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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NEXT GAME:
Wednesday, July 27, 1921
POLO GROUNDS
Babe Ruth Thrills National League Crowd
7/25/1921 - Upon completing their 15 game road trip, the Yankees are off the American League docket for the next two days. However, before heading home, the Huggmen stop in Cincinnati, where they play an exhibition game against the National Leaguers at Redland Field. The crowd is delighted by a victory over the New Yorkers but also witnessing the Bambino swat two home runs. Ruth's first home run in the fifth inning is a grand slam to center field that hits the back-barrier on a fly, something no other player has ever done in the history of that playing field. His second home run in the seventh inning lands in the center field bleachers. Ruth drives home six runs in all, but it's still not enough to overcome the Reds, who win the day, 9 to 8.
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GAME #89
Forbes Field
Bucs Toss Phil Douglas Overboard
The battle for first place resumes today at Forbes Field. Former 20-game winner Babe Adams limits the Giants to three runs on nine hits and no walks over nine innings for the win. Ross Youngs, Johnny Rawlings, and Frank Snyder each drive home a run. Meanwhile, Giant starter Phil Douglas gets knocked around, surrendering four runs on ten hits through six innings pitched for the loss. Slim Salle yields another two runs in two innings pitched. Pirates shortstop Rabbit Maranville leads the Bucs with three runs batted in. The Pirates become baseball's first team to achieve 60 victories, four full games ahead of the Giants.
- FINAL: NYG 3; PIT 6
- RECORD: 55-34 (.618); second place, 4.0 GB of Pittsburgh
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