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!
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GAME #84
POLO GROUNDS
Fred Toney Bows to Eppa Rixey in Series Opener
Two former 20-game winners take the mound in the opening game between the Giants and Reds at the Polo Grounds, Eppa Rixey for Cincinnati and Fred Toney for the Giants. The two duel to a one-all tie through six. Cincy right fielder Greasy Neale leads off the game with a triple and scores in the first inning, and Ross Youngs drives home George Burns in the fourth. The game's decisive run comes in the seventh. Center fielder Edd Roush hits a leadoff double, advances to third, then scores on Pat Duncan's ground ball, third to first. Eppa Rixey allows just one run on eight hits and two walks for the win. Fred Toney yields two runs on nine hits and no walks in a losing effort. The Giants sink four games behind the circuit leader.
- FINAL: CIN 2; NYG 1
- RECORD: 52-32 (.619); seond place, 4.0 GB of Pittsburgh
GAME #86
Dunn Field
Yankees Take Opening Clash at Cleveland
New York's loss at Cleveland in their series finale back on May 17 has haunted Miller Higgins through all these days. Just ask Babe Ruth, who, despite his exploits, has drawn his manager's ire ever since. The Yankees ceded sole possession of first place that day and had yet to ascend the mountain top again. That is until this afternoon's clash at Dunn Field. No home runs for Ruth, but he crosses home plate three times. Home Run Baker leads the Yankees, going 3 for 4 with a double and four runs batted in, and Bob Meusel drives home two. Bob Shawkey puts forth one of his finest performances this season, allowing just one run on six hits and a season-high nine strikeouts for the win. Right fielder Elmer Smith ruins the shutout with a home run in the sixth. Otherwise, Shawkey wins his ninth against five losses and a 3.37 ERA. Long-time nemesis and perennial 20-game winner Stan Coveleski yields seven earned runs in seven innings for the loss. With the victory, New York ties Cleveland for first place.
- FINAL: NYY 7; CLE 1
- RECORD: 55-31 (.640); tied first place with Cleveland
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