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 heightened more so 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 #61
POLO GROUNDS
Frisch Homers and Toney Wins Ninth as Giants Salvage Series Finale
The Giants salvage game three of their series against the Braves and avoid being swept. Making his 13th start this season, Fred Toney holds Boston to four runs on nine hits and one walk with five strikeouts for his ninth victory against just three losses with a 3.18 ERA. Braves starter Jack Scott allows four runs while getting knocked out of the box with one out in the third. Ross Youngs drives home two in the first, and High Pockets Kelly and Curt Walker drive home runs in the third. Fred Toney helps his cause with a run batted in during the fourth. Frankie Frisch goes 3 for 4 with a home run in the fifth and four runs batted in.
- FINAL: BOS 4; NYG 10
- RECORD: 37-24 (.607); second place, 4.0 GB of Pittsburgh
GAME #64
Fenway Park
Babe Ruth Hits Number 25 as Yankees Gain Series Split at Boston
The Yankees successfully split their six-game series with the Red Sox and have the Texas cowboy Rip Collins largely to thank. He yields just one unearned run on five hits, although he walks six and fans four in a winning effort. New York roughs up former teammate now Red Sox hurler Hank Thormahlen for twelve hits en route to a 6-1 victory. Catcher Roxy Walters drives home Boston's lone run. Home Run Baker and Bob Meusel each single and drive home a run in the opening frame. With a runner on in the fifth, Babe Ruth clubs his 25th home run this season. He is now just ten home runs away from tying Roger Connor for the most home runs all-time. He also remains slightly ahead of last year's single-season home run pace, in which he astonishingly turned a record 54 baseballs into souvenirs.
- FINAL: NYY 6; BOS 1
- RECORD: 37-27 (.578); second place, 3.0 GB of Cleveland
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