100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/13/1921: Giants Earn Series Split With Brooklyn; Yanks Sweep Twin Bill at Shibe 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 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 #110

BOXSCORE: Saturday, August 13, 1921 - BR

Brooklyn Robins @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Giants Salvage Series Split With Brooklyn

In a contest marked by folly and misplay, the Giants hold on for the victory.  Pete Kilduff scores in the third as a result of Dave Bancroft's error at short.  Hi Myers homers to right field with two outs in the fourth, giving the Robins a 2-0 lead.  Starters Fred Toney and Clarence Mitchell for Brooklyn simmer things down through the sixth.  The Giants then post four unearned runs in the home seventh on four hits, a walk, a hit by pitch, and errors by Ivy Olson at short and right fielder Tommy Griffith.  Meanwhile, Clarence Mitchell is knocked out of the box and replaced with Dutch Ruether.  Fred Toney forges ahead and yields a run-scoring hit to Ray Schmandt in the ninth but holds on for the win.  Toney allows two earned runs on just five hits and a walk with four strikeouts for the win.  Clarence Mitchell takes the loss.  Frankie Frisch goes 2 for 4 with a double and two runs batted in.  By salvaging Saturday's finale, the Giants earn a series split with Brooklyn.

• FINAL: BRK 3; NYG 4
• RECORD: 66-44 (.600); second place, 4.0 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #105

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Saturday, August 13, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS

Shibe Park

Make-Up: 4/23/1921

Yanks Claim Opener; Carl Mays Wins Number 18

Wally Schang and Elmer Miller drive in a run, and Home Run Baker plates two in a big four-run third inning.  Carl Mays takes care of the rest.  The submariner limits Philadelphia to a pair of runs on eight hits and no walks for his 18th victory this season against eight losses with a 2.94 ERA.  A's left fielder Tillie Walker hit an inconsequential home run in the ninth.  Youngster Eddie Rommel takes the loss.  Bob Meusel drives home two, and Aaron Ward drives home one.  Babe Ruth knocks in his 118th run this season.

• FINAL: NYY 7; PHI 2

⚾

GAME #106

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Saturday, August 13, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS

Shibe Park

Yankees Complete Sweep at Shibe Park

The Yankees scored early, often, and late.  Four runs cross the plate in the first, and five more touch home in the third.  Afterwhich it's just a matter of starter Rip Collins holding on.  Bob Meusel leads the way going 3 for 5 with a home run and five runs batted in.  Meusel lifts his RBI total to 88 for the season.  Wally Pipp goes 3 for 4 with three runs driven home.  With three hits, Babe Ruth raises his average to a .376 mark.  After yielding a run on three hits in the ninth, Miller Huggins relieves Rip Colling with Bob Shawkey.  Colling strikes out five en route to his eighth win this season.  With a twin-bill sweep at Philadelphia, the Yankees gain a half-game on Cleveland.  

• FINAL: NYY 13; PHI 7
• RECORD: 66-40 (.623); second place, 0.5 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/11/1921: Giants Split Twin Bill With Robins; Yankees Regain Share Of 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 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 #107

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Thursday, August 11, 1921 - BR

Brooklyn Robins @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Make-Up: 5/6/1921

Brooklyn Bullpen Saves Game One

After playing their last 16 games on the road, the Giants fall to Brooklyn in their series opener at the Polo Grounds.  Two errors by George Burns and one each by Dave Bancroft and High Pockets Kelly are Manhattan's undoing.  Frankie Frisch opens the scoring with a two-run home run in the third, and George Burns drives home a run in the sixth.  All three runs are charged to Robins' starter Dutch Ruether who gets knocked out of the box with no outs in the sixth, not before yielding seven hits and four walks.  However, the Giants' bats go silent against the relieving duo of Ferdie Schupp and Sherry Smith, who preserve the victory for Ruether.  The Brooklyn tandem allows just four hits and a walk over the final four frames.  Left fielder Zack Wheat leads the Robins, going 3 for 4 with a double, triple, and run batted in.  First baseman Ray Schmandt also collects three hits.

• FINAL: BRK 5; NYG 3

⚾

GAME #108

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Thursday, August 11, 1921 - BR

Brooklyn Robins @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Brooklyn Bullpen Blows Game Two

Ross Youngs triples, driving home two runs in the first inning, but Brooklyn is quick to knot the game in the second.  Afterwhich, starting pitchers Ronny Miljus and Jesse Barnes quiet things down through the fifth.  The teams again exchanged runs in the sixth.  Facing Slim Salle in the top of the seventh, pinch-hitter Bernie Neis gives Brooklyn a 3-2 lead.  Ronny Miljus then retires the Giants in order in the bottom half of the frame.  When High Pockets Kelly leads off the eighth with a double, Uncle Robbie again summons Sherry Smith into relief duty.  Although Smith ends any potential threat, he does not repeat game one's performance.  After consecutive leadoff singles by George Burns and Dave Bancroft leading off the ninth, Frankie Frisch grounds into a fielder's choice scoring Burns tying the game at four.  With Fred Toney pitching in the eleventh inning, Pete Kilduff homers to left field, but High Pockets Kelly doubles home Frankie Frisch for a five-all tie.  The teams continue battling into the 13th inning.  Fred Toney strikes out one and commits a harmless error in the top half of the frame.  In the home half, Sherry Smith issues a leadoff walk to Dave Bancroft.  Frankie Frisch then triples, sending everyone home happy.

• FINAL: BRK 5; NYG 6 *13 innings
• RECORD: 65-43 (.602); second place, 3.5 GB of Cleveland

⚾

GAME #103

BOXSCORE: Thursday, August 11, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ Philadelphia Athletics

Shibe Park

Ruth Hits Number 43; Yankees Regain Share of First Place With Idle Indians

The first stop on the Yankees road trip is the City of Brotherly Love.  Babe Ruth doubled home the first run of the game and scored on Bob Meusel's hit back through the middle.  Wally Schang drives home a run in the second and another in the third, and with two runners on base, Babe Ruth follows with his 43rd home run this season.  Staked to a 7-0 lead, left fielder Tillie Walker seems to figure out starter Bob Shawkey with a home run in the sixth and a run-scoring double in the eighth.  But Bob Shawkey holds the A's at three on ten hits and one walks for the win.  Coupled with Cleveland's idle schedule, the Yankees reestablish a first-place tie with the Indians. 

• FINAL: NYY 7; PHI 3
• RECORD: 64-39 (.621); tied first place with Cleveland

100 Years Ago Today 10/10/1920: Brooklyn Robins Lose Troublesome Game Five; Trail Indians 3-2

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF DEM BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS
1920 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

WORLD SERIES: Sunday, October 10, 1920 - GAME FIVE

Brooklyn Robins vs. Cleveland Indians

League Park

"I've been in baseball for 40 years and I never saw one like this." - Wilbert Robinson

Game Five at Cleveland features a historical if not ponderous series of events Brooklyn Robins fans for all the wrong reasons will not soon forget.

Although no longer the perennial 20-game winner while with the Giants, 33-year old Rube Marquard during the 1920 season is nothing short of clutch.  When Uncle Robbie needs him most his old friend repeatedly comes through with vintage performances.  Scheduled to pitch this day for the Robins, Rube Marquard prior to the game is arrested by Cleveland police outside League Park on charges of ticket scalping.  Marquard maintains his innocence claiming a misunderstanding.  But an incensed Charles Ebbets will hear non of it and releases Rube on the spot.  

Inside the park Burleigh Grimes hurriedly prepares for an unexpected start.  Looking on in attendance is former Cleveland Spider legend and baseball's all-time wins leader Cy Young.  Pitching on three days rest, Burleigh Grimes by game time is still noticeably unprepared.  In the first inning Cleveland leads off with consecutive singles and a successful bunt hit by Tris Speaker.  With no outs and the bases loaded, right fielder and clean-up hitter Elmer Smith crushes a Grimes offering to deep right for a grand slam home run, the first in World Series history.  With Burleigh Grimes still pitching in the fourth, Indians starter Jim Bagby aides his own cause by homering deep to center field with two runners on giving Cleveland a commanding 7-0 lead.  His home run is the first hit by a pitcher in World Series history.  The Indians score one last time in the fifth inning off reliever Clarence Mitchell.

Brooklyn is not without its chances.  They strand a runner on second in the first.  Ed Konetchy triples in the second but on a sac-fly attempt is thrown out at home by left fielder Charlie Jameison.  In the third Burleigh Grimes bounces into a double play and the Robins strand two runners.  Hi Myers in the fourth removes himself from the base paths by getting thrown out attempting to steal third.  The fifth inning really makes all Robins shake their heads in dismay.  With no outs and Pete Kilduff and Otto Miller on base, Clarence Mitchell lines out to second baseman Bill Wambsganss, who immediately steps on second to retire Kilduff then tags an approaching Otto Miller to complete an unassisted triple play, again the first in World Series history.  Otherwise, the Robins go quietly until the ninth when Ed Konetchy drives in his first run of the series.  Alas it is too little too late.

Cleveland's 31-game winner Jim Bagby avenges his Game Two loss against Grimes, allowing one run on 13 hits and no walks over nine innings complete.  Grimes in turn takes the loss after yielding seven runs on nine hits and a walk in just 3.1 innings pitched.

100 Years Ago Today 10/3/1920: Brooklyn Robins Close Regular Season With Victory Over Braves

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF DEM BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

Game #155: Sunday, October 3, 1920 - BR

Boston Braves vs. Brooklyn Robins

Ebbets Field

Robins Win Final Game of Season; Next Stop World Series Versus Cleveland Indians

Brooklyn wraps up a wildly successful 1920 season with one final defeat of the Boston Braves in front of 10,000 crazed fans at Ebbets Field.  As if 26-innings weren't enough, the teams need another ten innings in order to decide a victor.  The Robins and Braves back on May 1 played nearly the length of three nine innings games only to end the day tied at one.  Boston jumps out to a quick 3-0 lead, all runs are unearned.  No changes in the score are affected through the seventh.  However, Brooklyn finally strikes for two runs in the eighth.  With a runner on Zack Wheat connects on his ninth home run for the season and his second in as many games.   Boston picks up an insurance run in the ninth.  But the Robins rally for two more in the bottom half, tying the game at four.  In the home tenth, Hi Myers triples home Bill McCabe with the winning run.  George Mohart and Johnny Miljus join together for the victory, allowing four runs, none earned, on nine hits and three walks.

From the first of September through the end of the season the Robins post a 23-6 (.793) record.  They end the season with a 93-61 record, seven games in front of the Giants and 10.5 games ahead of the now dethroned N.L. champ Cincinnati Reds.  After averaging just 65 wins over the last three seasons, their 93 victories ties for fourth highest in franchise history and falls just one win shy of their 1916 record.  Robinson's team never fell below .500 and were never more than 3.5 games out of first place.  The New York Giants got off to a poor start after Frankie Frisch was stricken by appendicitis.  They surged with a 20-11 record in August, but would ultimately lose 15 of 22 games against the Robins.

"No special system of playing won the 1920 pennant for the Brooklyn Superbas.  Nerve and Spirit won the pennant." - Wilbert Robinson. 

This is Uncle Robbie's second pennant since parting ways with the Giants and taking over the Superbas in 1914 from Bill Dahlen.  Only nine members of the 1916 N.L. champs remain.  Nine other players were acquired over the previous two seasons.  In fact, this year's team is largely unchanged from last season when they won only 69 games (a 24 game improvement).

A veteran lineup, seven of eight position regulars are 30-years of age or older.  Two of Wilbert Robinson's savviest moves were making Jimmy Johnston the starting third baseman and plugging Pete Kilduff at second.  Thirty-four year old Ivy Olson caught a lot of flack at shortstop by fans but he proved clutch with a stick.

The heart of the lineup proved solid.  Acquired last season, 34-year old first baseman Big Ed Konetchy bats .308 with 63 runs batted in.  Center fielder Hi Myers plays every game this season.  Myers finishes with a .304 average and once again leads the National League with 22 triples.  He posts career bests in on-base percentage and slugging average and leads the Robins for a second straight season with 85 runs batted in.  Brooklyn's undeniable star Zack Wheat registers his eighth .300 season.  The 1918 batting champion this season places fourth in the race with a .328 average and ranks fourth in the league with a .385 on-base percentage.

Acquired from the Pirates in 1918, Burleigh Grimes enjoys his finest season as a pro.  The spitballer posts a career high 23 victories against eleven losses with a 2.22 earned run average.  He finishes third in the N.L. with 131 strikeouts, while his wins and ERA both rank second.  In fact, the Robins lead the league with a 2.92 team ERA.

100 Years Ago Today 9/16/1920: Brooklyn Robins Extend Lead to Six Over Reds and Giants

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF DEM BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #144: Thursday, September 16, 1920 - BR
Cincinnati Reds vs. Brooklyn Dodgers
Ebbets Field

Burleigh Grimes Turns Away Defending Champions; Robins Extend Lead to Six.

With the defending world champions in town Uncle Robbie puts the ball in the hands of his ace, Burleigh Grimes.  He is opposed by sixteen game winner Dutch Ruether.  The confident Reds waste no time taking a 1-0 lead on an Edd Rouch base hit.  Undeterred, Brooklyn counters in the bottom half of the frame with runs driven in by Zack Wheat and Hi Myers and in a flash Reds manager Pat Moran blazes a trail from the dugout towards the pitching mound.  Out goes Dutch Ruether and in comes right-hander Ray Fisher.  Pete Kilduff promptly greets the Reds reliever with a hit up the middle scoring Wheat for a 3-1 Robins lead.  Cincinnati then reminds Robins fans exactly whom they're up against.  With two outs and a runner on first in the fifth, first baseman Jake Daubert hits a Grimes offering deep beyond the reach of left fielder Zack Wheat that goes for an inside the park home run.  However, the Robins quickly break the deadlock on Otto Miller's hit in the sixth and add an insurance run on Tommy Griffith's double in the seventh, both runs coming against Fisher.  Burleigh Grimes retires the Reds in order to close out the ninth.  The spitballer improves to 22-10 with a 2.10 ERA.  Hi Myers is 2 for 4 and drives home his team leading 77th run batted in.  Brooklyn improves to 15-3 in September and now owns a six game lead over the Reds with eleven games left to play.  Cincinnati, however, still has eighteen games on their docket.  But that's because numerous rain postponements this season are coming to bear upon the Reds who must play five double-headers in the final weeks to come.  Meanwhile, the New York Giants split a twin bill with the Phillies which ties them with the Reds for second place.  The Giants have fifteen games left on their schedule, five of which are against Brooklyn.

• RECORD: 85-58 (.594)
• 1st Place; 6.0 GA

AMERICAN LEAGUE

• The Chicago White Sox best the Yankees 8-3 at Comiskey Park.  Thus New York falls into a first place tie with the Cleveland Indians.  The Yankees have twelve games on their schedule.  Meanwhile the White Sox close to within 1.5 games of first place, with two more games left in their series against the Yankees and thirteen games left in their regular season. 

100 Years Ago Today 9/13/1920: First Place Brooklyn Robins Open Five Game Lead

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF DEM BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS
1920 National League Champions

Game #140: Monday, September 13, 1920, GAME ONE - BR
Chicago Cubs vs. Brooklyn Robins
Ebbets Field

Jeff Pfeffer Outperforms Chicago Great Pete Alexander

Uncle Robbie couldn't be prouder.  Brooklyn manager, yes, but he's a pitching guru at heart.  Wilbert Robinson witnesses his starter Jeff Pfeffer get the best of 24-game winner Pete Alexander.  Chicago opens the scoring in the first on Fred Merkle's triple scoring Max Flack.  In the Brooklyn second Hi Myers counters with a triple of his own scoring Zack Wheat.  Pete Kilduff drives home Myers and Jeff Pfeffer gives himself a hand by driving home Kilduff for a 3-1 Robins lead.  Brooklyn continues adding on through the eighth.  In the fourth Jeff Pfeffer wields his second hit and drives home his second run.  Zack Wheat and Ray Schmandt drive in runs in the fifth.  Ernie Krueger triples in Brooklyn's seventh and final run for the game.  Max Flack drives home two runs in the ninth against Pfeffer, otherwise no harm done.  Brooklyn takes game one by a seven to three final.  Hi Myers now leads the team with 76 runs batted in.  Pfeffer is charged with three runs on ten hits with one walk and four strikeouts en route to his fifteenth victory against nine losses with a 3.04 ERA.  Grover Cleveland Alexander entered the game with a 4-1 record and a 1.72 in five previous starts against the Robins.  Last time they met Grover Cleveland he shut them out.  On this day he is denied his 25th victory.  In the meantime, Brooklyn wins their season high ninth consecutive game.  The sun drunk Ebbets Field crowd approves.


Game #141: Monday, September 13, 1920, GAME TWO - BR
Chicago Cubs vs. Brooklyn Robins
Ebbets Field

Overflowing Ebbets Field Crowd Cheers on Tenth Straight Win and Twin Bill Sweep

A near mirror image of game one, except it's Rube Marquard joining with Al Mamaux toeing the rubber and hurling another timely victory.  Brooklyn chips away with runs in the first, fourth and eighth innings.  Ivy Olson stays hot going 3 for 5 with a triple and a run batted in.  Jimmy Johnston elevates his average to .298 with two hits in four trips, with a run scored and one run batted in.  Marquard yields two runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts through four innings.  Al Mamaux follows with five innings of scoreless five-hit ball with two strikeouts for his tenth win.  The game ends on a 6-to-4 force out at second followed by a triumphant roar from the packed Ebbets Field crowd.  Easily 30,000 in attendance, the neighborhood trolley dodgers witness their team earn their season high tenth straight victory.  Brooklyn's present five game lead over the Reds is their largest for the season.  Conversely, the Robins have never been more than three games from the lead. The Reds lose at Philadelphia and the Giants win at the Polo Grounds.

• RECORD: 83-57 (.593)
• 1st Place; 5 GA

EXTRA: AMERICAN LEAGUE RACE

BABE RUTH HITS #49

The Indians will spend a second straight night just one-half game behind the Yankees.  Cleveland defeats the Philadelphia Athletics while the Yankees cut down the Detroit Tigers and therefore no change.  Carl Mays limits the Tigers to a pair of runs on nine hits and three walks en route to his 24th victory of the season against ten losses with a 3.25 ERA.  Ty Cobb musters a double, but no more.  In the sixth inning, Babe Ruth hits his 49th home run for the season - a two run blast into deep right, Wally Pip scores.

100 Years Ago Today 9/7/1920: Brooklyn Robins Sweep Twin Bill at Baker Bowl

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #132: Tuesday, September 7, 1920, GAME ONE - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Baker Bowl

Leon Cadore Whitewashes Phillies

Leon Cadore ends Brooklyn's two game skid rather brilliantly with nine scoreless innings of five-hit ball.  He walks three and fans four while improving his record to 13-12 with an improved 2.47 ERA.  Brooklyn scores two early runs and two late runs en route to a 4-0 whitewashing.  Pinch hitter Bill Lamar, Jimmy Johnston, Ed Konetchy and Ernie Krueger all drive in a run apiece.


Game #133: Tuesday, September 7, 1920, GAME TWO - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Baker Bowl

Pete Kilduff Leads Hit Parade; Robins Complete Sweep

Brooklyn must work a little harder in game two but find their way towards a 9-5 final for a twin bill sweep at Baker Bowl.  The Robins muster all their scoring off Phillies veteran starter Eppa Rixey who allows nine runs, six earned, on a dozen hits and three walks with three strikeouts.  It marks his twentieth loss of the season against just ten victories.  Al Mamaux and Sherry Smith join forces in limiting the Phillies to five earned runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts.  Sherry Smith earns his eighth victory with 4.2 innings in relief of Mamaux.  Pete Kilduff leads the Robins with four runs batted in.  Bernie Neiss is 3 for 5 with a double, three runs scored and two runs batted in.  Hi Myers drives home his team leading 70th run batted in for the season.  Brooklyn gains a full game on the idle Reds while the idle Giants lose ground behind the Robins.

• RECORD: 75-57 (.568)
• 2nd Place; 0.5 GB

100 Years Ago Today 9/6/1920: Brooklyn Robins Back in Second After Dropping Twin Bill at Philadelphia

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions 

Game #130: Monday, September 6, 1920, GAME ONE - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Baker Bowl

Phillies Hold On For Game One Victory

Brooklyn scores twice in the eighth, but it isn't enough as starter Red Causey and the Phillies hold on for a 3-2 victory.  Center fielder Cy Williams opens the scoring in the Phillies first with a two out home run off Robins starter Jeff Pfeffer.  Jeff hurts his own cause in the fourth, when, with the bases loaded Pfeffer fields a bunt but throws errantly to first base.  Two runs score on the play.  Clarence Mitchell singles home two runs in the eighth, but it's too little too late.  Pfeffer loses his ninth game against twelve victories with a 2.88 ERA.


Game #131: Monday, September 6, 1920, GAME TWO - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Baker Bowl

Spitballer Burleigh Grimes Comes up Dry Against Phillies

The Robins once again come up short.  Brooklyn knocks starter Huck Betts out of the box with haste, plating three runs in the first off the bats of Zack Wheat, Hi Myers and Ed Konetchy.  However, Burleigh Grimes can not hold the lead.  Philadelphia scores four times in the second, then pick up an unearned run in the fourth.  Burleigh Grimes yields his six run of the game in the fifth.  After which it's just a matter of the Phillies holding on.  Bill Lamar drives home a run in the eighth and Hi Myers doubles home a run in the ninth.  With one out and two runners in scoring position, Ed Konetchy grounds into a fielder's choice and Pete Kilduff pops up to first ending the game.  New York splits a double-header with the Braves, but Cincinnati sweeps two from the Cardinals.  The defending champions reclaim first place by 1.5 games over the Robins with 24 games left to play.

• RECORD: 73-57 (.554)
• 2nd Place; 1.5 GB

100 Years Ago Today 8/31/1920: Brooklyn Robins Take Back First Place As September Looms

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS
1920 National League Champions

Game #126: Tuesday, August 31, 1920 - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Sportsman's Park

First Place Brooklyn Robins Achieve Victory Number Seventy with Twenty-Nine Games Left to Play 

Message to Uncle Robbie: Don't look back or you just might see who is behind you.

After all, New York City is still John McGraw's empire.  But it's also a not so subtle reminder that the National League pennant is up for grabs. 

If over these last five months you've remained a member of the staunch Brooklyn skeptics and Robins naysayers, then perhaps Tuesday's contest finally swayed you into believing this surprisingly irrepressible team - virtually unchanged from last season - genuinely stands poised to win another National League pennant.  From the lips of yours truly to the ears of Charlie Byrne!  But the McKeever Brothers and Charlie Ebbets himself believe this to be true.  Fans filing into 55 Sullivan Place in exponentially record numbers are all the proof they need.

With Tuesday's 5-2 victory at Sportsman's Park the Robins finish the month of August with a modest 14-13 record.  However, the true significance of Tuesday's game is that it marks Brooklyn's seventieth victory of the regular season.  It's one win above last season's total; thirteen more than achieved in 1918; and presently matches their 1917 output.  Only difference being this year's Robins still have twenty-nine games left to play.  Everything now points back to 1916 when the Robins win 94 games and capture the pennant by a 2.5 game margin over Philadelphia.  It may take that many wins if not more in order to keep at bay the defending champion Cincinnati Reds and surging New York Giants.  But make no mistake, the road to the pennant presently courses through Brooklyn, as both Cincinnati and the New York Giants visit Ebbets Field in late September.

Back on the field, the Robins lose their series against St. Louis but at least salvage a victory in their final visit this season to Sportsman's Park.  Unlike yesterday Brooklyn stays a step ahead of the Cardinals with a 2-1 lead after three, trading runs in the sixth, then closing with two more runs in the seventh en route to a 5-2 final.  Bernie Neis getting a start in center field goes 2 for 5 with two runs batted in.  Hi Myers, Ed Konetchy and Pete Kilduff also drive in a run apiece.  Starter Jeff Pfeffer improves to 12-8 with a 2.90 ERA, after yielding two runs on seven hits and no walks with four strikeouts through a full nine.  Boston's extra-inning triumph over Cincinnati coupled with Brooklyn's victory once again gives the Robins a half-game lead over the Reds. 

Meanwhile, the New York Giants lose yet again at Forbes Field placing them two games out of first.  We know Wilbert Robinson and John McGraw are no longer the close friends they once were.  It seems the only things they have in common theses days are their respective issues playing Pittsburgh.

• RECORD: 70-55 (.560)
• 1st Place; 0.5 GA

100 Years Ago Today 8/27/1920: Brooklyn Robins Retake Sole Possession of First Place

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #121: Friday, August 27, 1920 - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. Chicago Cubs
Cubs Park

National League is Officially Up for Grabs

By all indications, the National League is up for grabs.  We start in Cincinnati, where the defending champion Reds bow to the New York Giants after seventeen innings in the first game of a planned twin bill.  They're unable to play the second contest on account of darkness.  Back in Chicago, the Robins win their third straight and take their second in a row from the Cubs, thus sliding up one full game into first place.  Jeff Pfeffer toes the rubber and is opposed by Cubs veteran Claude Hendrix.  Chicago jumps out to a quick lead with runs in the first and second innings.  The Robins knot the game with a pair of runs in the third.  After trading runs in the fourth, the game proceeds quietly through the seventh.  Brooklyn breaks the deadlock with three runs in the eighth en route to a 6-3 victory.  Ed Konetchy drives in two runs, Tommy Griffith, Pete Kilduff and Otto Miller drive in one run apiece.  Ivy Olson remains hot at the plate with three hits in five at-bats.  Zack Wheat is also 3 for 5 with a run scored.  But the Robins also hit into five double-plays.  Jeff Pfeffer allows three earned runs on fourteen hits and two walks through nine innings for his eleventh victory against eight losses with a 2.95 ERA.

• RECORD: 69-51 (.575)
• 1st Place; 1.0 GA

100 Years Ago Today 8/26/1920: Brooklyn Robins Forge First Place Tie With Victory at Chicago

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #120: Thursday, August 26, 1920 - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. Chicago Cubs
Cubs Park

Leon Cadore Outlasts Chicago's Hippo Vaughn

Brooklyn outlasts Chicago.  More precisely Leon Cadore outlasts Cubs's perennial 20-game winner Hippo Vaughn.  The Robins waste no time putting two runs on the board in first inning with hits from Bernie Neise and Hy Myers.  Brooklyn takes a 3-0 lead in the third on Pere Kilduff's 47th run batted in for the season.  Chicago strikes back for three runs in the third on four hits and a run batted in by Vaughn himself.  The game remains tied at three through the seventh.  In the eighth Zack Wheat singles off Hippo Vaughn giving the Robins a 4-3 lead.  With Hippo Vaughn out of the game and Sweetbread Bailey pitching relief in the ninth, Otto Miller drives home Brooklyn's final insurance run en route to a 5-3 final at Cubs Park.  Hi Myers is 3 for 4 with a double and his club leading 59th run batted in.  Zack Wheat drives home his 52nd run of the season.  Leon Cadore goes the distance, yielding three earned runs on seven hits and just one walk with four strikeouts.  He evens his record at 11-11 with a representative 2.55 earned run average.  With today's victory and Cincinnati's loss against the Phillies, the Robins and Reds are once again tied for first place with just 35 games left on the regular schedule.  Meanwhile, the New York Giants lose a pitchers duel at Sportsman's Park. They remain mired three games out of first for a third straight day.

• RECORD: 68-51 (.571)
• Tied 1st Place w/Reds

100 Years Ago Today 8/24/1920: Brooklyn Robins Fall Game Out of First After Loss to Pirates

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #118: Tuesday, August 24, 1920 - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Forbes Field

Robins Throw Another Game Overboard Against Pirates

It is the Robins who prove to be their own worst enemy.  Their greatest folly occurs in the fifth.  With a man on first and no outs Jimmy Johnston fails to secure Carson Bigbee's foul pop.  Given a second chance Bigbee reaches safely on a fielder's choice then advances to third when second baseman Pete Kilduff throws away the relay to first.  Who else but Max Carey drives Bigbee home.  But starter Burleigh Grimes by no means is without fault.  Back in the first the spitballer unleashes a wild pitch allowing none other than Carson Bigbee to score from third.  Trailing 3-2 after seven, Brooklyn ties the score on Jimmy Johnston's leadoff triple and Tommy Griffith's sac fly.  After which here comes that name again - Carson Bigbee singles leading off the bottom of the eighth and is bunted over to second by Max Carey.  Billy Southworth then drives a Grimes offering to left scoring Bigbee from second with the go ahead run and a 4-3 final.  Grimes allows four runs, three earned, on eight hits and one walk through nine innings.  He is ponderously outdone by the pedestrian Pirate Hal Carlson who yields three earned runs on eleven hits and two walks and three strikeouts for his eleventh victory of the season.  Grimes is now 18-8 for the season with a 2.17 ERA.  Cincinnati defeats the Phillies at Redland Field and therefore takes over first place by a full game over the Robins.  The New York Giants lose to the Cardinals and remain three games back of first.

• RECORD: 66-51 (.564)
• 2nd Place; 1.0 GB

100 Years Ago Today 8/21/1920: Brooklyn Robins Close in on Cincinnati Reds

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS
1920 National league Champions

Game #115: Saturday, August 21, 1920 - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. Cincinnati Reds
Redland Field

Rube Marquard Hurls Gem Against Defending Champions at Redland Field

Ol' crafty Marquard does it again!  When the Robins need him most, when they've needed him to change the mood in the room, when they've needed him to stem the tide of defeatism, Rube Marquard this season has come through for Brooklyn.  What he does the rest of the time is another matter.  For on this day fans back home in Brooklyn call him hero after hurling nine scoreless innings of six hit baseball with just one walk and a trio of strikeouts.  He improves to 8-6 with a 3.03 earned run average.  But he has proven to the Robins even more valuable and clutch than any statistical analysis dares assume.  Meanwhile Brooklyn faces last year's 19-game winner for the Reds Hod Eller who himself pitches very well, just not through to finish.  He shuts out the Robins for seven innings until Jimmy Johnston's RBI double in the eighth.  In the ninth two runs score on a Pete Kilduff double and Otto Miller delivers a third run with a sacrifice fly.  To reiterate, on this day Rube Marquard is nothing short of great.  Brooklyn breaks their two game skid against the defending champs and pull back to within one game of the lead.  The New York Giants defeat the Cubs at Chicago and again move with three games of first.

• RECORD: 64-50 (.561)
• 2nd Place; 1.0 GB

100 Years Ago Today 8/13/1920: Brooklyn Robins Forge First Place Tie

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #110: Friday, August 13, 1920 - BR
Brooklyn Robins vs. New York Giants
Polo Grounds

Burleigh Grimes Thwarts Surging Giants

The Trolley Dodgers arrive in upper Manhattan with a message for their crosstown hosts: the road to the National League pennant goes through Brooklyn.  With less than fifty games remaining in the regular season, Brooklyn continues making it very clear to John McGraw, and even the Cincinnati Reds, that any comparisons made of these Robins to those of 1915-1919 are effectively null and void.  Burleigh Grimes punctuates this notion with today's stellar effort in front of 20,000 confounded cranks at the Polo Grounds.  The spitballer improves to 17-7, with a 2.23 ERA, after yielding just two earned runs on eight hits and no walks through nine complete innings pitched.  At the plate, Brooklyn seems to get the best of fifteen game winner Fred Toney with four earned runs on eight hits and five walks.  But it's Toney who authors his own undoing.  With the bases loaded in the Brooklyn fourth, and Ed Konetchy at the plate, Fred Toney unleashes a wild pitch; Tommy Griffith scores, two runners remain in scoring position.  Konetchy is still in the box when Toney unleashes a second wild pitch; both Zack Wheat and Hi Myers come home.  Pete Kilduff drives home a run in the eighth giving this game its 4-2 final score.  The Reds are idle, hence Brooklyn forges a first place tie.  New York falls three games behind the leaders after losing for only the third time in their last thirteen games.

• RECORD: 62-47 (.569)
• First Place; Tied
• Reds: 59-44 (.573)

100 Years Ago Today 8/9/1920: Brooklyn Robins Outlast Grover Cleveland Alexander

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #106: Monday, August 9, 1920 - BR
Chicago Cubs vs. Brooklyn Robins
Ebbets Field

Robins Defeat the Alexander the Great; Pennant Chase Intensifies

If these are the dog days of summer, then Brooklyn is the sun.  Nowhere in the National League is the landscape more searing than at Ebbets Field.  After today's thrilling victory over the Chicago Cubs, the Robins still only lead the first division by a mere five games ahead of the fourth place Pirates.  Looking on intently from high atop Coogan's Bluff are the third place New York Giants, who on this day rout Pittsburgh at the Polo Grounds, and await Brooklyn's arrival this coming Friday.  The Giants, back on July 17, with a sub par 39-42 record, were dawdling in fifth place, a distant 10.5 games out of first.  They have since won sixteen of their last twenty to close within three games of the Robins.  The only thing presently separating Brooklyn and upper Manhattan other than the East River are the defending champion Cincinnati Reds, who today defeat the Braves at Boston, and remain just a half-game out of first place.  Monday's crowd of roughly 5,000 at Ebbets Field sound more like 50,000 by game's end.  Opening a three game series with the Cubs, Brooklyn spitballer Burleigh Grimes is opposed by the great Grover Alexander.  After three scoreless frames Brooklyn jumps out to a two run lead on runs batted in from Zack Wheat and Ed Konetchy.  Chicago strikes back with two runs in the sixth, then in the eighth take a 4-2 lead on runs batted in from Dode Paskert and Charlie Deal.  In the bottom of the frame, with one out and two runners in scoring position, Hi Myers doubles plating Jimmy Johnston.  And after a walk to Ed Konetchy, Pete Kilduff clears the bases with a double to right, giving Brooklyn a 6-4 lead.  Al Mamaux, pitching in relief of Burleigh Grimes, yields a run in the ninth, but ultimately closes the the door on the Cubs for his eighth victory of the season.  Grimes exits to a no decision after allowing three earned runs on nine hits and four walks through 7.1 innings pitched.  Grover Alexander loses his twelfth game against eighteen wins, with a 2.33 ERA.

• RECORD: 60-45 (.571)
• First Place; 0.5 GA

100 Years Ago Today 8/7/1920: Pittsburgh's Babe Adams Hurls Gem at Brooklyn Robins

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #104: Saturday, August 7, 1920 - BR
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Brooklyn Robins
Ebbets Field

Another Large Crowd Watches Pirates Whitewash Robins 

Brooklyn's troubles against the Pirates continue.  Another large crowd at Ebbets Field watches in dismay as their Trolley Dodgers fail to place a single base runner in scoring position.  Long time Pittsburgh veteran Babe Adams hurls an absolute gem, whitewashing the Robins on just six scattered hits and no walks, with five strikeouts, over nine innings complete.  Errors by Pete Kilduff and Rowdy Elliot lead to four Pirates unearned runs.  Starter Sherry Smith, who takes the loss, and Al Mamaux, join to yield ten hits and six walks.  Pittsburgh center fielder Max Carey goes 2 for 5, with a triple, and two runs batted in.  Elsewhere, the second place Cincinnati Reds defeat the Phillies at Baker Bowl, cutting the Robins lead to just one-half game.  Meanwhile, the surging New York Giants get sidetracked by the Cubs at the Polo Grounds.

• RECORD: 58-45 (.563)
• First Place; 0.5 GA

100 Years Ago Today 8/5/1920: Pirates Still Causing Trouble for Brooklyn Robins

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #103: Thursday, August 5, 1920 - BR
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Brooklyn Robins
Ebbets Field

Look What the Pirates Did to the Robins, Again!

Here we go again, another tussle with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Brooklyn has now lost five of their last seven games against the Bucs.  Thursday's match is actually an entertaining back and forth affair.  Although, you'll never get Burleigh Grimes to agree.  Try as he might, wielding a triple with two runs batted in, the game ultimately turns against Grimes, and Brooklyn, in the tenth.  The teams trade runs early, on a first inning run batted in Pittsburgh's Billy Southworth, and a second inning triple from Hi Myers, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Pete Kilduff.  Each team then posts three runs in the fifth, highlighted by Pirates left fielder Carson Bigbee's inside the park home run to straight away center, and Grimes' triple, and Ivy Olson's run batted in.  Jimmy Johnston's base hit in the seventh gives the Robins a 5-4 lead.  But the Pirates even the score again in the eighth on Billy Southworth's second run batted in for the game.  Into extra innings they go.  Wilbert Robinson sits idly by in the tenth inning while Grimes surrenders three runs on four base hits and a walk.  Pitching in relief of Pirates starter Hal Carson, Earl Hamilton completes a third scoreless inning for the victory.  Ed Konetchy's error in the fifth inning winds up proving most costly.  Grimes yields eight runs, but only five earned, on fourteen hits and one walk, with three strikeouts over ten innings pitched.  He falls to 16-7 with a 2.18 ERA.  Elsewhere, the second place Reds whitewash the Phillies, and the New York Giants down the Cubs at the Polo Grounds.  The Giants are winners of four in a row, and are now 21-10 since July 1st.

• RECORD: 58-44 (.569)
• First Place; 1.5 GA

100 Years Ago Today 8/1/1920: First Place Brooklyn Robins Usher In Dog Days of Summer

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS
1920 National League Champions 

Game #100: Sunday, August 1, 1920 - BR
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Brooklyn Robins
Ebbets Field

BROOKLYN ROBINS REACH THE 100 GAME MARK ATOP THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

After posting a wildly successful 23-12 record in July, the Robins win their first game of August, and their second straight against the visiting Cardinals.  Starter Burleigh Grimes allows one run late in the seventh inning, otherwise limiting the Redbirds to just four hits and four walks, with four strikeouts.  Grimes improves to 16-6 with a 2.06 ERA.  The Robins inflict the majority of their damage against starter, and former New York Giant, Ferdie Schupp.  Makes one ponder Uncle Robbie's entertainment level.  Ed Konetchy and Bernie Kilduff cross the plate in the second courtesy right fielder Cliff Heathcote and third baseman Milt Stock.  Brooklyn makes it a five run lead in the fifth on a pair of runs batted in from Zack Wheat and another from Hi Myers - his team leading 51st for the season.  Burleigh Grimes caps off Brooklyn's scoring in the eighth with a single through the left side and a run batted in for a 6-1 final margin of victory.  Elsewhere, the New York Giants defeat the Cincinnati Reds at the Polo Grounds.  The third place Giants are just six games behind the lead.

• RECORD: 57-82 (.576)
• First Place: 1.5 GA

100 Years Ago Today 7/31/1920: Brooklyn Robins Defeat Cardinals in Series Opener

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #99: Saturday, July 31, 1920 - BR
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Brooklyn Robins
Ebbets Field

Brooklyn Holds Their Ground With Defeat of Cardinals

The Ebbets Field scoreboard keepers on Saturday are pressed into early action and stay busy throughout day.  The Robins build a 5-1 lead through the third.  When the Redbirds counter with three tallies in the sixth, the Brooks erupt for a pair of runs in the seventh, and another pair in the eighth en route to a 9-5 victory.  Starter Jeff Pfeffer surrenders four runs on eight hits and two walks, with five strikeouts through six innings of work.  He evens his record at 8-8 with a 2.98 ERA.  Sherry Smith allows a run on two hits and no walks over three innings in relief of Pfeffer.  Smith earns his third save of the season.  St. Louis yields three unearned runs.  Otherwise, Pete Kilduff and Rowdy Elliott both drive in two runs apiece, and Hi Myers and Ed Konetchy drive home one run each.  Cardinals second baseman extraordinaire Rogers Hornsby goes 4 for 4 with a double, two runs scored, and a run batted in.  Brooklyn gains no ground, though, as the Cincinnati Reds defeat the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds.

• RECORD: 56-42 (.571)
• First Place; 0.5 GA

100 Years Ago Today 7/28/1920; Brooklyn Robins Even Series Against Reds at Ebbets Field

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF THE BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 National League Champions

Game #96: Wednesday, July 28, 1920 - BR
Cincinnati Reds vs. Brooklyn Robins
Ebbets Field

Burleigh Grimes Whitewashes Defending Champs

Brooklyn counters Tuesday's opening defeat agains Reds with a strong performance both at the plate and on the mound in game two.  Burleigh Grimes gets the bats going with a one out double in the third, and scores on a hit to right from Ivy Olson, who winds up on third after a throwing error by catcher Ivey Wingo.  Jimmy Johnson follows with a hit that drives home Olson for a 2-0 Robins lead.  Brooklyn then erupts against Reds starter Jimmy Ring in the fifth with four runs on six hits, including triples by Pete Kilduff and Ivy Olson.  The Robins finally get their fill with three more runs in the seventh.  Burleigh Grimes, once again coming to his own aid, singles and drives in the Robins seventh run.  Jimmy Johnston drives in two more runs for a 9-0 final margin of victory.  The top of the Robins line-up is too much for Cincinnati to handle.  Lead-off batter Ivy Olson is 3 for 4 with three runs batted in; Jimmy Johnston is 2 for 5 also with three runs batted in; and batting third, Tommy Griffith drives in one.  Otto Miller with two hits also drives in his 19th run of the season.  With a bat in his hand Burleigh Grimes goes 3 for 4 with a double, three runs scored, and a run batted in.  In fact, Grimes is now batting .354 for the season, with thirteen runs batted in.  On the mound, Grimes hurls a gem too hot for Cincinnati to handle.  He allows just five hits and two walks with four strikeouts in a nine inning whitewashing of the defending champs.  Grimes improves to 15-6 with a 2.11 earned run average.  Elsewhere, the New York Giants defeat the Cardinals in extra innings at Sportsman's Park, and thus finally graduate into the first division with a modest 45-44 record.

• RECORD: 55-40 (.578)
• First Place; 2.5 GA