Tuesday, August 31, 2021

OTD in Barnstorming 8/31/1920: Brooklyn Royal Giants and Parkesburg (PA) Iron Company Duel to a Fifteen Inning Three-All Tie

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS



On Tuesday, August 31, 1920, the Brooklyn Royal Giants trek to Pennsylvania where they duel the Parkesburg Iron Company to a three-all tie after fifteen innings.  The game is called due to darkness.




Starting for Parkesburg, Olsen goes the distance allowing three runs on six hits and just one walk with eleven strikeouts.  For Brooklyn, right-hander Jessie Hubbard yields three runs on seven hits and six walks with 13 strikeouts.

The Royal Giants open with a run in the first, but the Iron Company ties in the second.  The score then remains unchanged through the seventh inning.  Parkesburg plates a pair in the eighth, but the Giants respond with two of their own in the ninth, sending the game into extra innings.  After six more scoreless innings, darkness thwarts further play.

First baseman Eddie Douglass wields a double and scores.  Third baseman Louis Miller also hits safely, and scores and center fielder Tom Fiall accounts for Brooklyn's third run.



THE METSIAN PODCAST: Flipping Fans the Thumb with Baseball Reporter/Analyst Ernest Dove

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET


PART ONE:
TWO FANS IN A CAR TALKIN' METS
@THE_SamMaxwell talks one-on-one w/ @BigRedRuckus


PART TWO:
Baseball Reporter, Analyst, 
Covering the St. Lucie Mets,
Can Be Heard at





STUFF
Howie Rose ~ Jerry Koosman ~ Retired Numbers ~ Noah Syndergaard
Jeff Cohen ~ Luis Rojas ~ Sandy Alderson
Francisco Lindor ~ THUMBS DOWN ~ Javier Baez
Yogi Berra ~ Gary Carter ~ Keith Hernandez ~ Tug McGraw
and so much more!

👎

#LGM



100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/31/1921: Giants En Route To Brooklyn; Senators Routed By Yankees at Griffith Stadium

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 Season Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lose 102 games.  Rebranded in 1913 as the Yankees, they move 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 proceed to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw two full decades later still harbors much animosity 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.  

As long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remains 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 at the turnstile in a decade.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates shift along the New York/New England fault.  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 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 - if the preceding season 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 is becoming an insufferable condition—the Giants attempt to evict the Yankees before the 1921 season 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.  
Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!


TRAVEL DAY
Next Game: Thursday, September 1, 1921
Ebbets Field


GAME #121
Griffith Stadium
Make-Up: 5/5/1921

Senators Routed By Yankees in Series Opener at Griffith Stadium

The Yankees, for a second straight day, issue the Senators an unkind reminder that the American League is a two-team race.  Three Washington pitchers have their mound offerings battered to all corners of the yard.  Trailing 3-2 after four, the Yankees post an additional fifteen runs over the final five innings of play.  They amass 21 total hits, with just four going for extra bases.  Babe Ruth goes 2 for 5 with a double and a run batted in.  Elmer Miller, Roger Peckinpaugh, and starting pitcher Rip Collins wield doubles, and Bob Meusel homers to highlight a big six-run sixth inning.  In fact, Rip Collins and Meusel lead the Yankees with four runs batted in apiece, and Peckinpaugh drives home three while Elmer Miller plates two.  Rip Collins still gets roughed up for eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits and four walks in six innings pitched but still manages the win.  Jack Quinn, pitching in relief of Collins, yields a run on three consecutive hits in the seventh and is immediately replaced with Waite Hoyt, who closes out the game allowing just two hits over three scoreless innings.  Washington center fielder Sam Rice goes 2 for 4 with three runs batted in.
  • FINAL: NYY 17; WAS 9
  • RECORD: 75-46 (.620); second place, 0.5 GB of Cleveland


Monday, August 30, 2021

OTD Brooklyn Semipros 8/30/1935: Former Brooklyn Dodger Hurler Dazzy Vance Makes Bushwick Debut, But Springfield Wins at Dexter Park

From the desk: BROOKLYN SEMIPROS



On Friday, August 30, 1935, a 42-year old former three-time 20-game winner for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Dazzy Vance makes his Bushwick debut in a contest against the Springfield Greys at Dexter Park.




Right-hander Dazzy Vance faced the minimum six batters over the first two innings for Bushwick, inducing two fly balls, one groundout, and striking out three batters.

After two scoreless innings, Bushwick left fielder Al Moore knocks home two runs in the third inning against Springfield starter Charley Cerny.  But Bushwick would score no more.  Charley Cerney holds the Dexters scoreless over the game's final six frames.  All told, he allows a lone run on six hits and six walks with eight strikeouts for the win.

With Dazzy Vance out of the game, the Greys tally four runs on twelve hits against Rube Chambers, who takes the loss.  Springfield amasses 14 total hits, but only two off Art Smith during his two innings pitched.






From the New York Age 8/30/1924: New York Lincoln Giants, Hilldale Club Mourn Passing of Bill Pettus; Split Doubleheader at Catholic Protectory Oval, Bronx

From the desk: THE NEW YORK AGE



As reported in the Saturday, August 30, 1924, edition of the New York Age, veteran baseball player Bill Pettus at the too-young age of forty, passed away (on August 22) of tuberculosis at the Sea View Hospital on Staten Island, New York.  He was laid to rest two days later at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Maspeth, Long Island.



After a brief stint as a boxer in California, Bill Pettus in 1909 begins his baseball career as a catcher for the Kansas City Giants.  The following season, he joins the Chicago Giants.  That's where he meets a 24-year old Joe Williams, another newcomer to the team who played the previous season with the San Antonio Black Bronchos.  The two become battery mates and best friends.  In 1912, Pettus and Williams joined the New York Lincoln Giants, where they remain teammates for the better part of the next eight seasons.

"...for a long time, Pettus was the only man to catch for Williams." - The New York Age.

Bill Pettus would also play for the Brooklyn Royal Giants and New York Lincoln Stars until rejoining Joe Williams and the Lincoln Giants in 1916 and through the 1920 season.  He retired from play after the 1923 season, but not before organizing the Richmond Giants in 1921 and in 1922 the Harrisburgh Giants.

Led by former teammate and manager Judy Gans, the entire New York Lincoln Giant team attends funeral services.  Also present are representatives of the Brooklyn Royal Giants, Hilldale Club, and Harrisburgh Giants.

Shortly after services, on Sunday, August 24, 1924, the New York Lincoln Giants and Hilldale stage a doubleheader at Catholic Protectory Oval, Bronx.





GAME ONE finds the Lincoln Giants out of sorts.  Starting for Hilldale, Nip Winters holds the Giants to five runs on five hits but issued seven walks.  Otherwise, Winters holds New York scoreless over the final six innings and strikes out five (catcher putouts) for the win.  Lincoln Giant's first baseman Roberts Hudspeth wields two doubles; right fielder Bennie Wilson, shortstop Gerard Williams, and catcher Rich Gee account for the remaining balance of New York hits.  Meanwhile, Hilldale punishes the offerings of Giants' left-hander, Judy Gans, to the tune of 14 runs on 21 hits, with five going for extra bases.  Nip Winters helps his own cause with three hits, including a home run.  Hilldale right fielder Otto Briggs
also wields three hits, including a triple.  Third baseman Judy Johnson goes 3 for 6 with a double and a team-leading three runs scored.  Judy Gans' only claim to success was keeping Biz Mackey
hitless in six trips to the plate, but the same cannot be said about the rest of Hilldale's nine.




GAME TWO is a much more tightly contested affair.  After pitching the final two innings of game one, Judy Gans starts the first four innings of the second match.  Already trailing 3-0 after three, Gans yields a home run to second baseman Frank Warfield in the visitor's fourth.  Southpaw Dave Brown then holds Hilldale scoreless over the final five innings.  The Lincoln Giants rally for three runs in the home fourth, knocking Hilldale starter Red Ryan out of the box.  New York then pushes across the tying run in the fifth.  The score remains unchanged through the eighth.  Dave Brown retires Hilldale in the top half of the ninth.  Frank Warfield's misplay in the home ninth sets the stage for George Scales' game-winning base hit.  Scales leads the Lincoln Giants with four hits, and center fielder Harry Kenyon goes 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored.  Dave Brown earns the win in relief.




Aberdeen Ironbirds Salvage Finale; Brooklyn Cyclones Still Take Series , 4-3

From the desk: THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

I - BRK 9; ABD 6
II - ABD 2; BRK 1
III - BRK 1; ABD 0
IV - ABD 12; BRK 5
V - BRK 6; ABD 4
VI - BRK 4; ABD 1
VII - ABD 5; BRK 1

Cyclones Bats Go Silent in Finale Against Ironbirds

Making his 18th start for Brooklyn, Jaison Vilera gets himself into trouble right away, issuing a pair of leadoff walks which Aberdeen converts into a run.  The Ironbirds post two more in the second; after surrendering a leadoff double, catcher Willy Yahn connects off Vilera for a home run.  

Jaison Vilera exits on the losing side of a 3-0 affair after yielding five hits and four walks in just 3.1 innings pitched.

Aberdeen scores single runs against Colby Morris in the fifth and Michel Otanez in the eighth innings. Still, they're unnecessary as the Cyclones are limited to just one run in the third on Cody Bohanek's sixth home run this season.

In a somewhat familiar script this season, the Cyclones are limited to just four hits and work out only three walks while striking out a dozen times.

How many times have I said that before ...

Shortstop Ronny Mauricio (2) and Oscar Campos account for Brooklyn's three other hits.

Three Aberdeen pitchers join together for twelve strikeouts and six scoreless innings after the third.  Southpaw Jake Prizina earns the win, Adam Stauffer the save.

Brooklyn nonetheless wins the series against Aberdeen, four games to three.

The Cyclones next host the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Tuesday at Coney Island.  BOXSCORE



100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/30/1921: Giants Sweep Cubs, Winning Streak Reaches Eight; Yankees Win Opener at Griffith Stadium

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 Season Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lose 102 games.  Rebranded in 1913 as the Yankees, they move 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 proceed to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw two full decades later still harbors much animosity 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.  

As long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remains 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 at the turnstile in a decade.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates shift along the New York/New England fault.  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 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 - if the preceding season 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 is becoming an insufferable condition—the Giants attempt to evict the Yankees before the 1921 season 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.  
Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!


GAME #128
POLO GROUNDS

Giants Rally Late to Complete Sweep of Cubs; McGrawmen Win Eighth Straight

Chicago right-hander Speed Martin poses a riddle to the Giants.  Johnny Rawlings leads off with a hit in the third inning, and Earl Smith draws a walk.  Next up, Art Nehf hits into an inning-ending triple play.  Speed Martin faces a minimum of 18 batters through the sixth inning and retires 19 of 22 batters through seven.  Chicago's Charlie Deal delivers home an unearned run in the first, Charlie Hollocher homers off Art Nehf leading off the third, and Charlie Deal drives home his second run in the fifth for a 3-0 Cub lead.  The score remains unchanged through the seventh.  That is until the Giants finally solve Charlie Deal with five runs in the eighth highlighted by Casey Stengel's run batted in and a pair of two-run homers off the bats of hot-hitting Earl Smith and Dave Bancroft for a 5-2 lead and the final margin of victory.  Art Nehf perseveres for the win, allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts for his 17th victory against eight losses with a 3.65 ERA.  The Giants complete the sweep of the Cubs and, more importantly, win their eighth consecutive game to recover from a previously subpar month to finish August with an 18-13 record.  However, the Pirates defeated the Robins at Ebbets Field, so the Giants at least maintain their standing.
  • FINAL: CHI 3; NYG 5
  • RECORD: 78-50 (.609); second place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh



GAME #120
Griffith Stadium

Carl Mays Makes Easy Work of the Senators

The Yankees open their series against the Senators with five runs in the first and essentially never look back.  Carl Mays takes care of the rest.  He yields two runs in the bottom half of the first but does not yield another until the Senators generate one last run in the ninth.  Otherwise, only two of three runs allowed are earned, on eight hits and three walks en route to his 21st victory this season.  Support was plentiful as the Yankees post a pair of runs in the second and fourth innings and one last run in the fifth.  Bob Meusel and Aaron Ward each wield a pair of hits; Meusel drives home three runs, and Ward plates two.  Bob Meusel now has 103 runs batted in this season, and with a double, Babe Ruth drives in his 135th of the season.  Mike McNally and Roger Peckinpaugh, with four hits, also drive home a run each.  The Cleveland Indians were idle and so the Yanks gain one half-game in the standings.
  • FINAL: NYY 10; WAS 3
  • RECORD: 74-46 (.617); second place, 1.0 GB of Cleveland  


Sunday, August 29, 2021

OTD Negro National League vs. Brooklyn Semipros 8/29/1937: Leon Day Wins Two as Newark Eagles Sweep Both Ends of Twin Bill Against Bay Parkways at Erasmus Field

From the desk: NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE vs. BROOKLYN SEMIPRO


On Sunday, August 29, 1937, not more than two miles from where I presently live, the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League win games of a tightly contested doubleheader against the Bay Parkway Dukes at Erasmus Field, McDonald Avenue at the Avenue M station along the Culver Line, Brooklyn.


GAME ONE - Starting for the Dukes, Phil Mooney is opposed by the familiar right-hander Terris McDuffie who was hurling for Brooklyn two years ago before the Manleys relocated the Eagles to Newark.  The two duel to a one-all tie through nine innings.  Newark scores their run in the second and the Bay Parkways in the fourth.  Afterwhich, the score remains unchanged for the next five innings, and into extra innings, they go at Erasmus Field.

Mooney allows the lone run on just five hits through nine.  After the second, he hurls seven scoreless innings but exits to a no-decision.  He is relieved in the tenth inning by Eddie Bell.  Meanwhile, Terris McDuffie lasts through the twelfth inning, and like Mooney, walks off to a no-decision.  McDuffie, after the fourth twirls eight scoreless innings.  

After enduring another four scoreless frames, the Eagles finally get to Eddie Bell for three runs in the top of the fourteenth inning.  Second baseman Dick Seay doubles, and after a walk issued to shortstop Willie Wells, first baseman Mule Suttles doubles to right field, plating Seay with the game's decisive run.  

Right-hander Leon Day, who entered the game in the thirteenth, tosses two scoreless innings for the win.  Right fielder Ed Stone leads the Eagles with three hits, and third baseman Ray Dandridge
wields two.



GAME TWO - A seven-inning contest is agreed upon.  Newark promptly scores three runs on four hits against Bay Parkway starter Johnny Ubinski in the first inning.  Afterwhich, Ubinski settles in with help from Teddy Wronewic's stellar play in left field, allowing no runs on just three scattered hits over the final six innings.  

However, Leon Day makes Newark's lead stand.  The Dukes manage two runs in the fourth and not much else.  After his relief stint in game one, Leon Day holds Bay Parkway to six hits with three strikeouts over seven innings for the win.  Ed Stone leads the Eagles with two hits, while Mule Suttles, Dick Seay, and center fielder Jimmie Crutchfield crossed home for Newark.  Despite seven strikeouts, Johnny Ubinski takes the hard-luck loss.



Jose Chacin Shines in Brooklyn Cyclones Debut; Coney Island Takes 4-2 Series Lead Over Aberdeen

From the desk: THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

I - BRK 9; ABD 6
II - ABD 2; BRK 1
III - BRK 1; ABD 0
IV - ABD 12; BRK 5
V - BRK 6; ABD 4
VI - BRK 4; ABD 1

Cyclone Bullpen and the Surf Ave Sluggers Provide Jose Chacin All The Support Needed For His First Victory at Coney Island 

Making his first start for the Brooklyn Cyclones, Port St. Lucie Mets graduate Jose Chacin makes a fine first impression before the Coney Island crowd.  After hurling five scoreless innings, he yields a run in the sixth.  All told, Chacin allowed an earned run on just two hits and one walk with five strikeouts through 5.2 innings pitched.  

Enter Josh Hejka who closes out the sixth and throws a scoreless seventh.  Afterwhich, the bullpen hits a bump in the road when Evy Ruibal faces four batters, allows a hit, and walks two before smartly being removed in favor of big Bryce Montes de Oca who closes out the eighth, then hurls a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the victory and earn his sixth save.  Jose Chacin earns the win.

The Cyclones score four runs on seven hits and seven walks with only five strikeouts.  Aberdeen right-hander Connor Loeprich takes the loss.  Second baseman Luis Gonzalez is the big man on campus going 4 for 4 with a home run, his fifth.  Third baseman Jose Peroza and Ronny Mauricio also drive in runs for Brooklyn, and back in the second Luis Gonzalez doubled and scored on a wild pitch.

The Surf Avenue Sluggers now own a 4-2 advantage in the series with the finale slated for Sunday.



100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/29/1921: Giants Defeat Cubs For Seventh Consecutive Win; Yankees En Route to Nation's Capital

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 Season Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lose 102 games.  Rebranded in 1913 as the Yankees, they move 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 proceed to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw two full decades later still harbors much animosity 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.  

As long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remains 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 at the turnstile in a decade.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates shift along the New York/New England fault.  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 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 - if the preceding season 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 is becoming an insufferable condition—the Giants attempt to evict the Yankees before the 1921 season 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.  
Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!




GAME #127
POLO GROUNDS

McGraw's Reinforcements Continue Earning Their Worth; Bullpen Gets Giants Back on Track After Fred Toney Is Knocked Out of the Box

With Fred Toney toeing the rubber, Chicago right fielder Max Flack singles leading off the game, and shortstop Charlie Hollocher follows with a home run to right field.  Cubs starter Buck Freeman does himself no favors in the bottom of the frame, hitting Ross Youngs with a pitch and walking a pair to load the bases.  Burns scores on High Pockets Kelly's sacrifice fly to center field, and Irish Meusel follows with a two-run double to right field.  However, Toney yields three runs on four hits in the fourth and is replaced by Slim Salle, who ends the threat.  Chicago takes a 6-3 lead in the visitor's sixth on a Ray Grimes double.  Facing Chicago's Percy Jones pitching in relief of Freeman in the home sixth, George Burns and Dave Bancroft drive home a run pulling the Giants within one.  With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Irish Meusel triples, and scored on Johnny Rawlings' doubles, knocking Percy Jones out of the box.  Bill Cunningham greets incoming reliever Lefty York with a single to score Rawlings giving the Giants a 7-6 lead.  Irish Meusel then drives in what proves to be the decisive run in the eighth, as the Cubs score once in the ninth.  Still threatening with two outs and the tying run at third, Red Shea pitching in relief of Slim Salle secures the final out.  Shea earnes the win while Fred Toney escapes with a no-decision.  Slim Salle's work through the middle innings proves pivotal.  Irish Meusel and Johnny Rawlings continue expressing their appreciation of John McGraw through their performance and productivity.  They've been key contributors to the Giants success since their respective acquisitions,  Bill Cunningham included.  The Gians take a 2-0 series lead against the Cubs, and win their seventh consecutive game.  Meanwhile over in Brooklyn, the Robins shutout the Pirates.  Thus, the Giants gain a full game on Pittsburgh.
  • FINAL: CHI 7; NYG 8
  • RECORD: 77-50 (.606); second place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh



TRAVEL DAY
Next Game: Tuesday, August 30, 1921
Griffith Stadium




Saturday, August 28, 2021

Brooklyn Cyclones Overcome Early Deficits, Rally Late; Bullpen Handles the Rest in Victory Over Aberdeen Ironbirds

From the desk: THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

I - BRK 9; ABD 6
II - ABD 2; BRK 1
III - BRK 1; ABD 0
IV - ABD 12; BRK 5
V - BRK 6; ABD 4

Brooklyn Bullpen Puts Aberdeen On Hold; Luis Gonzalez Drives Home Decisive Runs in Eighth

Aberdeen holds the early advantage.  Making his sixth start for the Cyclones, right-hander Luc Rennie surrenders two hits and issued two walks in the first inning as the Ironbirds jump out to a prompt 2-0 led.  

Second baseman Luke Ritter drives home one run in the bottom half of the first, third baseman Luis Gonzalez singles and scores the tying run in the second, and in the fourth, Cody Bohanek doubles and scored on Antoine Duplantis' line single to right field, giving Brooklyn a 3-2 lead.

With Luc Rennie pitching in the fifth, Aberdeen retakes the lead with another pair of runs.  The score then remains unchanged through the seventh.  Right-hander Brian Metoyer twirls two fine innings in relief of Rennie, allowing just a hit and striking out two.  The Cyclones then breakthrough for three runs in the bottom of the eighth; Luis Gonzalez drives home two runs and soon scores on a throwing error by Aberdeen pitcher Ignacio Feliz for a 6-4 Cyclone lead and the final margin of victory.

Brian Metoyer's fine effort earns him the victory.  Right-hander Willy Taveras strikes out three batters to close out the ninth for his third save this season.  Luc Rennie escapes with a no-decision, and Ignacio Feliz takes the loss.

The Cyclones bat 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position; they strike out 12 times and draw just three walks.  Of their nine hits, only one goes for extra bases.  The good news is with the victory the Cyclones take a 3-2 series lead over Aberdeen.  BOXSCORE



100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/28/1921: Giants Turn Back Cubs For Sixth in a Row; Yankees Fall at Navin Field

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 Season Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lose 102 games.  Rebranded in 1913 as the Yankees, they move 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 proceed to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw two full decades later still harbors much animosity 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.  

As long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remains 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 at the turnstile in a decade.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates shift along the New York/New England fault.  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 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 - if the preceding season 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 is becoming an insufferable condition—the Giants attempt to evict the Yankees before the 1921 season 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.  
Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!


GAME #126
POLO GROUNDS

Jesse Barnes Outduels Grover Cleveland Alexander; Giants Win Sixth Straight

Back-to-back 20-game winner Jesse Barnes, who did not appear against the Pirates, outperforms the great Pete Alexander as the Giants take the series opener against Chicago and win their sixth straight game.  Frankie Frisch triples home Dave Bancroft in the first inning.  Chicago then takes a 2-1 lead with three hits in the fourth.  But the Giants answer right back in the home half of the frame; Ross Youngs triples home Dave Bancroft and Frankie Frisch, and Johnny Rawlings drives home Youngs for a 4-2 Giants leads.  Jesse Barnes makes it stand, hurling five scoreless innings to close out the game.  Barnes yields the two runs on just five hits and one walk for his twelfth win against eight losses with a representative 2.87 ERA.  Grover Cleveland Alexander takes the loss, his tenth against twelve victories.  Dave Bancroft and Frankie Frisch account for half of New York's twelve hits.  Ross Youngs now has 90 runs batted in.
  • FINAL: CHI 2; NYG 4
  • RECORD: 76-50 (.603); second place, 2.5 GB of Pittsburgh


GAME #119
Navin Field

Yankees Humbled by Detroit Novice; Tigers Salvage Series Finale

One has to wonder if the Yankees took the proverbial one step forward and two steps back.  When Detroit Tiger rookie Bert Cole, making just his thirteenth major league appearance, limits the Yankees to three runs, two of which come after the seventh, one is left to ponder the Yankees' present condition and perhaps the status of their field manager.  With only 37 games left in the season, we will soon know if Col. Rupport regrets not replacing Miller Huggins earlier this summer.  Waite Hoyt gets off to a problematic start, yielding two runs in the first inning on two hits and two walks along with a hit batsman.  Hoyt helps himself with a run-scoring single in the fourth.  But with Hoyt out of the game, reliever Jack Quinn yields another two runs in the fifth inning on four hits for a 4-1 Tiger lead through five.  With the bases loaded in the visitor's sixth, left fielder Bobby Veach clears the bases giving the Tigers a 7-1 lead.  Aaron Ward homers leading off the eighth, and Wally Pipp drives home a run in the ninth for a 7-3 final in Detroit.  Waite Hoyt takes the loss, and Bert Cole, the win.
  • FINAL: NYY 3; DET 7
  • RECORD: 73-46 (.613); second place, 1.5 GB of Cleveland