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 #88
POLO GROUNDS
High Pockets Kelly and Rosy Ryan Lead Giants in Home Stand Finale Against Phillies
In the final tilt of this homestand, before departing for Pittsburgh and embarking on an 18-game road trip, the Giants put up four runs against the Phillies, and Rosy Ryan makes it stand. Philadelphia opens the scoring with a run in the second, but High Pockets Kelly puts the Giants ahead in the third with a two-run double. Phillies catcher John Peters triples home the tying run in the fifth. High Pockets Kelly again puts the Giants ahead, with a two-run home to the deepest left field. The Phillies leading off the eighth put two runners into scoring position; right fielder Lee King then grounds into a 4-6-3 double-play, scoring the runner from third. However, the Phillies would tally no more. Rosy Ryan allows three runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts for the win. High Pockets Kelly finishes the day hitting 3 for 4 with all four of the Giants' runs batted in. Philadelphia's Bill Hubbell takes the loss.
- FINAL: PHI 3; NYG 4
- RECORD: 55-33 (.625); second place; 3.0 GB of Pittsburgh
⚾
GAME #89
Dunn Field
Yankees Salvage Series Split At Cleveland; Fail To Achieve Their Objective
The Yankees salvage the series finale but depart Cleveland one game further back in the standings than when they first arrived back on Wednesday. At least on May 17, the Yankees left Cleveland bound for Chicago locked in a tie with the Indians. This time the Yankees must ponder a one-game deficit as they head back to their rented home in Washington Heights, where they'll host the incoming St. Louis Browns. The Yankees conclude their trip with a 10-5 record. However, it seems as that season-high nine-game win streak went for naught. In the meantime, they snap their two-game skid with a late surge at Dunn Field. Bob Shawkey and Indian starter Duster Mails keep affairs tight through the seventh. Afterwhich, Miller Huggins replaces Shawkey with Carl Mays but not before the right-hander yields two runs on just three hits and two walks with five strikeouts. The Yankees finally knock Duster Mails out of the box in the eighth, scoring three runs on four hits. Facing Jim Bagby, Babe Ruth triples home two runs in the ninth, and Bob Meusel delivers home Ruth with a double. Cleveland scores once in the home ninth on a Carl Mays wild pitch, otherwise giving the Yankees a 7-3 final margin of victory. Bob Shawkey wins his tenth against five losses and a 3.42 ERA.
- FINAL: NYY 7; CLE 3
- RECORD: 56-33 (.629); second place, 1.0 GB of Cleveland
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