100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 9/30/1921: Jupiter Pluvius Stalls Yanks Pursuit of Pennant; Giants Seek To Turn Around World Series Luck

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 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 shifted 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 previous 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!

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Saturday, October 1, 1921

Knoxville (TN) Sentinel, Saturday, October 1, 1921

GAME CALLED: RAIN

NEXT GAME: Saturday, October 1, 1921 (doubleheader)

Philadelphia Athletics @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS (site change)

⚾

NOT SCHEDULED

Next Game: Saturday, October 1, 1921 (doubleheader)

New York Giants @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Baker Bowl

Knoxville (TN) Sentinel, Saturday, October 1, 1921

El Paso (TX) Herald, Friday, September 30, 1921

l; Asbury Park (NJ) Press, Friday, September 30, 1921

r; Knoxville (TN) Sentinel, Saturday, October 1, 1921

OTD 9/30/1915: Federal League Brooklyn Tip Tops Play Last Ever Game at Washington Park

From the desk: THE BROOKLYN BAKER'S NINE

FEDERAL LEAGUE

BUFFALO BLUES vs. BROOKLYN TIP TOPS

On Thursday, September 30, 1915, the Brooklyn Tip Tops play their last ever game and the last "major league" baseball game at Washington Park. 

  

Chicago Tribune, Friday, October 1, 1915

Brooklyn Tip Tops Sing The Blues

Right-hander Gene Krapp starts for the visiting Buffalo Blues and is opposed by Dan Marion for Brooklyn.  The Tip Tops open the scoring in the second.  With the bases loaded, Marion helps his cause with a single to center field scoring Benny Kauff, but Brooklyn leaves all other base runners stranded.  

Afterwhich, Gene Krapp and Dan Marion engage in a scoreless duel through the sixth.

Buffalo ties the score in the seventh on second baseman Baldy Louden's base hit.

Brooklyn retakes the lead in the eighth on second baseman Lee Magee's run-scoring triple, but they cannot hold.  The Blues scored two runs in the top of the ninth.  First baseman Hal Chase singles and scores, and catcher Nick Allen drives in the go-ahead run.

Gene Krapp retires the Tip Tops in the home ninth to close out Buffalo's 3-2 victory.  He allows two runs on six hits and four walks with eight strikeouts for the win.

Hard-luck loser Dan Marion yielded just four hits through the first eight innings.  All told, Marion allows three runs on seven total hits and three walks with one strikeout.  Marion finishes the season with an 11-9 record and 3.20 ERA.

The Brooklyn Tip Tops end the 1915 season with a 70-82-1 record, seventh in the Federal League.  They remained in the circuit's top three through June 12 but then lost eight in a row.  Despite a ten-game consecutive win streak earlier in September, the Tip Tops could not climb the standings.  Their two-year existence culminates with a 147-159-4 overall record.

BOXSCORE

WASHINGTON PARK IV

1st Street at 3rd Avenue

OTD September 29, 1935: What's A New York City Baseball Fan To Do?

From the desk: TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

September 29, 1935: 

What's A New York City Baseball Fan To Do? 

On a chilly day in Gotham, with the general baseball season drawing to a close, fans throughout the boroughs scattered about one last time to cheer their favorites on.  Whether you lived in Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, or Brooklyn, once you stepped outside your place of abode, a high-quality ball game could be found within walking distance or at most just a few miles down the road.

DEXTER PARK, Woodhaven, Queens

GAME ONE - Behind the pitching of long-time Brooklyn Dodger Dazzy Vance, Bushwick sweeps both ends of a doubleheader against the Cuban Stars of Havana before a crowd of 7,500 fans.  The 44-year old right-hander holds the Cuban Stars to no runs on two infield hits with nine strikeouts over six innings pitched for the win.  Charley Perkins hurls three scoreless innings in relief of Vance to preserve the shutout.  Bushwick pushed across two runs in the third.  Afterwhich, the score remained unchanged.  

GAME TWO - Bushwich and the Cuban Stars dual through ten innings to a two-all tie - the game was called on account of darkness.  Starter Jim Duffy yields just two runs.  Bushwick scores single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.  The Cuban stars score twice in the visitor's seventh.

DYCKMAN OVAL, Harlem, Manhattan

Before a crowd of 10,000 fans, Babe Ruth headlines a team of All-Stars in a doubleheader against the New York Cubans featuring future Hall of Famers Martín Dihigo, Alejandro Oms, and Lázaro Salazar.  The New York Cubans win both games.  Babe Ruth flawlessly handled twelve chances playing first base in game one, along with a walk and double in five trips to the plate.  Playing without Ruth in game two, the All-Stars fall to the New York Cubans by a 14-6 final score in six innings.

YANKEE STADIUM, Bronx

In the last two games of the season, before a crowd of 16,000 at the stadium, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox split games of a doubleheader.  Shortstop Nolan Richardson goes 2 for 3 with a triple and two runs batted in, but Jumbo Brown takes the loss in game one.  In the final game of the season, future Hall of Famer Red Ruffing hurls a two-hit shutout over the Red Sox.  The Yankees finish three games out of first place behind the Detroit Tigers.

EBBETS FIELD, Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Dodgers close out their regular season with a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies before 5,000 fans.  Brooklyn's Van Mungo hurls a two-hit shutout with no walks and a season-high fifteen strikeouts for the win in game one.  Third baseman Joe Stripp homers for the Dodgers.  Philadelphia and Brooklyn play to a four-all tie through eight innings in game two.  Dodger second baseman Vince Sherlock goes 4 for 4 with a run batted in.

BAY RIDGE OVAL, 15 Avenue at 86 Street, Brooklyn

Not more than two miles north from where I presently live, the Bay Ridge Club closes out their regular season with a twin-bill sweep of the New Brunswick Club of New Jersey.

ERASMUS FIELD, Gravesend Avenue at Avenue M, Brooklyn

Not more than two miles east from where I presently live, the Bay Parkway Dukes defeat the New York Black Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader by an 8-7 final score.  The teams then duel to a three-all tie in game two after eight innings.

• Times Union (Brooklyn, NY), Monday, September 30, 1935

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 9/29/1921: Bob Shawkey Blanks White Sox; Idle New York Giants Clinch National League Pennant

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 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 shifted 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 previous 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!

New York (NY) Tribune, Friday, September 30, 1921

GAME #150

BOXSCORE: Thursday, September 29, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ Philadelphia Athletics

Shibe Park

Shawkey Blanks A's; Yankees One Game Away from First-Ever Pennant

Making his 38th and final start of the regular season, Bob Shawkey hurls a gem to close out one of his more rumbustious campaigns to date.  He and other pitchers were openly critical of the new baseballs and a diminished ability to effectively grip them.  But on this day, Shawkey demonstrated no such issue.  The former Athletic held Philadelphia to just four hits and four walks with six strikeouts in a complete-game shutout effort.  A three-time 20-game winner, Shawkey finishes with an 18-12 record and an uncommon 4.28 ERA.  After playing through aches and pains in his leg and wrist, Babe Ruth missed his first game this season due to a mild case of the flu.  In his place, Chick Fewster, Braggo Roth, and Home Run Baker all see action.  Roger Peckinpaugh picks up the slack with a home run and two runs batted in, Bob Meusel drives in his 138th run, and Bob Shawkey helps his cause with two hits and a run batted in.  White Sox southpaw Dickey Kerr wins his 19th game at Chicago's Comisky Park, limiting Cleveland to just six hits and one walk in a complete-game shutout.  Any combination of another Yankee win or Indians loss gives the Hugmen the pennant.

• FINAL: NYY 4; PHI 0
• RECORD: 95-55 (.633); First Place, 2.5 GA of Cleveland

l; York (PA) Daily Record, Friday, September 30, 1921

r; The New York Times, Friday, September 30, 1921

⚾     ⚾     ⚾     ⚾     ⚾     ⚾     ⚾

The Victoria Daily Times (Alberta, Canada) Friday, September 30, 1921

l; New York (NY) Tribune, Friday, September 30, 1921

r; The New York Times, Friday, September 30, 1921

NOT SCHEDULED

Next Game: Saturday, October 1, 1921

New York Giants @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Baker Bowl

Instead of preparing to play the Phillies, John McGraw will now be putting his team through practice drills for the World Series.  With help from the Cardinals, who kindly swept the Pirates in a doubleheader at Sportsman's Park, the Giants clinch the eighth National League pennant during their illustrious 39-year history.  For Little Napoleon, his seventh flag as manager.  Aside from a 21-year old George Kelly who saw action in just eleven games, outfielder George Burns is the only notable holdover from McGraw's 1917 champions.  Otherwise, Dave Bancroft, Frank Snyder, Johnny Rawlings, Irish Meusel, and pitchers Art Nehf, Fred Toney, Jesse Barnes, and Phil Douglas are all John McGraw imports added to Giants' homegrown regulars Ross Youngs, Frankie Frisch, and a now 25-years old George "High Pockets" Kelly.  Trailing Pittsburgh by 7.5 games on Aug. 23, the Giants effectively won the pennant by sweeping a five-game series against the Pirates at the Polo Grounds.  Afterwhich, they never again dropped out of first place.  In their final showdown against the Pirates earlier this month, the McGrawmen punctuated their standing by taking two of three at Forbes Field.  

York (PA) Daily Record, 

Friday, September 30, 1921

 

The Victoria Daily Times (Alberta, Canada) Friday, September 30, 1921

Once Upon A Summer 9/29/1918: Smokey Joe Williams Outlasts Irvin Brooks and John Donaldson in Lincoln Giants Decisive Series Win over Brooklyn Royal Giants

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS & THE DONALDSON NETWORK

The Evening World (New York, NY), Saturday, September 28, 1918

l; The Evening World (New York, NY), Thursday, September 26, 1918

r; New York (N.Y.) Herald, Sunday, September 29, 1918

On Sunday, September 29, 1918, after defeating the Cuban Stars of Havana in game one, the New York Lincoln Giants complete a twin bill sweep with a victory over the Brooklyn Royal Giants in the second game at Olympic Field, Harlem.

New York Herald, 

Monday, September 30, 1918

BROOKLYN ROYAL GIANTS vs. NEW YORK LINCOLN GIANTS

New York and Brooklyn enter the game tied in their season series and bill it for the (local) colored championship.  

Right-hander Irvin Brooks toes the slab for Brooklyn and is opposed by right-hander Joe "Cyclone" Williams for the home Lincoln Giants.

The Harlem locals promptly take a 3-0 lead in the first inning, then increase it to five in the fourth, knocking Irvin Brooks out of the box before he records an out.  Royal Giant southpaw John Donaldson

is called in from his position in left field to relieve Brooks, who takes over center field, with

William Parks shifting to left.  Donaldson ends the threat, but as the final score suggests, the damage was already done.

Brooklyn manages single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Lincoln Giants answer with two more in their half of the sixth then another in the seventh.  The Royal Giants push across two runs in the eighth inning, but no more.  Smokey Joe twirls a scoreless ninth to close out the victory.

Future Hall of Famer Joe Williams allows four runs on eight hits and four walks with seven strikeouts over nine innings for the win.

Four Lincoln Giants wield multiple hits, Jules Thomas, Todd Allen, and Bill Pierce hit for extra bases.

Irvin Brooks takes the loss, yielding five runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts while failing to pitch out of the fourth.  John Donaldson surrenders three runs in relief on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts.

William Parks and Bill Pettus lead Brooklyn with three hits each.  Right fielder Johnny Pugh accounts for two of four runs scored, John Donaldson and John Henry Lloyd the others.

⚾

BROOKLYN ROYAL GIANTS

ONCE UPON A SUMMER 1918: JOHN DONALDSON'S LONE SEASON WITH THE BROOKLYN ROYAL GIANTS

• 6/28 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Acquire Midwest Pitching Great, John Donaldson
• 6/30 - John Donaldson Loses Brooklyn Royal Giants Debut To New York Lincoln Giants
• 7/3 - John Donaldson Poised To Make Brooklyn/Queens Debut At Dexter Park
• 7/4 - John Donaldson Twirls Shutout Over Cuban Stars In Dexter Park Debut
• 7/7 - Joe Williams Wins Second Straight Decision Over John Donaldson; Lincoln Giants and Royal Giants Split Twin Bill
• 7/13 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Defeat Glendale at Farmer's Oval, Queens
• 7/14 - John Donaldson Defeats Bushwick; Royal Giants Split Twin Bill At Dexter Park
• 7/15 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Take Series Opener From Atlantic City Bacharach Giants
• 7/16 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Take Game Two from Bacharach Giants; John Donaldson Earns The Victory
• 7/17 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Wrap Up Series With Bacharach Giants at Atlantic City
• 7/18 - N.Y. Ship League Team Defeat Brooklyn Royal Giants at Camden, New Jersey
• 7/21 - Cuban Stars Double-Up Brooklyn Royal Giants; John Donaldson Takes Loss at Dexter Park
• 7/24 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Bow To Stan Baumgartner and Bethlehem Steel at Allentown, PA
• 7/27 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Defeat Camp Dix Soldiers*
• 7/28 - Silk Sox Clout John Donaldson's Offerings; Brooklyn Royal Giants Fall at Doherty's Oval
• 8/3 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Defeat Prospect Heights at Hackensack*
• 8/4 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Forfeit Game To Glendale at Farmer's Oval
• 8/7 - Bethlehem Steel Team Hosts a Scoreless Tie Against Brooklyn Royal Giants
• 8/11 - New York Lincoln Giants and Royal Giants Split Twin Bill at Olympic Field; Joe "Cyclone" Williams Wins Opener, John Donaldson Wins Game Two
• 8/17 - New York Ship Wins Second Contest Against Brooklyn Royal Giants at Camden, N.J.
• 8/18 - The Tietjen & Lang Shipyard Nine Defeat John Donaldson and the Brooklyn Royal Giants, North Bergen, N.J.
• 8/24 - Morse Dry Dock BBC Defeat Royal Giants in John Donaldson's True Brooklyn Debut
• 8/25 - Irvin Brooks Twirls Shutout; Brooklyn Royal Giants Defeat Glendale at Farmer Oval, Queens
• 9/1 - New York Lincoln Giants Sweep Twin Bill From Royal Giants at Olympic Field; Joe "Cyclone" Williams Earns Dual Victory, John Donaldson Suffers Loss in Second Tilt
• 9/2 - Brooklyn Royal Giants and Cuban Stars Split Games of a Doubleheader at Dexter Park
• 9/4 - Southpaw John Donaldson Hands Camp Mills Their First Loss This Season; Brooklyn Royal Giants Win, 7 to 6
• 9/8 - John Donaldson's Return Match Against Morse Dry Dock Along Brooklyn Waterfront Likely Rained Out
• 9/12 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Defeat Glendale in Eleven Innings at Farmer's Oval, Queens
• 9/14 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Defeat Tietjen and Lang Club; John Donaldson and the Backdrop of WWI
• 9/15 - Bushwick Sweeps Both Ends of Doubleheader Against Brooklyn Royal Giants at Dexter Park
• 9/22 - Brooklyn Royal Giants Stage Doubleheader Against New York Giants Players at Jersey City

LHP - JOHN DONALDSON'S PITCHING RECORD w/ BROOKLYN:

1. 6/30/1918 - (L) 9 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 2 W, 2 K (Lincoln Giants; Olympic Field)
2. 7/4/1918 - (W) 9 innings, 0 RUNS, 5 hits, 1 W, 6 K (Cuban Stars; Dexter Park)
3. 7/7/1918 - (L) 9 innings, 3 runs, 9 hits, 2 W, 2 K (Lincoln Giants; Olympic Field)
4. 7/14/1918 - (W) 9 innings, 1 run, 7 hits, 1 W, 5 K (Bushwick; Dexter Park)
5. 7/16/1918 - (W) 9 innings, 4 runs, 14 hits, (?) W, 6 K (Atlantic City; Bacharach Park, N.J.)
6. 7/21/1918 - (L) 9 innings, 6 runs, 10 hits, 4 W, 1 K (Cuban Stars; Dexter Park)
7. 7/28/1918 - (L) 9 innings, 9 runs, 16 hits, 2 W, 3 K (Silk Sox; Doherty's Oval, N.J.)
8. 8/11/1918 - (W) 9 innings, 2 runs, 13 hits, (?) W, (?) K (Lincoln Giants; Olympic Field)
9. 8/18/1918 - (L) 9 innings, 5 runs, 5 hits, (?) W, 4 K (Tietjen & Lang; Nurge's Field, N.J.)
10. 8/24/1918 - (L) 9 innings, 8 runs, 19 hits, 1 W, 2 K (Morse Dry Dock; Brooklyn)
11. 9/1/1918 - (L) 9 innings, 4 runs, 14 hits, (?) W, (?) K (Lincoln Giants; Olympic Field)
12. 9/2/1918 - (L) 2 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 W, 1 K (Cuban Stars; Dexter Park)
13. 9/4/1918 - (W) 9 innings, 6 runs, 7 hits, (?) W, (?) K (Camp Mills, Garden City, NY)
14. 9/14/1918 - (W) No game account vs. Tietjen and Lang Ship Club (Nurge's Field, N.J.)
15. 9/22/1918 - (L) 9 innings, 7 runs, 10 hits, (?) W, (?) K (New York Giants, Jersey City)
16. 9/29/1918 - (ND) 4 innings, 3 runs, 6 hits, 1 W, 5 K (Lincoln Giants, Olympic Field)

• LINE: 123 innings, 61 runs, 144 hits, 14 walks, 36 strikeouts, 4.46 ERA 

BEDFORD & SULLIVAN PODCAST:

Restoring Baseball Great John Donaldson's Lost Legacy With Negro Leagues Historian and Founder of The Donaldson Network, Peter Gorton.

Minnesota native Peter Gorton leads a group of historians dedicated to discovering the lost legacy of John Wesley Donaldson.  In this episode, we discuss the man, baseball career, and life of one of the more incredible and inspiring athletes to ever play the game, and how his amazing legacy became lost to a nation, most particularly Baseball's Hall of Fame.  

Original airdate: March 13, 2021

N.Y. Jets: Zero Altitude

From the desk: WALT MICHAELS' REVENGE

WEEK THREE

Jets               0

BRONCOS  26

FINAL

After Being Shut Out at Denver, It's Back to the Hangar for Salah's Jets

Zack Wilson said it himself; he's never seen stuff like this before.  Welcome to the NFL, where they're allowed to do things they aren't at the college level.

In my Pigskin picks, I said, "Zack Wilson's first trip into the mile-high altitude of Denver will not be a fun one.  Denver's defense can do many of the same things the Patriots did to them in week two," and they did.

The Jets scored 14 points in week one, six points in week two, and no points in week three against Denver, a literal spiral down to zero.

Insofar as last week to this week, look no further than the run game.  For a team that absolutely, positively needs a decent running game to help facilitate play/action for Zack Wilson, the Jets rushed just 13 times against the Broncos for just 43 yards, and that simply will not do.  You have to give opposing defenses other things to worry about.  Otherwise, your quarterback will get sacked five times for 41 yards and throw two more interceptions.

Wilson finished the day 19/35 for 160 yards.  The Jets achieved just eleven first downs and therefore managed barely over 24:00 minutes of possession.

But the Jets are in a bind because they're missing Mehki Becton from the offensive line, and the difference in performance has been stark, still below par, but more so now.

Eight penalties for 89 yards didn't help either.

N.Y. Giants: What's The Play!?

From the desk: DO IT FOR THE DUKE

GETTING DARK EARLY AT EAST RUTHERFORD

WEEK THREE

Falcons    17

GIANTS  14

FINAL

More Mistakes, More Flags, More Mismanagement, More Losing

Once is an event, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a trend.  With Sunday's loss against the worst team on their schedule, the Giants now own an 0-3 record after three weeks.  It speaks for itself.

Week three featured yet more second-half folly.  Moreover, the offensive line penalties are becoming maddening; otherwise, eight-team penalties for 53 yards.  

At about the 9:00 mark of the third, Will Hernandez, who should absolutely know better, was flagged for an ineligible man downfield.  It cost Saquon Barkley a 23-yard gain.

If you were watching on TV, at 6:29 of the third quarter Daniel Jones was changing the play at the line of scrimmage.  Or was he?  Because not just once, but at least twice, we heard very clearly someone yelling out, "What is the play?"  When they finally do snap the ball, Brad Bredeson is flagged for holding.  

Nate Solder was called for another costly fourth-quarter penalty, and Billy Price another.  It's downright exasperating, and it costs the Giants games.

The Hog Mollies yielded two sacks and five other hits, which is manageable.  But they're still not creating requisite daylight.  They rushed 19 times for just 61 yards.  Saquon Barkley rushed 16 times for 51 yards.  Daniel Jones ran for 39 yards giving the Giants 100 yards for the game, but as I've been saying, this is far from optimal, nor is it tenable.

Where in the world was Deventae Booker?  Why isn't he increasing Giants' rushes to upwards of 22 to 25 per game?  Why the hell did they shovel money at him if they're not going to play him?  Elijhaa Penny and Gary Brightwell rush three times for ten yards.  

Really?

Cycling back to Jason Garrett, despite a season-high 19 rushing attempts, his play calling is still far from balanced and sometimes even nonsensical.  Why would you devise a running play for the fullback to rush around the edge?

I'll wait ...

It doesn't end there.  In the first half, Daniel Jones and the Giants' offense did many things right.  But the Giants entered the red zone three times and stalled, including a dropped pass in the end zone, thus coming away with only six points, only to lose by a field goal.

The Giants trailed 7-6 at the half, ordinarily nothing to fret over.  That is until a mistake-riddled third quarter.  

Some of that is on Joe Judge.  He needs to clean up this pandemic of penalties and better manage his timeouts!

But unlike Jason Garrett, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham called a decent game.  The Giants posted an improved three sacks and six other hits.  They held the Falcons to 17 points and under 300 total yards.  Atlanta rushed for just 69 yards, and Matt Ryan was held to 243 yards passing.  However, another costly penalty near the goal line afforded the Falcons a second chance resulting in an easy touchdown connection with the tight end.

Yes, in consecutive fourth-quarter drives, they yielded the tying score and winning score.  They even dropped a potential interception in the end zone.  But I can't put this loss on the defense, fourth-quarter letdown, and all.  Lest we forget, they lost Blake Martinez in the first half and for the season.

Despite mixing and matching Hog Mollies, investing foolishly big bucks on receiver Kenny Golladay, picking up a tight end, and selecting Kadarius Toney in the draft, the Giants' biggest problems remain on the offensive side of the ball, and not necessarily Daniel Jones.  Nor can penalties and rushing inefficiency be blamed on injuries to Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard.

With the game tied at fourteen, the Giants were given the ball with 4:13 left and mustered nothing except for Solder's holding penalty.

Sunday's loss makes two games they've been held under fifteen points.

The numbers tell no lies.

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 9/28/1921: All Eyes On Philadelphia; New York Clubs Leave Indians and Pirates With No Room For Error

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 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 shifted 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 previous 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!

Asbury Park (NJ) Press, 

Thursday, September 29, 1921

The Tribune (Scranton, PA), Thursday, September 29, 1921

NOT SCHEDULED

Next Game: Thursday, September 29, 1921

New York Yankees @ PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS

Shibe Park

Pittsburgh (PA) Post Gazette, 

Thursday, September 29, 1921

NOT SCHEDULED

Next Game: Saturday, October 1, 1921

New York Giants @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Baker Bowl

Dayton (OH) Daily News, Thursday, September 29, 1921

The Tribune (Scranton, PA), 

Thursday, September 29, 1921

The Metsian Podcast: Mourning the Passing of Flushing's 2021 Playoff Aspirations

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

@THE_SamMaxwell   @MetFanRich   BTB_MikeII

Look out!  That piano falling out of the sky has a New York Mets logo on it.  Sunday's series finale against the Brewers was akin to something out of Looney Toons.  If only they were as enjoyable to watch.  Swept by the Cardinals, two losses against the Phillies, swept at Boston, and again at Milwaukee, the free fall continues.  The season's final homestand opens on Tuesday against the always troublesome Miami Marlins, then it's off to Atlanta to close out the schedule against the Braves.  Alas, their remaining games retain little matter in the standings.  Please join Sam, Rich, and I as The Metsian Podcast regrettably mourns the passing of Flushing's 2021 playoff hopes and aspirations.

ninety-five minutes

What Went Wrong And When...?

Marcus Stroman ~ Michael Conforto ~ Javier Baez

Jeff McNeil ~ Taijuan Walker ~ Edwin Diaz ~ Noah Syndergaard

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ~ The New York Mets of Queens

Third Base ... I Don't Know

and so much more!

#LGM