100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/21/1921: Giants Overrun By Braves; Yankees Swept In Twin Bill At Fenway Park

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 #59

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, June 21, 1921 - BR

Boston Braves @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Giants Trounced By Braves In Return Home

A healthy Tuesday crowd of 12,000 is happy to see their returning McGrawmen again but ultimately go home distraught over what unfolds before their eyes.  Facing starter Rube Benton, Boston opens with two runs in the first.  The Giants answered with four runs in the bottom half of the frame; in consecutive at-bats, Ross Youngs triples home Frankie Frisch, High Pockets Kelly doubles home Youngs, and Curt Walker triples home Kelly.  After Braves starter Hugh McQuillan walks John Monroe, Earl Smith singles home Walker for a 4-2 lead.  Braves shortstop Walter Barbare triples home a run in the second.  Boston then pushes the tying run across in the fifth.  Afterwhich, things go awry for the Giants.  Pitching in relief of Benton, Jesse Barnes yields seven runs on four hits and three errors in the field.  If that wasn't enough, the Braves hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh off Art Nehf, a three-run shot to deep right field by Fred Nicholson, and one of the inside-the-park variety by Tony Boeckel.  Not yet done, catcher Hank Gowdy homers in the eighth.  Frank Snyder drives in a run in the ninth, giving this game its 16-5 final score.  Jesse Barnes earns the loss, McQuillan the win.

• FINAL: BOS 16; NYG 6
• RECORD: 36-23 (.610); second place, 4.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾          ⚾          ⚾

GAME #60 

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Tuesday, June 21, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ BOSTON RED SOX

Fenway Park

The makeup of April 29, 1921

Herb Pennock Leads Red Sox Victory With Arm and Bat

After dropping yesterday's series opener, the Squire, Navy veteran Herb Pennock turns the tables on the Yankees, limiting the New Yorkers to three runs.  Boston promptly scores two runs in the first, but the Yankees tie in the second with runs batted in from Fred Hofmann and Roger Peckinpaugh.  The Red Sox then take starter Bob Shawkey to task with four runs in the bottom of the frame for a 6-2 lead highlighted by Pennock's inside-the-park home run to deepest center field.  Boston scores twice more with runs in the fifth and seventh innings.  The Yankees muster just one more run in the eighth; Aaron Ward with the run batted in.  Bob Shawkey loses his third, and Herb Pennock wins his sixth.

• FINAL: NYY 3; BOS 8

⚾

GAME #61

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Tuesday, June 21, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ BOSTON RED SOX

Fenway Park

Red Sox Complete Twin Bill Sweep

Leading off the game, left fielder Chicken Hawks lines an inside-the-park home run to deep center field.  Red Sox starter Bullet Joe Bush allows the Yankees just four hits the rest of the game.  Facing his former team, Babe Ruth is a quiet 1 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout.  Boston left fielder Mike Menosky puts the finishing touches on a 6-1 victory with a two-run single in the sixth.  Losing pitcher Waite Hoyt allows six runs, five earned, on ten hits, and four walks.  

• FINAL: NYY 1; BOS 6
• RECORD: 35-26 (.574); second place, 3.5 GB of Cleveland 

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/29/1921: Yankees Complete Sweep of A's; Giants Idle

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 #37

BOXSCORE: Sunday, May 29, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Athletics @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Ruth Swats Number Fourteen; Yanks Sweep A's

With a crowd of 24,000 on hand, the Yankees unleash a five-run attack in the first inning and never look back.  A maelstrom of butterflies in the stomach of inexperienced Dave Keefe perhaps gets the better of him.  Facing Babe Ruth, he unleashes two straight wild pitches, the first permitting Roger Peckinpaugh to score and the second allowing Mike McNally advancement to third base.  Keefe ultimately walks Ruth, who soon scores on a two-run triple by Chicken Hawks.  Babe Ruth then hits his 14th home run this season, leading off the fourth.  The Yankees score twice more in the seventh and once in the eighth.  Starter Alex Ferguson yields three runs on eight hits, including a home run to Joe Dugan, and one walk through five innings pitched for the win.  Making just his fourth appearance in relief of Ferguson, Tom Sheehan allows one run on two hits - a home run to Cy Perkins - over the final four innings.  The road-weary Yankees complete a three-game sweep of Philadelphia and must now board a train back to the nation's capital, where a four-game set awaits against the unkindly Senators.

• FINAL: PHI 4; NYY 9
• RECORD: 23-14 (.622), second place, 2.5 GB of Cleveland

 

New York Tribune

⚾

OFF DAY

Sunday, May 29, 1921

NEXT: Monday, May 30, 1921

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/28/1921: Yankees Sweep Twin Bill Against A's; Braves Salvage Split With Visiting Giants

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 #35

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Saturday, May 28, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Athletics @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

*Makeup Game: April 13, 1921

Carl Mays Makes Easy Work of Athletics

Carl Mays returns from suspension and twirls a gem in the Yankees return home to the Polo Grounds.  In a makeup of an Apr. 13 rainout, Mays limits Philadelphia to one run on seven hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts through nine.  He improves to 8-4 with a 1.81 earned run average.  Center fielder Frank Welch scores on a fielder's choice in the fifth to spoil the shutout.  The Yankees bunch together three runs in the third courtesy of Roger Peckinpaugh, Wally Pipp, and Bob Meusel.  Wally Schang singles home a run in the sixth and drives home another in the eighth, giving the Yankees a 5-1 victory.

• FINAL: PHI 1; NYY 5

⚾

GAME #36

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Saturday, May 28, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Athletics @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Yankees Complete Twin Bill Sweep

Bob Shawkey sabotages his own shutout effort by walking in the A's first run in the eighth.  He then yields a run in the ninth.  However, Shawkey was well covered.  The Yankees plate a pair in the first with runs batted in by Wally Pipp and Bob Meusel.  In the fourth, Chicken Hawks triples home Pipp and Meusel, and Aaron Ward singles home Hawks.  Wally Pipp adds the finishing touch with a run-scoring double in the seventh, giving the Yankees a 6-2 final margin of victory.  Shawkey yields one run on five hits and issues six bases on balls but strikes out eight batters for the win.

• FINAL: PHI 2; NYY 6
• RECORD: 22-14 (.611), second place, 3.0 GB of Cleveland

New York Herald (New York, New York)

GAME #37

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Saturday, May 28, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ BOSTON BRAVES

Braves Field

* Makeup Game: April 19, 1921

Late Rally Gets Giants By Resilient Braves

Game One is a wild affair.  Having lost their lead, the Giants muster four runs in the seventh inning en route to a 10-7 victory.  They jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first, but it does not last.  Trailing 5-3 after five and a half, the Braves rally for three runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 6-5 lead.  Art Nehf allows all seven runs, six earned, eleven hits, and no walks with four strikeouts.  He yielded a home run to Braves' third baseman Tony Boeckel.  Jesse Barnes throws three scoreless innings in relief.  George Burns, High Pockets Kelly, and Aaron Ward each drive in two runs apiece.  Dave Bancroft, Frankie Frisch, and Earl Smith each drive in one run.  Boston amasses 14 hits, but five errors contribute to their undoing.  Five of the Giants' ten runs are unearned.  Art Nehf improves to 6-2 with a still lofty 4.75 ERA.

• FINAL: NYG 10; BOS 7

⚾

GAME #38

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Saturday, May 28, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ BOSTON BRAVES

Braves Field

Braves Win in Ninth Inning; Earn Twin Bill Split

In another see-saw tilt, The Giants bat around in taking a 3-0 first-inning lead highlighted by a Frankie Frisch home run.  Dave Bancroft drives home a run in the fourth.  In the bottom of the sixth, Boston gets the better of Giants' starter Pol Perritt and Slim Salle.  The Giants committed three errors behind them as the Braves scored four runs for a 5-4 lead.   In the top of the ninth, High Pockets Kelly drives home Frisch tying the game at five.  Facing Rube Benton in relief of Salle, second baseman Hod Ford drives home Tony Boeckel for the win.  Rube Benton suffers his first loss this season against three wins and a 1.49 ERA.  Boston's Joe Oeschger goes the distance for the win.

• FINAL: NYG 5; BOS 6
• RECORD: 25-13 (.22-14), second place, 2.5 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 4/14/1921: Yankees Tripped Up By Athletics; Giants Win Second Straight at Philadelphia

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today: The New York Giants and 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, two full decades later, still harbored much animosity not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees themselves who 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 see, 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 shifted.  The Yankees' purchase of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Boston Red Sox sent 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 but an accomplishment for which John McGraw had little appreciation as one who believed players worked 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 forward 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.  A resolution lies not too far away ...  

In the meantime, 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 and PLAY BALL!!

⚾

GAME #2

BOXSCORE: Thursday, April 14, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Athletics @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Brooklyn-born Waite Hoyt starts for the Yankees and is opposed by Philadelphia's sophomore right-hander Eddie Rommel.  After three scoreless frames, Athletics first baseman Frank Brazil leads off the top of the fourth with a triple to left field.  With two outs and center fielder Frank Welch at the plate, Brazil steals home.  Welch then follows with a triple of his own and scores on a hit through the left side by shortstop Chick Galloway.  First baseman Wally Pipp gets the Yankees on the board in the bottom half of the frame with an inside-the-park home run into the left/center field gap.  Pinch-hitting for Waite Hoyt in the seventh, Chicken Hawks singles home Aaron Ward with the tying run.  Facing Jack Quinn pitching in Hoyt's relief, catcher Cy Perkins leads off the top of the ninth with a triple to right field.  Frank Welch drives him home and later scores on a hit from second baseman Jimmy Dykes for a 4-2 lead and the final victory margin.  Waite Hoyt escapes with a no-decision while Jack Quinn suffers the loss.  Eddie Rommel yields three runs, two earned, on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts through nine innings for the victory.

• FINAL: PHI 4; NYY 2
• RECORD:  1-1

⚾

GAME #2

BOXSCORE: Thursday, April 14, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Baker Bowl

Rather than wait for extra innings as they did one day ago, the visiting New York Giants this time scored early and often en route to a second straight victory at Philadelphia.  New York's first five batters promptly knocked Phillies starter Lee Meadows, out of the box, striking four hits and a walk for four runs.  Not yet done, the Giants press reliever George Smith for two more runs and a 6-0 first-inning lead.  With two outs in the fourth, High Pockets Kelly drives home, Dave Bancroft.  Afterwhich, the Giants plate three more runs in the seventh for a 10-0 lead.  Philadelphia ruins the shutout with single runs in the eighth and ninth innings.  Last season's 21-game winner, Art Nehf, limits the Phillies to a pair of late runs on eight hits and just one walk with a strikeout.  Right fielder Curt Walker, High Pockets Kelly, and catcher Frank Snyder each drive in two runs apiece.  Walker and Snyder account for six of the Giants' 15 hits.

• FINAL: NYG 10; PHI 2
• RECORD:  2-0