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 #120
POLO GROUNDS
Make-Up: 7/15/1921
Cardinals Take Series; Fast Fading Giants to Host First Place Bucs
The Giants will be limping into tomorrow's series opener against the first-place Pirates as McGraw's men again stumble and fall against St. Louis. George Burns draws a base on balls leading off the home half of the first, then gets thrown out attempting to steal second. Starter Jesse Haines then yields a home run to Dave Bancroft and walks Frankie Frisch. An unhesitating Cardinal manager, Branch Rickey, hands over pitching duties to Bill Sherdel, who holds the Giants scoreless through the fifth. The Cardinals, in turn, punish both Jesse Barnes and Slim Salle. Barnes surrenders five runs on nine hits in seven innings, and Salle allows five runs in two innings. However, four of St. Louis' runs are unearned, not that it mattered. Another ambivalent crowd of 5,000 watches on as the Giants recover single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, then tally four in the home ninth, including High Pockets Kelly's 21st home run, all for naught. New York's only saving grace is Pittsburgh's defeat at Boston. But truth be told, the Pirates are winners of six of their last seven and own a 16-6 record in August. With Monday's loss, the Giants fall to 10-13 over the same span.
- FINAL: STL 10; NYG 7
- RECORD: 70-50 (.583); second place, 7.5 GB of Pittsburgh
⚾
GAME #114
Dunn Field
Babe Ruth Clouts Two, Jack Quinn Takes Care of the Rest as Yanks Take Opener at Dunn Field
Just as they did against Cleveland in their previous series, the Yankees limit the Indians to just one run en route to a convincing opening game victory. Staked to a six-run lead through the fourth, starter Jack Quinn limits the heavy-hitting Indians to a fifth-inning home run by catcher Elmer Smith and five total hits and one walk for the win. To the dismay and wonderment of some 20,000 fans on hand, Babe Ruth hits two home runs, his 48th and 49th of the season in the first and third innings. With the victory, the Yankees pulled to within a one-half game of the Indians. Jack Quinn evens his record at 7-7 with a 4.38 ERA. With the victory, the Yankees join the 70-win club with Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and the Giants. Former New York Yankee Ray Caldwell takes the loss.
- FINAL: NYY 6; CLE 1
- RECORD: 70-44 (.614); second place, 0.5 GB of Cleveland
