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 still harbored much animosity two full decades later, not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees. As they 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. However, it was an accomplishment for which John McGraw had little appreciation. He 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 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 before the start of 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!
GAME #26
POLO GROUNDS
Giants Take Toney Off The Hook; Rosy Ryan Takes Care Of The Rest
Neither starting pitcher lasts into the sixth. Reds starter Fritz Coumbe momentarily escapes trouble in the first inning when shortstop Sam Crane throws out George Burns at home. However, an error by second baseman Lew Fonseca clears the way for two Giants runs. Tying his shortest start to date, Fred Toney surrenders four runs, all in the fifth inning, including right fielder Charlie See's first home run this season. But the Giants get Toney off the hook with five runs in the bottom of the fifth highlighted by Frankie Frisch's triple. Mister McGraw then brings in reliever Rosy Ryan, and Cincinnati would score no more. Ryan yields just two hits and one walk over the final four innings. Toney still walks away with his fifth win against two losses but an increased 2.41 ERA. At the top of the lineup, George Burns, Dave Bancroft, Frankie Frisch, and Ross Youngs are each credited with one run batted in. The New Yorkers lead the series three games to none and are now winners of six consecutive games. They gain a full game on Pittsburgh, who today encountered defeat at Philadelphia.
- FINAL: CIN 4; NYG 7
- RECORD: 18-8 (.692); second place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh
GAME #24
Dunn Field
Veni, Vidi, Vici!
Message from the mid-western front: Miller Huggins' New York Yankees gain the high ground. With a trio of runs in the ninth, the Yanks untie a three-all knot en route to their third straight victory against the defending World Series champions. Moreover, they take over sole possession of first place in the American League standings. For a third straight game at Dunn Field, the Yankees open the scoring right away in the first inning, this time pushing three runs across the plate. With two outs and two base runners at the ready, Frankie Frisch laces in an inside-the-park home run to center field. Indians' left fielder Charlie Jamieson singles home two runs in the second inning reducing Cleveland's deficit. Afterwhich, Tris Speaker and third baseman Larry Gardner doubles in the third inning, knot the game at three. The score remains unchanged through the eighth. New York tallies three runs in the final frame partly due to Cincinnati lapses in the field but largely highlighted by Babe Ruth's triple plating Roger Peckinpaugh with the Yankees sixth and final run of the afternoon. Making his second start and fourth appearance within the last seven days, the wonderous Carl Mays surrenders three earned runs, nine hits, three walks, and fans three in a complete-game winning effort. Mays improves to 6-2 with a 1.33 ERA.
- FINAL: NYY 6; CLE 3
- RECORD: 15-9 (.625); first place, 1.0 GA of Cleveland
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