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 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 #15
POLO GROUNDS
High Pockets Kelly Hits Number Seven; Jesse Barnes Takes Care of the Rest
The Giants continue their assault against Boston pitchers. Leading off the first against Braves starter Mule Watson, George Burns triples to center field, and Dave Bancroft draws a base on balls. Next up, Frankie Frisch delivers home both runners with a triple right. Then with one out and Frisch still at third, High Pockets Kelly homers to deep left field triggering pandemonium among the 10,000 at the Polo Grounds and more to the point, spelling the end of Mule Watson's afternoon. Reliever Jack Scott fares no better, surrendering another four runs on eight hits and two walks through the seventh. Runs batted in by George Burns and Dave Bancroft give the Giants a 6-0 lead after two, and doubles by High Pockets Kelly and Goldie Rapp make it a 7-0 lead after three. Right fielder Ross Youngs drives in the Giants' eighth and final run in the seventh. Back in the sixth, Boston musters their lone run of the game when center fielder Ray Powell triples and scores on Walter Barbare's grounder to short. Jesse Barnes yields just six hits in an otherwise stellar effort and no walks through nine complete innings for his second win of the season against one loss. High Pockets now has 24 runs batted in through the team's first 15 games. This marks the Giants' third straight win of the series and their fifth consecutive win this season against the Braves. However, their standing remains unchanged as the second-place Robins defeat the Phillies and the first-place Pirates fend off the Cubs.
- FINAL: BOS 1; NYG 8
- RECORD: 9-6 (.600); third place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh
GAME #13
Fenway Park
Sad Sam Jones Outduels Carl Mays; Babe Ruth Home Run Goes For Naught
HOME RUN BAKER RETURNS TO THIRD BASE
Sad Sam Jones helps send home 8,000 Fenway fans happy as clams at high tide by outlasting former Red Sox, now Yankees ace Carl Mays. The former stablemates duel through seven scoreless innings. Boston finally breaks through in the eighth when center fielder Shano Collins doubles home first baseman Stuffy McInnis. However, Babe Ruth brings to pause any premature celebration by leading off the top of the ninth with a home run to deep right field, his sixth of the season. But with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Del Pratt stationed at second base, Red Sox right fielder Tim Hendryx saves the day with a clean single to center field, ending the game. Sad Sam improves to 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA after yielding one earned run on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts through nine complete innings. Carl Mays loses for the second time upon his surrender of two runs on five hits and one walk over 8.2 innings pitched. Bob Meusel accounts for three of New York's seven hits. And a hardy welcome back to Home Run Baker, who, after two pinch-hitting appearances, makes his first start at third base after sitting out the entire 1920 season for family reasons.
- FINAL: NYY 1; BOS 2
- RECORD: 6-7 (.462); fourth place, 4.0 GB of Cleveland
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