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 #46
POLO GROUNDS
Browns Starter Dixie Davis Two-Hits Yankees
Dixie Davis hurls a gem, and St. Louis salvages the series finale. The Yankees spoil the shutout in the eighth, partly by Davis' own doing. After walking the bases loaded, Braggo Roth scores on Ping Bodie's fielder's choice to short. Otherwise, Dixie Davis allows the one run on just two hits but walks eight batters with five strikeouts for the win. A double by Babe Ruth and a pinch-hit from Fred Hoffmann are all the Yankees can claim. Rip Collins allows two runs, one earned, on just three hits and four walks through seven innings for the loss. Browns' left fielder Ken Williams goes 2 for 4 and drives home three runs for the Browns. Dixie Davis also drives home a run in the ninth. Next up, the showdown against the first-place Indians begins tomorrow when Cleveland arrives in New York for four games at the Polo Grounds.
- FINAL: STL 5; NYY 1
- RECORD: 27-19 (.587); second place, 2.5 GB of Cleveland
GAME #47
Forbes Field
Pirates Retake First Place From Giants
Pittsburgh avoids the series sweep in a thrilling back and forth affair, replete with the obligatory heroic ending. Rabbit Maranville's first-inning single drives home the game's opening run. Earl Smith triples home Goldie Rapp, and George Burns plates Smith in the second. A leadoff triple by Curt Walker and a one-out double by Earle Smith give the Giants a 3-1 lead. But the Pirates cut their deficit by one in the home fourth. When Dave Bancroft leads off the Giants fifth with a triple into the left/center gap, manager George Gibson removes starter Whitey Glazner in favor of right-hander Babe Adams. With one out, a sacrifice fly by Ross Youngs drives home, Bancroft. But the Pirates scored once in the bottom of the frame, making it a 4-3 in favor of the visitors. The score remains unchanged through the seventh. With starter Jesse Barnes still in the game, Possum Whitted leads off the eight with a single to left field, then scores the tying run when Charlie Grimm bounces into a 4-6-3 double-play. With the game knotted at four, Mister McGraw send Jesse Barnes out for the ninth. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, second baseman George Cutshaw drives home the winning run with a single to right field. Pittsburgh reclaims first place by a mere half-game ahead of the Giants, who still win the series three games to one.
- FINAL: NYG 3; PITT 5
- RECORD: 32-15 (.681); second place, 0.5 GB of Pittsburgh
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