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 #47
POLO GROUNDS
Yankees Trounce Defending Champs in Series Opener
Their last game against the Indians at Cleveland never sat well with Miller Huggins. He's been counting down the days until today's opening game against the circuit leaders at the Polo Grounds ever since. The Huggmen did not disappoint. In front of 14,000 fans, the Yankees take an immediate 3-0 lead against the defending World Series champions. All three runs were unearned thanks in part to a fielding error by the third baseman Larry Gardner. Still facing Indians starter Stan Covaleski, the Yankees strike for five more runs in the fourth, highlighted by Aaron Ward's home run. Aaron Ward drives home another run in the fifth. Home Run Baker drives home two runs. Yankees starter Bob Shawkey puts the finishing touches on a winning effort but not before shortstop Joe Sewell homers to deep left. Otherwise, Shawkey surrenders two runs on just five hits and three walks through nine innings for his third victory this season.
- FINAL: CLE 2; NYY 9
- RECORD: 28-19 (.596); second place, 1.5 GB of Cleveland
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GAME #48
Redland Field
Old Friend Rube Marquard Whitewashes Former Mates
Former New York Giants star Rube Marquard treats his old mates unkindly upon their arrival in Cincinnati. The now 34-year old veteran limits the Giants to just five hits and no walks with five strikeouts in a nine-inning complete-game shutout effort. Frankie Frisch accounts for two of New York's hits. Reds right fielder Rube Bressier and center fielder Edd Roush each account for three hits and drive in a run apiece. Rube Benton takes the loss. The Braves defeated the Pirates at Forbes Field; thus, the Giants lose no ground.
- FINAL: NYG 0; CIN 6
- RECORD: 32-16 (.667); second place, 0.5 GB of Pittsburgh
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