Plaque Commemorating Highlanders Baseball Stadium Returns

Re-dedicating a “home plate” plaque in the medical center garden are, from left, Paul Dunphey, a NewYork-Presbyterian senior vice president; New York State Assemblywoman Carmen de la Rosa; Robert Jackson, who was elected to the New York State Senate in November; and Lee Goldman, dean of VP&S and chief executive of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

A piece of medical center history returned to the garden in September, when the plaque placed near the approximate location of the Highlanders home plate was re-dedicated in a ceremony.

The baseball team known as the predecessor to the New York Yankees played in Hilltop Park in a location where Columbia and Presbyterian Hospital later came together to build an academic medical center campus in Washington Heights.

The plaque was removed from the medical center in 2011 during the garden’s renovation to make room for a radiation suite. 

The New York Highlanders, the first American League team in New York, played at Hilltop Park between 1903 and 1912. Originally known as American League Park, the location was called Hilltop Park because it was one of the highest points in Manhattan.

The plaque was originally placed in the garden at a ceremony in 1993. Highlanders pitcher Chet Hoff, 102 years old at the time, was on hand 
to dedicate the bronze plaque provided by the New York Yankees.