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!
GAME #48
POLO GROUNDS
Yankees Pull Out Ninth Inning Victory Over Champs; Tris Speaker Protests Game
In a tightly contested affair, a crowd of 22,000 is treated to a thrilling conclusion. With Waite Hoyt toeing the rubber opposed by George Uhle, Wally Pipp's first-inning base hit puts the Yankees up by one. But the defending champs rally for three runs in the fifth. Wally Pipp's error proves costly, and George Uhle helps his own cause with a triple and run scored. The Yankees get one back in the bottom of the frame on a leadoff double from Home Run Baker and Aaron Ward's hit and run batted in. Hoyt and Uhle then exchange zeroes through the eighth. Hoyt retires the Indians in the top of the ninth, Tris Speaker among them. After retiring Wally Pipp, Uhle yields a run on three consecutive hits from Bob Meusel, Home Run Bakers, and Aaron Ward, who drives home, Meusel. Tris Speaker protests the game to no avail over a perceived third strike to Baker. George Uhle is relived by Stan Coveleski, who walks Wally Schang to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Carl Mays bounces to first, and Home Run Baker is forced out at home. With two outs and the bases still loaded, Braggo Roth singles to right field, and Aaron Ward scores the winning run. Waite Hoyt allows three runs, two earned, eight hits, and four walks for the win. He improves to 6-4 with a 3.75 ERA. With the victory, the Yankees pulled within one-half game of the Indians.
- FINAL: CLE 3; NYY 4
- RECORD: 29-19 (.604); second place, 0.5 GB of Cleveland
GAME CALLED: Rain
Wednesday, June 8, 1921
Redland Field
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