From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD
100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds:
New York Giants & 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 se, 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 shift. The Yankees' purchase of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Boston Red Sox sends 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 has little appreciation as one who believes players work 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—the Giants attempt to evict the Yankees in 1921 to no avail. But a solution lies not too far away ...
Until then, 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.
This is my replay of that season. I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible. More than anything, this is about having fun and celebrating New York City's baseball history.
- Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE
Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!
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GAME #13
POLO GROUNDS
High Pockets Kelly Grand Slam Highlights Giants Victory Over Braves
After Friday's postponement, the Giants take the field with energy at the Polo Grounds. Despite yielding a run in the first, the Giants furnish starter Art Nehf with more than enough support to get him through to his third victory of the season against one loss. Nehf allows four runs, three earned, twelve hits, and one walk with three strikeouts through nine. The bottom of the order, center fielder Curt Walker, third baseman Goldie Rapp, and catcher Earl Smith all drive in runs against Braves starter Joe Oeschger. Right fielder Ross Youngs' sacrifice-fly to center field off reliever Ira Townsend scores George Burns giving the Giants a 4-1 lead after five. Then with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh, High Pockets Kelly connects for a grand slam home run to deep right field for a commanding 9-2 advantage. Acquired from Pittsburgh, Braves right fielder Billy Southworth drives home two runs in the top of the ninth to no avail. The Giants get back in the win column after sustaining four straight losses at Brooklyn. They close out the month of April with a modest 7-6 record.
- FINAL: BOS 4; NYG 9
- RECORD: 7-6 (.538); fourth place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh
GAME CALLED: Rain
Saturday, April 30, 1921
Fenway Park
The visiting New York Yankees and host Red Sox
are rained out for a second consecutive day at Boston.
Tremendous as always. Thank you for doing this.
ReplyDeleteJust wish I didn't have a real job so I could do more!
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