Polo Grounds
Former ballpark of the New York Giants in upper Manhattan, demolished in 1964. In The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Bryson’s father is in its press box for Bobby Thomson’s 1951 home run.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid | Bill Bryson | turning point | His father reports Bobby Thomson’s pennant-winning home run from the press box, shortly before Bryson is born. |
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The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid — Bill Bryson (2006)
Source: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid · Original · Readwise highlight
Then, when realization of the miracle came, the double-decked stands of the Polo Grounds rocked on their forty-year-old foundations.
- Role: turning point
- In the book: The memoir opens in 1951 with Bryson’s father, sent 1,132 miles from Des Moines, in the press box when Bobby Thomson hits the pennant-winning home run; his report has the stands rocking on their foundations. He stays for the World Series and goes home.
- Why it matters: The book’s opening anchor in history, placing his father at a famous moment just before the narrator’s birth.