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 #44
POLO GROUNDS
Yankees Score Early and Often in Rout of Browns
The Yankees chose to not let this game remain an open debate. Facing former Detroit veteran Bernie Boland, Bob Meusel homers in the first inning scoring Roger Peckinpaugh and Wally Pipp. With two on and no outs in the second, Babe Ruth's single scores Chick Fewster and knocks Boland out of the game. Reliever Bill Bayne is greeted with a double from Peckinpaugh, a triple off the bat of Home Run Baker, and Wally Schang's run-scoring single, giving the Yankees an 8-0 lead. Wally Pipp drives home the Yankees' ninth run in the third. Starter Jack Quinn surrenders four runs, three earned, nine hits, and two walks through 6.2 innings for the win. Bob Shawkey pitches the final two innings striking out three. The Yankees take two games to one series lead. They also gain a full game on Cleveland, who were whitewashed by the Red Sox at Boston. But just as the Yankees get back Home Run Baker off the injured list, Chick Fewster was forced to leave this day after colliding with Bob Meusel while attempting a catch.
- FINAL: STL 4; NYY 9
- RECORD: 26-18 (.591); second place, 3.0 GB of Cleveland
GAME #46
Forbes Field
Phil Douglas One-Hits Pirates; Giants Take Over First Place
In front of 25,000 stunned fans packed into Forbes Field, McGraw's Men stampede into first place with a 12-0 whitewashing of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Saturday's offensive marks their third straight victory over the formerly first-place Buccaneers. Frankie Frisch and starter Phil Douglas each drive home three runs each. Goldie Rapp goes 2 for 4 with two runs driven in, and Ross Youngs goes 3 for 4 with a triple and one run batted in. Meanwhile, Phil Douglas, making his tenth appearance this season, allows just one hit, a single by left fielder Carson Bigbee leading off the bottom half of the first. Afterwhich, he faces just 28 more batters and yields no hits en route to the victory. He walks none, but the Giants commit one error (by first baseman High Pockets Kelly with two outs in the ninth). The Giants are also the first team in baseball to achieve 32 wins this season.
- FINAL: NYG 12; PITT 0
- RECORD: 32-14 (.696); first place, 0.5 GA of Pittsburgh
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