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. Of course, I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible. But, 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 #55
POLO GROUNDS
White Sox Take Series Opener
The Yankees' good fortune comes to an abrupt end against the White Sox. Fred Hofmann's home run ties the game at one in the fifth. But right fielder Harry Hooper drives home the go-ahead run in the sixth. Chicago puts the game out of reach with three runs in the eighth, and two more runs batted in by second baseman Eddie Collins and Harry Hooper in the ninth. Bob Meusel drives home a run in the bottom of the frame to no avail. Jack Quinn takes the loss after surrendering five runs on eleven hits and two walks through eight innings pitched. Dickey Kerr takes the series opener for Chicago. With two more hits, Babe Ruth lifts his average to a .377 mark. Meanwhile, Cleveland defeats the Athletics at Philadelphia.
- FINAL: CHI 7; NYY 2
- RECORD: 33-22 (.600); second place, 1.5 GB of Cleveland
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GAME #54
Cubs Park
Giants Win Chicago Opener in Twelve Innings
The Giants open their first visit to Chicago this season with a victory over the Cubs. Leading off the bottom of the first, right fielder Max Flack greets Giants starter Rube Benton with a home run to deep right field. Benton yields three more hits as the Cubs take a 2-0 lead. The home team comes within two outs of victory. That is until shortstop Charlie Hollacher's error at short. Earl Smith follows with a hit and a run batted in. With runners on the corners, Smith then takes off for second base, Cubs catcher Billy Lillefer throws errantly, and pinch-runner Art Nehf darts home from third tying the game at two. In the top of the 12th inning, the Giants erupted for five hits, two for extra bases by Frankie Frisch and High Pockets Kelly en route to four runs and a 6-2 lead. Slim Salle closes out his fourth scoreless inning in relief of Benton and Jesse Barnes for the victory.
- FINAL: NYG 6; CHI 2 12-innings
- RECORD: 34-20 (.630); second place, 3.0 GB of Pittsburgh
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