hbwriter]

Glad you liked it! I'd love to do a follow up to the more modern version of the park--I may tackle that soon

new book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lly6TpkZdhY

[J.E.Fullerton]

Hello,
I just got my copy of this book in the mail today, and one startling thing that caught my eye was the lower photo on page 98. The end seat that Mrs Larry Cheney is sitting in has a figural piece in it of a style I've never before seen...it's almost like the famous Braves Field figurals.

The Giants' "NY" logo figurals are quite well known, but as far as I'm aware all surviving examples are in American Seating seats, both riser and floor mounts, which presumably date from the late 30s at the earliest. I knew that the PG had Heywood Wakefield seats before then, and Stew Thornley referenced the "figural iron scrollwork with the Giants' "NY" emblem" after the 1911 rebuilding, but it wasn't clear if he was basing that on the much later American Seating figurals, or on newspaper accounts from when the park was new.

It looks like the seat behind Mrs Cheney has a figural plate, too, but it's hard to be sure. If the HW figural on pg 98 was on many or all aisle seats, this may be a style with no surviving examples. Unless it's the same exact design as the Braves figural; the large baseball at the top definitely looks similar. The Braves design has B at the top, C at the bottom, and NL in the middle, for National League Baseball Club I suppose....nothing unique to Boston or the Braves there, so perhaps the Giants used that design first?

[hbwriter]

JE--that's a brilliant observation--I'll research further--good eye!

hey, if you'd like a signed postcard for the book, shoot me your address

chris@chrisepting.com