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 of 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 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 as 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 #41
POLO GROUNDS
Giants Fail To Keep Pace With Phillies
Philadelphia gets back in this series, scoring early, often, and late. The Giants recover from an early two-run deficit in the fifth. But center fielder Cy Williams connects off Jesse Barnes for a home run to deep right field in the fifth, and with two outs, catcher Frank Bruggy legs out an inside-the-park home run spelling the end of Barnes' afternoon. Facing Slim Salle in the seventh, left fielder Irish Meusel (brother of Bob Meusel) homers to right field, giving the Phils a 5-2 lead. After trading runs in the eighth, Philadelphia erupts for four runs in the top half of the ninth. Errors by Ross Youngs and reliever Pol Perritt contribute to the Giants' now seven-run deficit. The home team generates two runs in the bottom of the ninth to no avail. Jesse Barnes earned run average has done nothing but rise throughout May.
- FINAL: PHI 10; NYG 5
- RECORD: 27-14 (.659); second place, 3.0 GB of Pittsburgh
⚾ ⚾ ⚾
GAME #40
Griffith Stadium
Senators Take Second Straight From Yankees; Ruth Hits Number Fifteen
Washington offers the Yankees no quarter. After retiring the Senators in order in the first inning, Waite Hoyt, in the second, surrenders eight consecutive hits, including triples from starter Tom Zachary and center fielder Sam Rice. Miller Huggins is forced to make an early selection from the bullpen for Tom Sheehan. But that does little to slow down the Senators, who add a run in the third, and push across three more runs in the fourth for an 11-0 lead. Tom Sheehan helps get the Yankees off the board with a run batted in and a run scored in the home fifth. But Tom Zachry repays the favor with a run-scoring double in the sixth. Babe Ruth connects on a three-run home run in the ninth inning to no avail as the Yanks still fall seven runs short. Tom Zachry goes the distance for the win while Waite Hoyt loses his third. For Ruth, his 15th home run of the season and the 117th of his career. He is now just 21 home runs away from tying Roger Connor's all-time record.
- FINAL: NYY 5; WAS 12
- RECORD: 24-16 (.600); second place, 3.5 GB of Cleveland
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