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Washington Heights, Manhattan
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=== Historic === [[File:Hilltoppark1903.jpg|thumb|[[Hilltop Park]] during a 1903 game]] Five clubs in American professional sports have played in the Washington Heights area: the [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]], [[New York Mets]], and [[New York Yankees]] baseball teams, and the [[New York Giants]] and [[New York Jets]] football teams.<ref>[http://www.nycgovparks.org/news/press-releases?id=21327 "NYC Parks Cuts the Ribbon on Restored Historic John T. Brush Stairway, Last Remnant of the Old Polo Grounds"], [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]], July 10, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2016. "Opened in 1890, five major New York sports teams called the Polo Grounds home – the (now) San Francisco Giants, the Yankees, the Mets, the football Giants and the Jets."</ref> Situated on [[Coogan's Bluff|Coogan's Hollow]], where the present-day Polo Grounds Towers are located,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/Polo%20Grounds%20Towers.pdf|access-date=February 15, 2021|publisher=[[New York City Housing Authority]]|title=Polo Grounds Towers}}</ref> the [[Polo Grounds]] have been the home field of three professional baseball teams, the baseball [[New York Giants (baseball)|Giants]] (from 1911 to 1957), the [[New York Yankees|Yankees]] (from 1912 to 1923), the [[New York Mets|Mets]] (from 1962 to 1963), and two professional football teams, the [[New York Giants]] (from 1925 to 1955) and the [[New York Jets]] (from 1960 to 1963).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.shu.edu/nyc-history/2016/11/14/polo-grounds/|title=History of New York City: Polo Grounds|date=November 14, 2016|access-date=February 11, 2021|website=History of New York City}}</ref> The Mets and Jets both began play at the Polo Grounds while their future home, [[Shea Stadium]] in [[Queens]], was under construction.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/park/polo-grounds-new-york/|title=Polo Grounds (New York)|first=Stew|last=Thornley|access-date=February 11, 2021|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref> The Polo Grounds were the site of two baseball-related deaths: the first of [[Ray Chapman]] in 1920 after being hit in the head by a pitch from [[Carl Mays]], and the second of spectator Bernard Doyle in 1950,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2818187|title=Indians uncover lost Chapman plaque|date=March 29, 2007|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|work=[[ESPN]]|author=Withers, Tom|access-date=March 11, 2017}}</ref> accidentally killed by a 14-year-old boy who had fired his [[.45 ACP|.45 caliber]] [[pistol]] into the air from his apartment on Edgecombe Avenue.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57812080/fatal-ball-park-shot-confessed-by-boy/|title=Fatal Ball Park Shot Confessed by Boy, 14|first1=Edward|last1=Dillon|first2=Neal|last2=Patterson|newspaper=[[New York Daily News]]|page=3|date=July 8, 1950|access-date=August 22, 2020|via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0A16FC3B5B177B93C7A9178CD85F448585F9|title=Mystery Bullet Kills Baseball Fan In Midst of Crowd at Polo Grounds|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 5, 1950|access-date=October 30, 2011}}</ref> Before the Yankees played at the Polo Grounds, they played at [[Hilltop Park]] on Broadway between 165th Street and 168th Street from 1903 to 1912; at the time, they were known as the [[New York Highlanders]].<ref>[http://www.nyise.org/yankees/ Landlord to the New York Yankees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119101500/http://www.nyise.org/yankees/ |date=November 19, 2015 }}, [[New York Institute for Special Education]]. Retrieved April 27, 2016.</ref> On May 15, 1912, after being heckled for several innings, then-[[Detroit Tigers]] player [[Ty Cobb]] leaped the fence and attacked his tormentor. He was suspended indefinitely by league president [[Ban Johnson]], but his suspension was eventually reduced to 10 days and $50.<ref>Reisler, Jim. [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/sports/baseball/ty-cobbs-outburst-led-to-notorious-game-in-1912.html "A Beating in the Stands, Followed by One on the Field"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 28, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2016.</ref> A historically outstanding pitching performance took place at Hilltop Park in September 1908, when 20-year-old [[Washington Senators (1901–1960)|Washington Senators]] hurler [[Walter Johnson]] shut out the Highlanders in three consecutive games.<ref>Hogan, Lawrence. [http://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/hilltop-park-was-home-great-pitching-feats "Hilltop Park was Home to Great Pitching Feats"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805124447/http://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/hilltop-park-was-home-great-pitching-feats |date=August 5, 2016 }}, The National Pastime Museum, October 29, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2016. "In September of 1908, in one of his most brilliant accomplishments, 20-year-old Washington ace Walter Johnson shut out the New York Highlanders in three consecutive games."</ref> In 1928, the park became the [[Columbia University Medical Center]], a major hospital complex.<ref>[http://columbiaphysicaltherapy.org/about-us About Us], [[Columbia University Medical Center]]. Retrieved April 27, 2016. "In 1928, Columbia University created the country's first academic medical center (CUMC) at its current location in Washington Heights in an alliance with Presbyterian Hospital.... CUMC was built in the 1920s on the former site of Hilltop Park, the one-time home stadium of the New York Yankees."</ref> Washington Heights has been the childhood residence of many baseball stars, including former Yankee star [[Alex Rodriguez]], who was born in the neighborhood to Dominican parents.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/nyregion/neighborhood-report-washington-heights-better-hide-that-red-sox-cap-now-that-rod.html|date=January 29, 2004|title=NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: WASHINGTON HEIGHTS; Better Hide That Red Sox Cap Now That A-Rod Is Back in Town|first=Seth|last=Kugel|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=February 12, 2021}}</ref> [[Rod Carew]] and [[Manny Ramírez]] were two famous players who immigrated to the neighborhood as teenagers and attended [[George Washington High School (New York City)|George Washington High School]] (Carew during the 1960s and Ramírez during the 1980s).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/rod-carew/|title=Rod Carew|first=Joseph|last=Wancho|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|access-date=October 19, 2020}}</ref> The New York Yankees' [[Lou Gehrig]] grew up in the neighborhood after moving out of [[Yorkville, Manhattan|Yorkville]] with his family,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/sports/baseball/03gehrig.html|work=The New York Times|first=Ray|last=Robinson|title=Gehrig Remains a Presence in His Former Neighborhood|date=July 3, 2005}}</ref> attending PS 132 during the 1910s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.binarywire.com/ps132/background.htm|title=P.S. 132 Historical Perspective|access-date=April 16, 2008|publisher=[[New York City Department of Education]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107101312/http://www.binarywire.com/ps132/background.htm|archive-date=January 7, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Baxter, Kevin. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jul-07-sp-dodgers-manny-ramirez7-story.html "Dodgers' Manny Ramirez always has home-field advantage here; The Dodgers' star is still beloved in New York's Washington Heights, the neighborhood where he grew up, and where today's residents forgive him his trespasses."], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', July 7, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2016. "This, after all, is where Alex Rodriguez was born, where Vin Scully grew up, where Rod Carew lived and where Lou Gehrig went to school. Three of those four are in the Hall of Fame. And Rodriguez could be, too, one day."</ref> Legendary baseball broadcaster [[Vin Scully]] also grew up in the Washington Heights.<ref name=NYTimes>Sandomir, Richard. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/sports/baseball/05scully.html?ex=1317700800&en=67c57f4c6a8d7423&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss "Daffy Days of Brooklyn Return for Vin Scully"]</ref>
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