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.
- Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE
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
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