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.
- Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE
Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!
GAME #132
POLO GROUNDS
Braves Overtake Giants in Opener
Fred Toney and Boston's Mule Watson duel through four scoreless innings. Afterwhich, Toney takes matters into his own hands with a home run leading off the fifth. In the sixth, Frank Snyder singles home Bob Meusel, followed by George Burns' two-run triple, giving the Giants 4-0 lead. But Boston fortunes change for the better. Lloyd Christenbury leads off the home seventh with a home run, and a sacrifice fly by Tony Boeckel pulls the Braves within two. After surrendering two hits and a walk in the seventh, Fred Toney is removed in favor of Slim Salle. Right fielder Billy Southworth greets the Giant reliever with a double to right field, scoring two; Walter Barbare and Tony Boeckel drive in runs giving the Braves a 6-4 lead. High Pockets Kelly knocks in a run in the home ninth, but the Giants fall short. Fred Toney is denied his 16th victory, while Garland Braxton earns the win in relief.
- FINAL: BOS 6; NYG 4
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GAME #133
POLO GROUNDS
McGraw's Reinforcements Lead Giants in Second Tilt for a Split
Red Shea once again demonstrates the worth of his purchase price with a much-needed victory over the Braves. Making only his fifth appearance this season, and for the last three seasons, Shea outduels Jack Scott as the Giants achieve a twin bill split and keep pace with Pittsburgh, who likewise split games of a doubleheader with Cincinnati. Despite yielding 13 hits, Shea holds the Braves to three runs and one walk to earn his third victory. Boston jumps ahead in the first, but Dave Bancroft ties the game in the third. Key acquisition Irish Meusel knocks home two in the third, and Red Shea, in turn, drives home Meusel for a 4-1 lead. Boston recovers two runs in the fifth. Otherwise, Red Shea holds the Braves scoreless over the final four frames. With the victory, the Giants join Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and the Yankees in the 80-win club.
- FINAL: BOS 3; NYG 4
- RECORD: 80-53 (.602); second place, 1.0 GB of Pittsburgh
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GAME #126
Fenway Park
Bob Shawkey Hurls Gem at Fenway Park
Bob Shawkey hurls his most important game this season to date, limiting the Red Sox to eight hits and one walk in a complete-game shutout effort. The Yankees score both early and late. Facing Boston's Sad Sam Jones, Bob Meusel and Wally Pipp stake Shawkey to a 3-0 lead in the first. The score remains unchanged through the sixth. Shawkey singles and scored on Babe Ruth's triple to the right/center field gap in the home seventh. Bob Meusel and Wally Pipp again drive in runs, giving the Yankees a 6-0 lead. Bob Meisel drives home his third run of the game in the eighth, giving him 113 runs batted in for the season, and when Wally Pipp gets caught in a rundown off first base, Meusel scores from third. With two runners in scoring position in the ninth, Bob Shawkey protects his shutout with a fine play on comebacker hit by Everett Scott. After a walk to Muddy Ruel, Shawkey induces Sammy Vick into a game-ending 6-4-3 double-play. For Bob Shawkey, his second shutout this season. He improves to 15-10 with a 3.85 ERA. For the Yankees, their seventh consecutive win.
- FINAL: NYY 8; BOS 0
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GAME #127
Fenway Park
Ruth Hits Number 51, But Red Sox Salvage Twin Bill Split
The Yankees muster little against sophomore right-hander Benn Karr who limits the Yankees to one run on just four hits and two walks for his sixth victory this season. Babe Ruth hits his 51st home run, but it goes for naught. Roger Peckinpaugh, Bob Meusel, and starter Rip Collins account for the Yankees' only other hits, all singles. Boston takes both Rip Collins and Jack Quinn to the task. Collins allows six runs on eight hits and two walks in 5.1 innings pitched for the loss, while Jack Quinn yields another two runs in relief on five hits and one base on balls in 1.2 innings. Second baseman Del Pratt leads the Red Sox going 3 for 4 with three runs batted in and two runs scored.
- FINAL: NYY 2; BOS 8
- RECORD: 80-47 (.630); First Place, 1.5 GA of Cleveland
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