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.  

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

Daily News (New York, NY), Tuesday, August 30, 1921

GAME #127

BOXSCORE: Monday, August 29, 1921- BR

Chicago Cubs @ NEW YORK GIANTS

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

New York Yankees @ WASHINGTON SENATORS

Griffith Stadium

Daily News (New York, NY), 

Tuesday, August 30, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/15/1921: Fading Giants Fall to Phillies; Yankees Bow to Louisville Colonels in Exhibition

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 #112

BOXSCORE: Monday, August 15, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Lee Meadows Turns Back Giants; Phillies Gain Series Split 

The dog days of summer are biting at Mister McGraw's heels.  Two-time 20-game loser Lee Meadows outduels Jesse Barnes and reliever Slim Salle as the Phillies split the two-game series at the Polo Grounds.  Philadelphia scores single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, and Lee Meadows makes it stand.  With two outs in the home ninth, Bill Cunningham drives home Frank Snyder (unearned) to ruin the shutout.  Jesse Barnes allows two runs on eleven hits and one walk in the loss.  The Giants fall to 7-9 in August and lose another half-game in the standings.  They now trail Pittsburgh by five games in the standings, their largest deficit since June 22nd after consecutive losses against Boston.

• FINAL: PHI 2; NYG 1
• RECORD: 67-45 (.598); second place, 5.0 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

The Paducah-Sun Democrat (Paducah, Kentucky), 

Monday, August 15, 1921

NEXT GAME: Wednesday, August 17, 1921

New York Yankees @ CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Comisky Park

The Fort Wayne Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana),

Tuesday, August 16, 1921

Evening Star (Washington, District of Columbia),

Tuesday, August 16, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/28/1921: Waite Hoyt Hurls Gem Over Browns; Giants Take Series From First-Place Pirates

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.  

For 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 #91

BOXSCORE: Thursday, July 28, 1921 - BR

St. Louis Browns @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Waite Hoyt Hurls Gem Against St. Louis Browns

Leave it up to the kid from Brooklyn to show 'em how it's done.  The Yankees rebound from yesterday's defeat to tie their series with St. Louis at one.  Browns' starter Dixie Davis comes apart like wet paper in the third inning, yielding four runs on four hits, two walks, and a wild pitch.  In his first season with the Yankees, Erasmus High School graduate Waite Hoyt, undeniably having his finest campaign to date, makes it stand, limiting the Browns to just four scattered hits and four walks with five strikeouts over nine scoreless innings for his twelfth win against eight losses with a 3.25 ERA.  In fact, Hoyt drives in the first and decisive run for the Yankees.  Babe Ruth delivers home two runs giving him a major league-leading 97 RBI, and Bob Meusel goes 3 for 4 with two runs batted in.  St. Louis Browns' first baseman  George Sisler sat out his fourth straight game with an injury.

• FINAL: STL 0; NYY 6
• RECORD: 57-34 (.626); second place, 1.5 GB of Cleveland 

⚾

GAME #92

BOXSCORE: Thursday, July 28, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Forbes Field

Giants Take Three of Four Against the First-Place Pirates

The Giants have their say in Pittsburgh and punctuate their departure with a four-run rally in the ninth.  New York opens the scoring in the second; High Pockets Kelly scores on a Johnny Rawlings sacrifice fly, and Rabbit Maranville's misplay at short leads to a second run.  However, the Pirates struck for three runs on five hits in the third, inspiring John McGraw to remove starter Jesse Barnes in favor of Phil Douglas, who ends the threat.  That is until Max Carey gives Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead in the fourth.  The score remains unchanged through the eighth.  Pirates' rookie Whitey Glazner returns to the hill for the top of the ninth and promptly issues a walk to Earl Smith.  Consecutive hits by Eddie Brown and George Burns load the bases.  Pinch-runner Bill Cunningham scores on Dave Bancroft's fly to left field.  Frankie Frisch then cleared the bases with a double to center field and scored on second baseman George Cutshaw's errant throw.  Rosy Ryan is called upon to close out the ninth and retires the Bucs in order.  Max Carey ends the game on a pop-up to Dave Bancroft.  This gives the Giants three straight wins against the Pirates and a 3-1 series victory.  McGraw's Men are now just two games out of first place.

• FINAL: NYG 6; PIT 4
• RECORD: 58-34 (.626); second place, 1.5 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/26/1921: Giants Late Surge Overruns Pirates; Yankees Return Tomorrow To Polo Grounds

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 Seasons 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.  

For 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 start of 1921 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 #90

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, July 26, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Forbes Field

Giants Score Tenth Inning Knock Out Over First Place Pirates

Like a heavyweight prizefight, the home team takes the early rounds.  The visitors regroup and forge ahead in the later rounds.  However, in the bottom of the ninth, the home team refuses to lose.  Afterwhich, a victor emerges in the tenth.  

By the fourth inning, Pittsburgh builds a four-run lead; Max Carey drives home a run in the third, and Charlie Grimm's inside the park home run in the fourth is worth three.  The score remains unchanged through the sixth.  Pirate starter Earl Hamilton through the first six innings, limits New York to no runs on just two hits and two walks with a strikeout.  Starting with the fourth inning, he retires nine batters in a row.  In the Giants' seventh, Hamilton retires Frankie Frisch and Ross Youngs to make it eleven in a row.  With two outs, High Pockets Kelly connects on his 17th home run this season.  But second baseman George Cutshaw cancels that out with a run batted in during the bottom half of the frame.  

With two runs on four straight hits in the top of the eighth, including doubles by Frank Snyder and George Burns, New York finally knocks Hamilton out of the box.  With one out and the bases loaded, Ross Youngs greets relief pitcher Hal Carlson with a bases-clearing triple to left field.   A double by George Burns and a triple by Dave Bancroft in the top of the ninth gives the Giants an 8-5 lead.

However, Rosy Ryan and Jesse Barnes pitching in relief of starter Fred Toney cannot protect the lead.  Back-to-back triples knock Ryan from the game.  Facing Jesse Barnes, Max Carey's flyball scores Carson Bigbee from third.  Rabbit Maranville lashes the third triple of the inning and goes on to score the tying run.

Into extra innings, they go at Forbes Field, with the game knotted at eight.

Leading off against reliever Whitey Glazner, Ross Youngs singles to left field.  High Pockets Kelly strikes out, but new acquisition Bill Cunningham makes Mister McGraw proud with a run-scoring triple to left field.  Cunningham is then thrown out at home by Carson Bigbee on Johnny Rawling's inning-ending double-play fly ball to left field.

Jesse Barnes faces four batters in the bottom half of the tenth while retiring three to preserve the victory and earn the win.  The Giants even the series at one.

• FINAL: NYG 9; PIT 8 *ten innings
• RECORD: 56-34 (.622); second place, 3.0 GB of Pittsburgh 

⚾

NEXT GAME:

Wednesday, July 27, 1921

St. Louis Browns @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Monday, July 25, 1921

Cincinnati Reds Defeat N.Y. Yankees in an exhibition at Redland Field; 

Babe Ruth Hits Two Home Runs

⚾

Herald and Review (Decatur, Illinois),

Tuesday, July 26, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/23/1921: Giants Sweep Twin Bill With Reds; Yankees Fall Again To Defending Champs

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 Seasons Revisited

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

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

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

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates along the New York/New England fault shift.  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 more so 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, and if that 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 for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition—the Giants attempt to evict the Yankees before the start of 1921 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 #86

BOXSCORE: Saturday, July 23, 1921 - BR

Cincinnati Reds @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Make-Up: Friday, July 22, 1921

Curt Walker Wields Decisive Hit In Eighth Inning

After three straight losses, the McGrawmen finally get back on terra firma.  The Giants welcome to the Polo Grounds former mate Rube Marquard who exits on the losing side of a 4-1 game after six.  After the Reds and Giants trade two runs each in the seventh, Art Nehf comes completely undone in the eighth.  Jake Daubert triples leading off the frame and scores, and with two outs, Larry Kopf connects on a game-tying two-run home run knocking Nehf out of the box.  But the Giants answer.  With the bases loaded and one out, Curt Walker doubles to left field driving home two runs.  John McGraw summons Fred Toney to pitch the ninth.  He walks two batters, yields a run, and leaves the tying run stranded at second base.  Slim Salle earns the win as reward for closing out the eighth in relief of Nehf.  High Pockets Kelly hit his 15th home run this season against Rube Marquard in the sixth.  Dave Bancroft goes 3 for 4 with a triple and two runs batted in.  Frankie Frisch and Ross Youngs also drive home a run apiece.

• FINAL: CIN 7; NYG 8

⚾

GAME #87

BOXSCORE: Saturday, July 23, 1921 - BR

Cincinnati Reds @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Jesse Barnes Bids Cincinnati Reds Adieu; Giants Complete Twin Bill Sweep

Jesse Barnes allows no runs and just five hits over five innings pitched in an abbreviated shutout victory.  The game is called after the fifth to allow the Reds to catch their train back to Cincinnati to host the Cubs.  With Ross Youngs and High Pockets Kelly on base in the second, Bill Cunningham homers to right field.  Earl Smith drives home two in the fourth, and Jesse Barnes helps himself with a run batted in.  The Giants complete the twin bill sweep and gain a full game on Pittsburgh, who split their twin bill with the Braves at Boston.

• FINAL: CIN 0; NYG 6
• RECORD: 54-33 (.621); second place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh  

⚾

GAME #88

BOXSCORE: Saturday, July 23, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CLEVELAND INDIANS

Dunn Field

Defending Champions Shutout Yankees

The defending World Champions strike again.  Second baseman Bill Wambsganss, Tris Speaker, and Larry Gardner drive in runs for Cleveland in the third.  All told, Cleveland wields 13 hits against Yankee starter Waite Hoyt.  Cleveland hurler Allan Sothoron takes care of the rest, allowing the New Yorkers a mere three hits and just one walk with four strikeouts over nine scoreless innings pitched.  Babe Ruth, Home Run Baker, and Waite Hoyt account for the Yankees' only hits.  Cleveland now leads the series two against one and reestablish a two-game lead in the standings.

• FINAL: NYY 0; CLE 3
• RECORD: 55-33 (.625); second place, 2.0 GB of Cleveland