This Day in Giants History: May 1, 1883

The New York National League club (not yet called the Giants) wins its first league game, a 7-5 victory over Philadelphia. The game is played at the first Polo Grounds at 110th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan.  The New Yorkers take the lead in the game early and their future Hall of Fame right-hander, Mickey Welch, holds on to win despite the Phillies’ five unearned runs.  Former President Ulysses S. Grant is in the fifteen-thousand-plus crowd and, according to the New York Times‘ account, he joins “several times in the applause accorded players.”