Staten Island Sports
Long before we had the Staten Island Yankees, the Island was host to other teams!
St. George, A Baseball Center
Learn about the history of Professional Baseball on Staten Island, dating back before the Staten Island Yankees called St. George home.
By: Robert Pimpsner
February 10, 2007 - In front of 4,547 screaming fans, the Staten Island Yankees played their first ever home game on June 20, 1999. This marked the first time a minor league baseball team would call New York City home with the team playing their games at the Ballpark at the College of Staten Island while awaiting their brand new home in St. George. This was also another historic mark in the history of professional baseball on Staten Island. It marked the first time in over 100 years that professional baseball players would call Staten Island their team’s home town.
Staten Island was previously home to two Major League Baseball teams. Yes that is correct, Major League Baseball. Prior to 1900, several leagues had the distinction of being a Major League. The American Association (1882-1891), Players League (1990), Union Association (1884), and the oldest Major League, the National League (1876 – present). The American Association was seen as the major competition to the National League. At the time, the National League considered baseball to be a gentleman’s game and kept with the strict moral standards of the time. Tickets were priced high so the common folk were not able to afford games, no beer was sold and no games were to be played on Sundays. The American Association challenged this view as they played games on Sundays, sold beer, and tickets were priced half as much as the National League. It earned the nickname of the “Beer and Whisky League.” These two leagues met in an early version of the World Series several times.
In 1886, Erastus Wiman bought the New York Metropolitans (Mets) for $25,000 and moved them from Polo Grounds I to the Staten Island Amusement Company’s Cricket Grounds in what was called the “Palace of Eden” next to the ferry (also owned by Erastus Wiman). The move was to attempt to promote trade across the bay. The move to Staten Island almost cost the Metropolitans membership in the American Association because Denny McKnight the president of the league felt it was important to keep the team in Manhattan.
In their first season in the new Ballpark at St. George, the New York Metropolitans finished the season next to last, with only the Baltimore Orioles keeping them from the cellar. Their 53 – 82 record put the team 38 games behind the first place St. Louis Browns. The Mets had a much better record at home (30-33) then on the road (23-49).
The New York Metropolitans’ second and final season on Staten Island was not a great one. The team finished next to last for the second straight season, going 44 – 89 with a 25-34 home record, 50 games behind the St. Louis Browns. After the 1887 season the team folded and was sold to the rival Brooklyn Bridegrooms (Dodgers).
This looked to be the end of professional baseball on Staten Island, that was until 1889. The New York Giants (National League) were awaiting the second coming of the Polo Grounds and called Staten Island home briefly during the season. The first game was held on April 24, 1889 against Washington and the Giants left the ballpark after the game against Philadelphia on June 14, 1889.
Staten Island would not see professional baseball again until 1999, when an agreement between the New York Yankees and New York Mets brought Minor League Baseball to the confines of New York City. While the history of professional baseball in Staten Island is not as rich as that of the other New York City boroughs, remember this when visiting the Ballpark at St. George. Hall of Famers Tim Keefe, Mickey Welch, Roger Connor, and Buck Ewing once treaded the same ground as the present day Staten Island Yankees.
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