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 #42
POLO GROUNDS
Bob Shawkey Takes Care of Browns With Both Bat and Ball
The Yankees celebrate their return home from dreadful Washington with an affirmative effort against the St. Louis Browns. Bob Shawkey limits St. Louis to single runs in the third and sixth innings. Otherwise, he gives up seven hits, five walks, five strikeouts through nine for his second win of the season with a 3.58 ERA. The Yankees' lineup inflicts all their damage against starter Urban Shocker who is knocked out of the box after five. Wally Pipp leads the charge with a home run and three runs batted in, and Bob Shawkey gets into the act with a home run and two runs batted in. Bob Meusel and Aaron Ward also drive in runs. However, the Yankees gain no ground on the leader as the Indians defeat the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
- FINAL: STL 2; NYY 7
- RECORD: 25-17 (.595); second place, 4.0 GB of Cleveland
GAME #44
Forbes Field
Art Nehf Hurls Gem; Giants Close Within 1.5 Games Of First-Place Pirates
After having their previous series at the Polo Grounds compromised by rain and splitting the balance of two games, the long-awaited showdown for first place begins. To the great dismay of some 20,000 fans on hand at Forbes Field, the Giants take game one in a no contest. Art Nehf puts forth New York's third straight impressive start; only this performance is a true gem. The Giants southpaw limits the first-place Pirates to just four hits and four walks through nine shutout innings pitched. He improves to 7-2 with a 4.13 earned run average. The rather inexperienced Jimmy Zinn matches Nehf zero for zero through seven innings. But the game unravels for Pittsburgh in the eighth. Five runs facilitated by an error from third baseman Cotton Tierney and four hits highlighted by Goldie Rapps triple, and a run batted in by Ross Youngs in the eighth give the Giants a seven-run margin of victory. Today, the Giants and Cleveland Indians join Pittsburgh as the only three teams to achieve 30 wins.
- FINAL: NYG 7; PITT 0
- RECORD: 30-14 (.682); second place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh
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