100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/14/1921: Bambino Spearheads Sweep Over Tigers; Giants Salvage Finale at St. Louis

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 further 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, 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 #54

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, June 14, 1921 - BR

Detroit Tigers @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Bambino Swats Two More Home Runs; Yankees Sweep Tigers

Babe Ruth has now hit four home runs within the last 24-hours.  He hit a two-run home run in the first, then another two-run home run in the third, and the Yankees never look back.  The Huggmen also benefit from Home Run Baker's jolt in the seventh en route to a 9-6 final score.  Trailing 9-3 through the eighth, the Tigers score five times in the eighth to no avail.  Center fielder Ty Cobb hits his ninth home run this season in the sixth.  Braggo Roth and starter Rip Collins each drive home a run apiece.  After allowing six runs (five earned), Collins is the fortunate winner, after 13 hits and two walks through 7.2 innings pitched.  Carl Mays closes out the final 1.1 innings.  The Bambino now has 23 home runs and 59 runs batted in.  His second home run to straightaway center field is believed to have landed well over 460 feet away from home plate, many rows back in the bleachers.  With the victory, the Yankees complete a four-game sweep of the Tigers.  The Yankees also gain a full game on the Indians, who were defeated in eleven innings by the Senators at Washington.  They will next welcome the Chicago White Sox to the Polo Grounds.

• FINAL: DET 6; NYY 9
• RECORD: 33-21 (.611); second place, 0.5 GB of Cleveland

⚾         ⚾         ⚾

GAME #53

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, June 14, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

Sportsman's Park

Giants Snap Skid; Salvage Finale at Sportsman's Park

On the brink of their seventh straight defeat, the New York Giants muster four runs in the eighth for a come from behind 6-4 victory in the series finale and thus avoid being swept at Sportsman's Park.  Fred Toney outlasts Cardinals starter Roy Walker who gets knocked out of the box after seven.  Toney made his 16th appearance, allowing four runs, three earned, nine hits, and just one walk through nine complete innings.  Cardinals' second baseman Rogers Hornsby goes 3 for 4 with a run batted in.  Roy Walker takes the loss, but his effort is compromised by six errors.  He yields five runs, but only two are earned.  Otherwise, Walker gives up six hits and three walks with three strikeouts through seven.  The Cardinals' own ten-game winning streak comes to an end as well.  Ross Youngs is 2 for 4 with three runs batted in.  Dave Bancroft goes 2 for 4 with two runs scored and one run batted in, and High Pockets Kelly drives home his 51st run this season.  The Giants arrive in Chicago tomorrow.

• FINAL: NYG 6; STL 4
• RECORD: 33-20 (.623); second place, 4.0 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/10/1921: Babe Ruth Breaks Modern Home Run Mark; Giants Bow To Reds at Cincinnati

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 further 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, 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.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  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 Tribune

GAME #50

BOXSCORE: Friday, June 10, 1921 - BR

Cleveland Indians @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Babe Ruth Sets 20th Century Home Run Mark, But Yankees Lose to First Place Indians

It's a bitter-sweet day for the 22,000 on hand at the Polo Grounds.  The Yankees lose again to the Indians and finish the series no closer to first place than when they started back on Tuesday.  Jim Bagby toes the rubber for Cleveland and is opposed by Carl Mays.  Both starters fail to see this game to its conclusion.  Cleveland opens the first on a triple by Tris Speaker and a base hit from right fielder Elmer Smith.

With two outs in the third, Babe Ruth hits his 17th home run this season and the 120th of his career.  He breaks the 20th-century major league record formerly held by Gavvy "Cactus" Cravath, who hit the final home run of his career last season.  Ruth can now set his sights on baseball's all-time home run champion, Roger Conner, who compiled 138 home runs in a career spanning 1880 through 1897, most notably for the Troy Trojans and New York Giants.

Elmer Smith homers off Carl Mays in the seventh, giving the Indians a 2-1 lead.  But Jim Bigby begins to unravel in the bottom of the frame.  With two on and two outs, Wally Pipp drives home Gabby Roth, but an errant throw by Bigby puts two runners in scoring position.  Bob Meusel makes him pay with a double scoring Roger Peckinpaugh and Pipp.  In the bottom of the eighth, Carl Mays homers off Jim Bigby, giving the Yankees a 5-3  lead.  After Braggo Roth follows with a triple, Tris Speaker removes Bigby from the game.  Roger Peckinpaugh greets Indians reliever Duster Mails with a single scoring Roth.  But Mails settles down, and the Yankees leave the bases loaded.  Tris Speaker doubles home a run in the top of the ninth.  After right fielder Elmer Smith's hit puts runners on the corners, Miller Huggins removes Mays in favor of Bob Shawkey, who yields consecutive hits to third baseman Larry Gardner and Joe Sewell for a six-all tie.  Larry Gardner homers leading off the eleventh, and Pinch Thomas doubles home Joe Sewell for an 8-6 lead.  George Uhle retires the Yankees in the bottom half of the frame for the win.  Bob Shawkey takes the loss.

• FINAL: CLE 8; NYY 6
• RECORD: 29-21 (.580); second place, 2.5 GB of Cleveland
• r. New York Tribune

⚾

 

GAME #49

BOXSCORE: Friday, June 10, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CINCINNATI REDS

Redland Field

Reds Take Second Straight and the Series; Giants Skid Now At Three

Eppa Rixey hurls a gem, and the Giants lose their third straight.  Rixey, the former Philadelphia Phillie and military veteran yields just two hits through the first seven innings.  The Giants finally push across a run in the eighth when Frankie Frisch triples and scores on Ross Youngs' base hit.  Otherwise, Eppa Rixey allows one run on just four hits and four walks with three strikeouts over nine innings complete.  Fred Toney simply is not up to the task.  He yields two earned runs on ten hits and three walks through six innings pitched.  Slim Salle surrenders one run in two innings pitched.  With two on and two outs in the third, right fielder Rube Bressler triples home two runs.  Bressler again drives in a run in the home seventh.

• FINAL: NYG 1; CIN 3
• RECORD: 32-17 (.653); second place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/8/1921: Yankees Close In On Defending Champs; Giants At Cincinnati Postponed

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 further 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, 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.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  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 Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania)

GAME #48

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, June 8, 1921 - BR

Cleveland Indians @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Yankees Pull Out Ninth Inning Victory Over Champs; Tris Speaker Protests Game

In a tightly contested affair, a crowd of 22,000 is treated to a thrilling conclusion.  With Waite Hoyt toeing the rubber opposed by George Uhle, Wally Pipp's first-inning base hit puts the Yankees up by one.  But the defending champs rally for three runs in the fifth.  Wally Pipp's error proves costly, and George Uhle helps his own cause with a triple and run scored.  The Yankees get one back in the bottom of the frame on a leadoff double from Home Run Baker and Aaron Ward's hit and run batted in.  Hoyt and Uhle then exchange zeroes through the eighth.  Hoyt retires the Indians in the top of the ninth, Tris Speaker among them.  After retiring Wally Pipp, Uhle yields a run on three consecutive hits from Bob Meusel, Home Run Bakers, and Aaron Ward, who drives home, Meusel.  Tris Speaker protests the game to no avail over a perceived third strike to Baker.  George Uhle is relived by Stan Coveleski, who walks Wally Schang to load the bases.  Pinch-hitter Carl Mays bounces to first, and Home Run Baker is forced out at home.  With two outs and the bases still loaded, Braggo Roth singles to right field, and Aaron Ward scores the winning run.  Waite Hoyt allows three runs, two earned, eight hits, and four walks for the win.  He improves to 6-4 with a 3.75 ERA.  With the victory, the Yankees pulled within one-half game of the Indians.

• FINAL: CLE 3; NYY 4
• RECORD: 29-19 (.604); second place, 0.5 GB of Cleveland

The Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania)

Daily News (New York, New York)

GAME CALLED: Rain

Wednesday, June 8, 1921

New York Giants @ CINCINNATI REDS

Redland Field

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/6/1921: Yankees Get Two-Hit By Dixie Davis; Giants Slide Back Into Second Place

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 further 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, 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.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  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 #46

BOXSCORE: Monday, June 6, 1921 - BR

St. Louis Browns @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Browns Starter Dixie Davis Two-Hits Yankees

Dixie Davis hurls a gem, and St. Louis salvages the series finale.  The Yankees spoil the shutout in the eighth, partly by Davis' own doing.  After walking the bases loaded, Braggo Roth scores on Ping Bodie's fielder's choice to short.  Otherwise, Dixie Davis allows the one run on just two hits but walks eight batters with five strikeouts for the win.  A double by Babe Ruth and a pinch-hit from Fred Hoffmann are all the Yankees can claim.  Rip Collins allows two runs, one earned, on just three hits and four walks through seven innings for the loss.  Browns' left fielder Ken Williams goes 2 for 4 and drives home three runs for the Browns.  Dixie Davis also drives home a run in the ninth.  Next up, the showdown against the first-place Indians begins tomorrow when Cleveland arrives in New York for four games at the Polo Grounds.

• FINAL: STL 5; NYY 1
• RECORD: 27-19 (.587); second place, 2.5 GB of Cleveland

The Richmond Times (Richmond, Indiana)

GAME #47

BOXSCORE: Monday, June 6, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Forbes Field

Pirates Retake First Place From Giants

Pittsburgh avoids the series sweep in a thrilling back and forth affair, replete with the obligatory heroic ending.  Rabbit Maranville's first-inning single drives home the game's opening run.  Earl Smith triples home Goldie Rapp, and George Burns plates Smith in the second.  A leadoff triple by Curt Walker and a one-out double by Earle Smith give the Giants a 3-1 lead.  But the Pirates cut their deficit by one in the home fourth.  When Dave Bancroft leads off the Giants fifth with a triple into the left/center gap, manager George Gibson removes starter Whitey Glazner in favor of right-hander Babe Adams.  With one out, a sacrifice fly by Ross Youngs drives home, Bancroft.  But the Pirates scored once in the bottom of the frame, making it a 4-3 in favor of the visitors.  The score remains unchanged through the seventh.  With starter Jesse Barnes still in the game, Possum Whitted leads off the eight with a single to left field, then scores the tying run when Charlie Grimm bounces into a 4-6-3 double-play.  With the game knotted at four, Mister McGraw send Jesse Barnes out for the ninth.  With two outs and two runners in scoring position, second baseman George Cutshaw drives home the winning run with a single to right field.  Pittsburgh reclaims first place by a mere half-game ahead of the Giants, who still win the series three games to one.

• FINAL: NYG 3; PITT 5
• RECORD: 32-15 (.681); second place, 0.5 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/19/1921: Cubs Snap Giants Streak; Yankees Trounce White Sox

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 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 only 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 than 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 further 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, 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.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  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 #29

BOXSCORE: Thursday, May 19, 1921 - BR

Chicago Cubs @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Cubs Stay Step Ahead of Giants

After two exhilarating victories, the Giants seemingly lack requisite vigor and thus lag behind Chicago, who even the series at one.   Making only his third appearance of the season, Virgil Cheeves surrenders two runs on two hits and four walks in 2.1 innings work.  With one out in the third, Cheeves loads the bases.  Manager Johnny Evers brings in Lefty York, who unleashes a wild pitch permitting George Burns to score from third.  However, York would continue on through the ninth, striking out four in a row at one point.  High Pockets Kelly drives home a run in the eighth, but the Giants score no more.  Lefty York is charged with one run on three hits and five walks with eight strikeouts over the final 6.2 innings for the victory.  The Giants managed just five hits, two each by George Kelly and George Burns, and one by Dave Bancroft.  Art Nehf takes the loss.  He allows five runs, but only two are earned, with three walks and three strikeouts through seven innings.  Nehf also commits one of three Giants errors.  As a consequence of Thursday's effort, New York's consecutive game-winning streak ends at eight.

• FINAL: CHI 5; NYG 3
• RECORD: 20-9 (.690); second place, 2.5 GB of Pittsburgh

 l; Woods County Enterprise (Oklahoma)

r; New York Herald (New York, New York)

National League Considering Rosin Bag For Pitchers

GAME #27

BOXSCORE: Thursday, May 19, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Comisky Park

Fifth Inning Outbreak Dooms White Sox

Chicago surely possesses the wherewithal to overcome a four-run deficit.  They demonstrate that in the bottom half of the fifth inning.  What happens in the top half of the frame is another matter entirely.  Already nursing a four-run lead, the Yankees erupt for seven runs en route to an 11-4 trouncing of the White Sox.  Wally Pipp's two-run triple and Bob Meusel's double in the first inning gave the New Yorkers a prompt 3-0 lead.  Aaron Ward's sacrifice fly scores Meusel in the fourth.  After Braggo Roth homers leading off the fifth, the roof caves in on Chicago.  The Yankees batter three White Sox pitchers for another five hits and six runs.  Wally Pipp, Home Run Baker, and Wally Schang all drive in runs.  Starter Waite Hoyt also helps his cause with a run batted in.  On the mound, the Brooklynite limits Chicago to three earned runs on seven hits and no walks with three strikeouts for his third victory of the season with a 2.90 ERA.  White Sox catcher Ray Schalk drives home two runs.  Babe Ruth finishes the game 1 for 3 and is now 1 for 8 for the series.  Drawing the ire of Miller Huggins since the series finale at Cleveland, one must only look at the standings for the reason why.

• FINAL: NYY 11; CHI 4
• RECORD: 16-11 (.593); second place, 1.0 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/15/1921: Giants Upend Rube Marquard; Yankees Tie Indians For First Place

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 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 only 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 than 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 further 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, 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.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  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 #25

BOXSCORE: Sunday, May 15, 1921 - BR

Cincinnati Reds @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

38,000 Uproarious Fans Celebrate Ninth Inning Comeback Against The Familiar Rube Marquard

New York City gets their first look at old friend Rube Marquard in a Cincinnati uniform.  A former 20-game winner with the Giants and member of last season's National League champion Brooklyn Robins, the 34-year old Marquard toes the slab at the Polo Grounds and is opposed by Art Nehf.  High Pockets Kelly drives in the first run of the game in the opening frame, and in the third, Ross Youngs makes it a two-run Giants' lead.  But with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth, Rube Marquard himself singles home two runs.  Afterwhich, third baseman Sam Bohne singles home catcher Bubble Hargrave giving the Reds and Marquard a 3-2 lead.  Art Nehf gets through the seventh without further damage.  Mister McGraw summons Pol Perritt from the bullpen, and the score remains unchanged through the eighth.  With Marquard still twirling in the ninth, Frank Snyder doubles to left, and pinch-hitter Alex Gaston singles putting two runners in scoring position.  Reds manager Pat Moran makes no move, and George Burns makes him pay dearly with a single to left scoring pinch-runner John Monroe for the tying run.  Dave Bancroft then steps into the box and, with another sharply hit single to left, delivers home the winning run, and the packed house of 38,000 go wild!  Making his first appearance of the season, Pol Perritt yields no runs and just one hit over the game's final two innings for the win.  George Kelly now leads the major leagues with 34 runs batted in.  The Giants are now winners of five in a row and eleven of their last 13 games.

• FINAL: CIN 3; NYG 4
• RECORD: 17-8 (.680); second place, 2.5 GB of Pittsburgh

NEW YORK TRIBUNE, May 15, 1921

The contentious tenant/landlord relationship 

between the Yankees and Giants takes 

a huge step forward towards resolution.

GAME #23

BOXSCORE: Sunday, May 15, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CLEVELAND INDIANS

Dunn Field

Yankees Catch Indians; Teams Tied For First Place

A robust Sunday crowd of just under 40,000 at Dunn Field watches in dismay as the Yankees, minus any hits off the bat of Babe Ruth, knock veteran Stan Coveleski from the box after just three innings pitched.  The Indians starter yields five runs (four earned), seven hits, and one walk with three strikeouts before heading off to the showers.  For good measure, New York strikes for three more runs in the fifth.  All told, the Yankees unleash a 13-hit attack that garners eight runs.  Meanwhile, the Brooklynite Waite Hoyt limits the defending World Champions to a pair of runs on nine hits and four walks through nine complete innings.  Hoyt evens his record at 2-2 with a 2.88 earned run average.  Center fielder Braggo Roth, Roger Peckinpaugh, and Bob Meusel record three hits each and join together for five runs batted in.  Home Run Baker goes 2 for 5 with a double and one run batted in.  The Yankees extended their winning streak to four and improve to 5-1 on this road trip.  Moreover, the Yankees and Indians are now tied for first place.

• FINAL: NYY 8; CLE 2
• RECORD: 14-9 (.609); t-first place with Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/12/1921: Kelly's Grand Slam Powers Giants; Yankees Win Slugfest at Navin Field

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 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 only 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 than 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 further 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, 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.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  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 #22

BOXSCORE: Thursday, May 12, 1921 - BR

St. Louis Cardinals @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

George Kelly Powers Giants Over Cardinals; Slim Salle Finishes What Jesse Barnes Starts

The Giants stake Jesse Barnes to a four-run lead on High Pockets Kelly's grand slam home run in the first.  But St. Louis left fielder Autin McHenry homers in the fourth, and with the bases loaded, center fielder Heinie Mueller singles home two runs reducing the Cardinals deficit to one.  At once, Mister McGraw makes his way to the mound, and into the game comes Slim Salle, who ends the Cardinals' threat.  Catcher Frank Snyder provides the Giants some insurance with a two-run triple in the sixth, and Dave Bancroft scores in the seventh when Ross Youngs bounces into a fielder's choice.  St. Louis scores two unearned runs in the ninth to no avail.  Salle earns the victory evening his record to 1-1 with an unsightly 4.25 earned run average.  With eight home runs to date, George Kelly is two behind the major league leader, Babe Ruth.  The Giants failed to gain ground on the second-place Brooklyn Robins, who defeated the Reds a third straight day at Ebbets Field.

• FINAL: STL 5; NYG 7
• RECORD: 14-8 (.636); third place; 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #20

BOXSCORE: Thursday, May 12, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ DETROIT TIGERS

Navin Field

Babe Ruth Has First and Final Say; Yanks Climb Back Into Third

With Roger Peckingpaugh on base, Babe Ruth's first-inning home run into the left-field bleachers (#) gives New York a prompt 2-0 lead.  But it does not last.  In the bottom half of the frame, Detroit's three-run rally overtakes the visitors.  Or so they thought.  New York strikes back with three runs in the third and two more in the fourth.  The Tigers answered with single runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings.  But the Yankees regain separation with two more runs in the top of the sixth for a 9-5 lead. Facing Rip Collins pitching in relief of starter Tom Sheehan, Detroit erupts for five runs in the bottom half of the frame to seize a 10-9 lead.  

Miller Huggins hands the ball to Jack Quinn, who twirls a scoreless seventh, and Alex Ferguson follows with a scoreless eighth.  Facing Detroit's Dutch Leonard with two runners on base in the top of the ninth, Babe Ruth triples, giving the Yankees an 11-10 lead.  Carl Mays then retires the Tigers to end the game.  Ferguson earns the win.  Braggo Roth goes 3 for 5 with a home run and three runs batted in.  Roger Peckinpaugh is 3 for 4 with a double, three runs scored, and four runs batted in.  Listed among Babe Ruth's three hits, his major league-leading tenth home run.  New York moves up into third place, one-half game ahead of Boston and one-half game behind Washington.  Detroit right fielder Harry Heilmann finishes 2 for 4 with a triple and two runs batted in.  Center fielder Ty Cobb is held to one hit in four plate appearances.

• FINAL: NYY 11; DET 10
• RECORD: 11-9 (.550); third place, 3.0 GB of Cleveland
• # Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 13, 1921, p25, c3

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/11/1921: Fred Toney Too Much For Redbirds; Tigers Slide By Yankees at Detroit

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 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 only 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 than 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 further 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, 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.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  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

 

GAME #21

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, May 11, 1921 - BR

St. Louis Cardinals @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Fred Toney Ruffles the Redbirds

Fred Toney does it all, but it's the Cardinals who jump out in front.  With one out in the fourth, Joe Schultz singles, and with two outs, Rogers Hornsby singles putting runners on the corners.  First baseman Jack Fournier then doubles to left, scoring Schultz.  With two runners in scoring position, left fielder Austin McHenry laces a comebacker snagged by Toney for the final out.  Toney's catch unquestionably saves two runs.  Facing Cardinals starter Bill Doak in the sixth, Dave Bancroft doubles, advances to third, and soon scores on Ross Youngs' infield hit.  Goldie Rapp and Ross Youngs each drive in a run during the home seventh.  Fred Toney helps himself with a base hit during the Giants' two-run seventh.  Ross Youngs triples and scores for the finishing touch, giving the hosts a 4-1 lead and the final margin of victory.  Toney retires the Cardinals in order in the ninth.  Toney yields one run on six hits and three walks (two intentional) with two strikeouts en route to his fourth win of the season against two losses with a 1.94 ERA.  Three of the Giants' seven hits go for extra bases; High Pockets Kelly drives in his 28th run this season.  However, they gain no ground on Brooklyn, who defeated the Reds at Ebbets Field.

• FINAL: STL 1; NYG 4
• RECORD: 13-8 (.619); third place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #19

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, May 11, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ DETROIT TIGERS

Navin Field

Tigers Steal One From Yankees

Making his fourth start, the Brooklynite Waite Hoyt toes the slab opposed by Tigers freshman right-hander Suds Sutherland.  After a scoreless first inning, each team trades a run in the second.  New York's Braggo Roth doubles home Wally Schang, and Detroit's third sacker Joe Sargent lofts a sacrifice fly scoring left fielder Bobby Veach.  Hoyt and Sutherland traded zeroes for the next five innings.  Ty Cobb throws out Babe Ruth at second base while attempting to stretch a single in the sixth.  Sure enough, Ty Cobb's hit puts runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom half of the eighth.  With Bobby Veach at the plate, shortstop Donie Bush rumbles down the third-base line and successfully steals home for a 2-1 Tigers lead and, ultimately, victory.  Waite Hoyt is effective but unlucky.  He takes the loss upon surrendering two runs, one unearned, nine hits, and just one walk through eight.  As a result, the Yankees slip down to fourth place, percentage points behind the Red Sox.

• FINAL: NYY 1; DET 2
• RECORD: 10-9 (.526); fourth place, 4.0 GB of Cleveland

DAILY NEWS