Hilltop Park and the New York Highlanders

Before the New York Yankees played at the Polo Grounds or Yankee Stadium, they played in Washington Heights. Wikipedia says Hilltop Park opened on April 30, 1903, on Broadway between W 165th and W 168th Sts, and was home to the New York Highlanders, the team that later became the Yankees, until 1912. The park seated 16,000, with room for thousands more standing, and was built in six weeks, according to Wikipedia.

The best-known incident there came on May 15, 1912, when Detroit’s Ty Cobb, after being heckled for several innings, leaped into the stands and attacked a fan. The league president suspended him indefinitely, but the suspension was reduced to 10 days and a $50 fine. Wikipedia also records a 1910 photograph of Cobb sliding into third base at Hilltop Park as one of baseball’s most widely circulated early photographs.

The ballpark was demolished in 1914 and, after a period as vacant land, the site became the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, which opened in 1928 and is now NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. On September 30, 1993, the Yankees placed a bronze plaque in the shape of home plate on the hospital grounds to mark the spot, according to Wikipedia. The pub Hilltop Park Alehouse at 3821 Broadway takes its name from the ballpark, according to the city’s tourism listing.