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!
GAME #66
POLO GROUNDS
Senators Even Up With Yankees; Bambino Hits Number 26
Washington sends a message informing the Yankees they're not alone in this race. Yankees starter Bob Shawkey comes apart like wet paper in the first, yielding five runs on four hits and six fielding errors, three by Shawkey himself. Wally Pipp finally gets the Yankees on the ledger in the fourth. Facing Walter Johnson with a runner on base in the fifth, Babe Ruth hits his 26th home run this season. He is now just nine away from tying Roger Connor's all-time mark. But The Big Train wins the day. Shawkey recovers, allowing just one run the rest of the way. However, the damage is done; two unearned runs are the difference. Right fielder Sam Rice and second baseman Bucky Harris each drive home a run apiece.
- FINAL: WAS 6; NYY 4
- RECORD: 38-28 (.576); second place, 3.0 GB of Cleveland
GAME #63
Baker Bowl
Curt Walker Home Run Leads Giants Hit Parade
The Giants launch another major offensive against Philadelphia pitching at Baker Bowl. This time, former Reds starter Jimmy Ring allows nine runs (eight earned) on 14 hits and three walks in just 5.2 innings pitched. New York wields four more hits against reliever Huck Betts over the final 3.1 innings bringing their total number of hits to 18 for the game. Ross Youngs, Dave Bancroft, and High Pockets Kelly each strike for three hits apiece. Curt Walker hits his third home run this season in the fifth, and Earl Smith continues swinging a hot bat, going 8 for 24 (.333) in his last eight games. John McGraw pulls starter Rosy Ryan with one out in the fourth upon yielding three earned runs on seven hits and no walks with two strikeouts. Slim Salle earns the win in relief of Ryan, allowing just one unearned run on four hits over the final 5.2 innings.
- FINAL: NYG 9; PHI 4
⚾
GAME #64
Baker Bowl
Giants Complete Sweep of Twin Bill With Yet Another Thrashing of Phillies
New York simply picks up where they left off. The Philadelphia triumvirate of Lee Meadows, Stan Baumgartner, and Jimmie Keenan all endure the wrath of McGraw's batsmen. Scoring five runs in the ninth inning for good measure, the Giants tally another 17 runs on 16 hits, seven going for extra bases of which five leave the playing field for home runs. Frankie Frisch spearheads the attack going 4 for 6 with a double, home run, and two runs batted in, while Frank Snyder hits two home runs and drives in four. High Pockets Kelly also drives home four runs giving him 68 to date, and Dave Bancroft homers in the seventh and drives in two. Rube Benton hurls the first four innings, allowing three runs on seven hits for his fifth win. Jesse Barnes yields just one run on seven hits over the final five innings. New York sweeps the twin bill and now leads the series 3-0 ahead of the Phillies. They become the third team this season after Cleveland and Pittsburgh to achieve forty victories.
- FINAL: NYG 17; PHI 4
- RECORD: 40-24 (.625); second place, 3.0 GB of Pittsburgh
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