The Giants of the Polo Grounds: The Glorious Times of Baseball's New York Giants
Price: $1,250.00
Hard Cover. New York: Doubleday, 1988. First Edition. Fine / Dust Jacket Included.
First edition, first printing. Signed by 20 Giants on the front free endpaper and dedication page including Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Hoyt Wilhelm, Johnny Mize, and Monte Irvin. With JSA Letter of Authentication laid in. Publisher's green cloth-backed black paper-covered boards, spine lettered in gilt, and brown endpapers; in its original pictorial dust jacket, with front panel illustrated by Fred Marcellino, lettered in black, yellow and blue. A hint of spotting to text block edges, else fine; fine unclipped dust jacket. Overall, a beautiful copy with excellent signatures. As the dust jacket blurb announces: "Written in a style that magically evokes the winning spirit of turn-of-the-century New York…The Giants of the Polo Grounds has all the classic moments of those fabulous years: Mathewson's three shutouts against the 'invincible Athletics" in the 1905 World Series…McGraw's four straight pennant wins…Hubbell's unbeatable screwball striking out Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons, and Cronin in the 1934 All Star Game…and much, much more!" Willie Mays started playing professional baseball at 16 in the Negro Leagues and was soon drafted by the New York Giants. He went on to play 21 seasons with the team, winning a World Series with the team in 1954. His over-the-shoulder catch in that World Series is one of the most iconic moments in sports history. A 24x All-Star and a 12x Gold Glove award winner, Mays was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 and was voted to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. Monte Irvin played nine years in the Negro leagues with the Newark Eagles before getting the call up to the major leagues in 1949. One of the first players after Jackie Robinson to break the MLB's color line, he played seven seasons with the New York Giants, winning a title with the team in 1954 after sweeping the Cleveland Indians. Hoyt Wilhelm was an 8x All-Star pitcher who was also on the 1954 championship team. Interestingly, he entered the major leagues at the relatively advanced age of 29 because of prior military service but still managed to play 21 seasons in the league, retiring when he was nearly 50 years old. Johnny Mize was a 10-time All-Star who won an incredible five straight World Series titles with the New York Yankees (1949-1953). Item #NHY
