Boxes are laid out over the field as final tests on lighting goes on before the New York Giants first night game at the Polo Grounds takes place on May 24, 1940, five years to the day that the first MLB night game took place at Crosley Field in Cincinnati and almost two years after the Giants National League rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, hosted their first night game.
22,260 were on hand that night to see the Giants rout the Boston Bees by 8-1 score. If there were any issues with the Polo Grounds new lights it didn’t seem to bother the Giants hitters as they stroked 13 hits and hit three home runs.
The night game was such a success that the Giants club would host 11 more night games for the 1940 season. As for the other New York club the Yankees, they wouldn’t see their first night game until 1946.