100 Years Ago Today: The New York Giants and New York Yankees 1921 Seasons Revisited
In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lost 102 games. Rebranded as the Yankees, in 1913, they moved just a few blocks away into the Polo Grounds as tenants of the Senior Circuit's New York Giants. To the chagrin of Giants manager John McGraw, the Americans proceeded to lose another 94 games.
Known to hold a grudge, McGraw, two full decades later, still harbored much animosity not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees themselves who were founded at the expense of his rendered defunct Baltimore Orioles.
For as long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remained amicably strained. Mainly because the middling Americans, except for one season in 1916, never elevated themselves above the ranks of Junior Circuit also-rans. But that changed in 1919 when they briefly vied for the pennant but tuckered out down the stretch to finish third. A franchise-record 619,164 fans showed up to root for the American League contenders. However, the Yankees' burgeoning success was not yet a pressing issue, per see, for the Giants, who were coming off a second-place finish and their best season in a decade at the turnstile.
Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates along the New York/New England fault shifted. The Yankees' purchase of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Boston Red Sox sent seismic waves reverberating throughout the baseball world but none more intense than in Washington Heights. Ruth's earth-shattering record of 54 home runs was something never experienced before in the history of baseball but an accomplishment for which John McGraw had little appreciation as one who believed players worked too hard and earnestly only to have their skills disrespected by some miscreant's lone swing of the bat.
Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle than in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance. However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions. McGraw's disdain for his tenants was further heightened when the Yankees outdrew the host Giants in their own home for the first time in each franchise's history. Headlined by Babe Ruth, the Yankees seized the city's attention, evidenced by an all-time major league record of 1,289,422 in attendance.
In 1921, over two million fans would again pack the Polo Grounds. Babe Ruth would continue forward accomplishing the unimaginable, and if that wasn't surreal enough, he proceeds to top it - all the while with each passing day John McGraw grows more incensed. Lest we forget, New York City is still Little Napoleon's empire.
Sharing a ballpark for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition. A resolution lies not too far away ...
In the meantime, two major league titans charge headlong into a season-ending October clash at the Polo Grounds. It is New York City's first-ever World's Championship Subway Series. All games are played at the Polo Grounds, making Coogan's Bluff the center of the baseball universe.
Enjoy the games and PLAY BALL!!
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GAME #1
Philadelphia Athletics @ NEW YORK YANKEES
POLO GROUNDS
Yankees Trounce Athletics in Home Opener
Upwards of 37,000 fans packed the Polo Grounds for Wednesday's season opener against the Philadelphia Athletics. New York promptly opened the scoring in the second. Leading off, center fielder Ping Bodie doubled against A's starter Scott Perry, and third baseman Aaron Ward followed with a home run to deep left field. Perry and Yankees starter Carl Mays continued dueling through the sixth. The home crowd's nail-biting began in the seventh when with two outs, third baseman Joe Dugan tripled home Philadelphia's first run of the game. But the Yankees quickly alleviated any crowd anxiety with three runs on a walk and four hits in the bottom half of the seventh. Afterwhich, a fielding error by substitute catcher Glenn Myatt in the bottom of the eighth cleared the way for another six runs (four unearned) en route to an 11-1 Opening Day Yankees victory. Carl Mays yielded a lone run on just three hits and one walk with two strikeouts in a complete-game effort. Left fielder Babe Ruth was 5 for 5 with two doubles and two runs batted in. Ping Bodie drove in two runs, as did second baseman Chick Fewster. In addition to earning the victory, Carl Mays went 3 for 4 at the plate.
- FINAL: NYY 11; PHI 1
- RECORD: 1-0
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GAME #1
New York Giants @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Baker Bowl
Giants Outlast Phillies in Extra Innings at Baker Bowl Season Opener
The visiting New York Giants scratched back from a four-run deficit with two runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh for a 7-5 lead. But similarly to the fifth inning, reliever Jesse Barnes and the Giants infield failed to keep the Phillies at bay, yielding two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh, prompting a seven-all tie. That's the way things stayed until the eleventh inning. New York scored three times in the top of the frame on pinch-hitter Lee King's sacrifice fly, scoring George Burns and High Pockets Kelly's two-run inside-the-park home run to straightaway center field. Reliever Fred Toney surrendered one run during the bottom of the ninth but successfully closed New York's 10-8 victory at Philadelphia. Starter Phil Douglas escaped with a no-decision after yielding four runs in four innings pitched. Fred Toney earned the victory in relief. Frankie Frisch also led the charge with three hits, a stolen base, and three runs batted in. Leadoff batter George Burns was 3/6 with three runs scored and one run batted in.
- FINAL: NYG 10; PHI 8 (13 innings)
- RECORD: 1-0
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