The Giants of the Polo Grounds: The Glorious Times of Baseball's New York Giants [Paperback]

Noel Hynd (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Out of the welter of teams and leagues that characterized baseball in the late 19th century, the New York Giants emerged in 1883. They had some winning seasons and some losing ones as the century drew to a close, but they really came into their own when John McGraw arrived to take charge in 1902. He remained for 30 years and made the team the darling of the city with his aggressive, bunt-and-steal type of play, winning numerous pennants. But the death of his style of baseball was announced with the advent of Babe Ruth in 1921. McGraw surrendered the reins to Bill Terry, who was replaced by Mel Ott; later, manager Leo Durocher resurrected the McGravian style and led theGiants to the most exciting victory of all in 1951. The owners, stars like Mathewson and Mays, various eccentric players are all here in this vivid history by Sports Illustrated contributor Hynd. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The first part of this bookHynd's account of the fabled New York Giants' 19th-century origins amid pro baseball's rough and tumble early erais entertaining, especially bits on player unions, roots of the Dodger-Giant rivalry, and roster raiding. Hynd generously covers the 1890-1940 span, including John McGraw's presence. But the final third of this history of the team and their legendary playground unravels worse than a cheaply stitched ball slammed by Willie Mays. Hynd slights the final 17 years of the Giants' New York residency. Amusing, but uneven. Not recommended. Thomas Reigstad, Buffalo State Coll., SUNY
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 403 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Pub (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878339094
• ISBN-13: 978-0878339099
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,824,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Noel Hynd is an American author who has more than four million books in print. Most of his books have been in the action-espionage-suspense genre (Conspiracy in Kiev, Midnight in Madrid, Countdown in Cairo, The Enemy Within) but others (Ghosts, The Prodigy, A Room For The Dead and Cemetery of Angels) were highly acclaimed ghost stories. He currently has a multi-book publishing contract with Zondervan/HarperCollins.
He is also a former contributor to Sports Illustrated and several other national magazines. His 1988 non-fiction book, The Giants of The Polo Grounds, was an Editor's Choice of The New York TIMES Review of Books in 1988. He has also written several produced screenplays.
Mr. Hynd was born in New York City, is a graduate of the University of Pennsylavnia, and lives in southern California with his wife Patricia.
The Kindle editions of Midnight in Madrid and Conspiracy in Kiev were simultaneously numbers 1 and 2 among all books on Amazon's Kindle Best Seller lists in December 2009.
Several dozen foreign editions of his books have been published over the years. Readers are welcomed to reach Mr. Hynd at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Coulda been a contender, September 13, 1998

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Giants of the Polo Grounds: The Glorious Times of Baseball's New York Giants (Hardcover)

Although Noel Hynd is an excellent writer, this book needed a better editor. Hynd wastes six to seven chapters at the beginning of the book talking about the early history of the major leagues. He could have summed up how the NY Giants came about in a simple one or two chapters, and then got on with it. Add to this the short shrift he gives to one of the most exciting periods of NYC baseball (1946-57) by devoting only the last five chapters to this glorious ten-year period, leaves you a tad disappointed. Also, why not put an Appendix in chronicling the year-by-year standings and stats of the NY Giants to allow readers to follow along much easier the narrative as years tend to blend into years. Also, how could a book on the NY Giants not have a photo of "The Catch" by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series? Dump even just one of those static team photos for this in the next edition, please. Overall, this could have been the definitive book on the NY Giants, but sadly it just needed to be edited to give it a tighter, leaner look and read. Lastly, I have one ?: On page 188 he writes, "Remember basketball's New York Tuck Tapers?" Well, I've never heard of them, yet he assumes we all have and does not explain who they were.

3.0 out of 5 stars so-so, January 1, 2012

By 

j - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Giants of the Polo Grounds: The Glorious Times of Baseball's New York Giants (Paperback)

Beginning of the book was slow, but the middle picks up the pace.

Lots of interesting tidbits on baseball firsts & nuances of famous players from the late 1800s / early 1900s.

Book went through some seasons in painful detail, and others, especially the 40s/50s in too little detail...and, only 1 page or 2 on the move from NYC to San Fran.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brief, informative history about N.Y.'s first baseball team, October 14, 2002

By 

rodog63jr (bronx, N.Y.C. N.Y. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giants of the Polo Grounds: The Glorious Times of Baseball's New York Giants (Hardcover)

This book gives some good information on the first Championship Baseball team in New York City. The early years of this team are mingled with the history of baseball. The personalities of John Mcgraw, Willie Mays, Bill Terry, Shanty Hogan are all contained in this book. A welcomed break from all the books on the Brooklyn Dodgers.