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 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 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 #137
POLO GROUNDS
Giants Defeat Brooklyn; Gain Full Possession of First Place
Fred Toney outlasts Leon Cadore and Dutch Ruether for his sixteenth win against ten losses with a 3.84 ERA, and it comes at a most opportune time as the Pirates fall to the Cubs at Forbes Field. Toney limits the Robins to single runs in the second and sixth innings, on nine hits and one walk. The Giants turn two double-plays in Toney's defense. Brooklyn starter Leon Cadore is removed from the game after facing just two batters. Uncle Robbie brings in Dutch Ruether, who yields three hits resulting in two runs charged to Cadore. George Burns triples home Fred Toney in the fifth. In the seventh, the Giants further agitate Ruether for three more runs on two hits, two walks, and two wild pitches. With the victory, the Giants gained sole possession of first place for the first time since June 24, and for only the second time this season, dating back to April 14, when they held a 0.5 game lead over Pittsburgh in each instance. The Giants have one more tilt here at the Polo grounds tomorrow against these same Robins. Afterwhich, should they retain this lead, they will be forced to protect it away from home as the Giants close out the season with a fifteen-game road trip.
- FINAL: BRK 2; NYG 6
- RECORD: 83-54 (.606); First Place, 0.5 GA of Pittsburgh
GAME #132
Shibe Park
Babe Ruth Hits Number 54 Tying Own Record; Yankees Extend Lead Over Cleveland
The Yankees even their series against the A's at one game apiece, and more importantly, improve their standing over Cleveland with a commanding 14-3 victory at Shibe Park. Philadelphia left fielder Tillie Walker provides the home crowd their only reason to cheer, going 3 for 5 with two home runs and four runs batted in. Or, perhaps the 4,500 onlookers were more interested in witnessing baseball history, as Babe Ruth hits home run number 54 in the fourth inning, thus tying his own single-season record. The Bambino finishes 3 for 5 with three runs batted in, giving him 151 this season. Roger Peckinpaugh goes 3 for 6, and Wally Pipp homers. Otherwise, Bob Shawley takes most matters into his own hands. He goes 2 for 5 at the plate with a triple, four runs batted in, and two runs scored. He holds the A's to five runs on the mound, albeit on 15 hits and one walk in a winning effort. He improves to 16-10 with a 3.90 ERA.
- FINAL: NYY 14; PHI 5
- RECORD: 83-49 (.629); First Place, 1.5 GA of Cleveland
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