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!
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GAME #51
POLO GROUNDS
Babe Ruth Hits Number 18; Roger Peckinpaugh Hit Wins Game In Ninth
With one out in the first, Ty Cobb doubles off Waite Hoyt, plating the game's first run. But with three straight hits off starter Jim Middleton, the Yankees own a 3-1 lead after one. Detroit scores one in the second and another in the third, tying the game at three. The score remains unchanged through the sixth. With one on and one out in the seventh, Ty Cobb drives home his second run, then scores on left fielder Bobby Veach's home run to deep right field. Babe Ruth evens the score with his eighteenth home run this season with two on and two out in the home seventh. After a scoreless eighth, Roger Peckinpaugh drives home pinch-runner Mike McNally, in the bottom of the ninth for the win.
- FINAL: DET 6; NYY 7
- RECORD: 30-21 (.588); second place, 2.5 GB of Cleveland
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GAME #50
Sportsman's Park
Giants Bow In Series Opener At St. Louis; Losing Streak Hits Four
The Giants arrive in St. Louis only to have their losing streak extended to four. Despite twelve hits, New York scores sporadically in the first, fifth, and ninth innings to no avail. That's because the Cardinals knock starter Phil Douglas out of the box after just three innings pitched. Douglas allows six runs, five earned, and ten hits. St. Louis scores twice more against Rosy Ryan. They bunch together three runs in the first inning and three more in the fourth. Two Cardinals runs in the seventh give this game its 8-3 final score. Jack Fournier hits his eighth home run for the Redbirds. Bill Doak earns the win in relief of starter Ferdie Schupp, allowing two runs on six hits through 6.2 innings. Phil Douglas suffers his first loss this season against four wins with a 3.99 ERA. Eddie Brown leads the Giants with four hits, Dave Bancroft with three.
- FINAL: NYG 3; STL 8
- RECORD: 32-18 (.640); second place, 2.5 GB of Pittsburgh
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