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!
GAME #86
POLO GROUNDS
Make-Up: Friday, July 22, 1921
Curt Walker Wields Decisive Hit In Eighth Inning
After three straight losses, the McGrawmen finally get back on terra firma. The Giants welcome to the Polo Grounds former mate Rube Marquard who exits on the losing side of a 4-1 game after six. After the Reds and Giants trade two runs each in the seventh, Art Nehf comes completely undone in the eighth. Jake Daubert triples leading off the frame and scores, and with two outs, Larry Kopf connects on a game-tying two-run home run knocking Nehf out of the box. But the Giants answer. With the bases loaded and one out, Curt Walker doubles to left field driving home two runs. John McGraw summons Fred Toney to pitch the ninth. He walks two batters, yields a run, and leaves the tying run stranded at second base. Slim Salle earns the win as reward for closing out the eighth in relief of Nehf. High Pockets Kelly hit his 15th home run this season against Rube Marquard in the sixth. Dave Bancroft goes 3 for 4 with a triple and two runs batted in. Frankie Frisch and Ross Youngs also drive home a run apiece.
- FINAL: CIN 7; NYG 8
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GAME #87
POLO GROUNDS
Jesse Barnes Bids Cincinnati Reds Adieu; Giants Complete Twin Bill Sweep
Jesse Barnes allows no runs and just five hits over five innings pitched in an abbreviated shutout victory. The game is called after the fifth to allow the Reds to catch their train back to Cincinnati to host the Cubs. With Ross Youngs and High Pockets Kelly on base in the second, Bill Cunningham homers to right field. Earl Smith drives home two in the fourth, and Jesse Barnes helps himself with a run batted in. The Giants complete the twin bill sweep and gain a full game on Pittsburgh, who split their twin bill with the Braves at Boston.
- FINAL: CIN 0; NYG 6
- RECORD: 54-33 (.621); second place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh
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GAME #88
Dunn Field
Defending Champions Shutout Yankees
The defending World Champions strike again. Second baseman Bill Wambsganss, Tris Speaker, and Larry Gardner drive in runs for Cleveland in the third. All told, Cleveland wields 13 hits against Yankee starter Waite Hoyt. Cleveland hurler Allan Sothoron takes care of the rest, allowing the New Yorkers a mere three hits and just one walk with four strikeouts over nine scoreless innings pitched. Babe Ruth, Home Run Baker, and Waite Hoyt account for the Yankees' only hits. Cleveland now leads the series two against one and reestablish a two-game lead in the standings.
- FINAL: NYY 0; CLE 3
- RECORD: 55-33 (.625); second place, 2.0 GB of Cleveland
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