100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/19/1921: Beleaguered Giants Take Rubber Game From Reds; Yanks Lose Series Finale at Comiskey 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 #116

BOXSCORE: Friday, August 19, 1921 - BR

Cincinnati Reds @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Giants Take Rubber Game Against Cincinnati Reds; First Place Pirates Split Twin Bill at Philadelphia

John McGraw has a problem.  The Giants have seen their deficit in the standings grow like an untamed garden weed under the hot August sun.  And therein lies the rub: if weeds were hard to grow, everyone would want them.  In the business of baseball, turnstiles tell the true story.  Consider if you will a team formerly tied for first place but now in a steady decline with only 3,000 fans bearing the witness on a Friday afternoon in New York City.  Meanwhile, the Highlanders, unwelcome tenants of the Polo Grounds, during their most recent homestand averaged just over 19,000 fans per game - a big problem, indeed.  It's pennants the people want.  To that effect, the Giants, in a decisive fashion, take Friday's rubber game against the Reds for the moment curtailing their freefall at six games back.  McGraw's men press starter Eppa Rixey for three runs in the first, then lower the hammer with four runs in the second, highlighted by two runs batted in each by Dave Bancroft and High Pockets Kelly.  Staked to a 7-2 lead after two, Jesse Barnes yields one last run in the fifth.  Irish Meusel drives home High Pockets Kelly in the home half of the fifth for an 8-3 lead and the final margin of victory.  Jesse Barnes surrenders three earned runs on twelve hits and one walk with four strikeouts for the win.  He improves his record to 11-7 with a 2.83 ERA.  Veteran Eppa Rixey takes the loss.  High Pockets Kelly drives home three runs giving him 110 for the season.  Down in Philadelphia, the Pirates and Phillies split games of a doubleheader.  And don't look now, but third-place Boston trails the Giants by a mere 2.5 games.

• FINAL: CIN 3; NYG 8
• RECORD: 69-47 (.595); second place, 6.0 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #109

BOXSCORE: Friday, August 19, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Comiskey Park

Yanks Bow in Rubber Game; Chicago Stars Shine Just a Little Brighter

Chicago offers New York pitchers no quarter.  Much maligned Miller Huggins dispatches four different moundsmen, none exit unscathed.  Starter Rip Collins surrenders two in just two innings, and Jack Quinn is treated likewise.  Losing pitcher Bill Piercy sustains the most damage, yielding six runs on five hits and two walks in just 1.1 innings pitched.  The last Highlander to climb the hill performs best, with Alex Ferguson surrendering one run on six hits over the final 2.2 innings.  Center fielder Amos Strunk leads Chicago with four hits and four runs batted in.  Second baseman Eddie Collins and catcher Ray Schalk each drive in three runs.  Right fielder Harry Hooper is 3 for 6 with two runs scored and one batted in.  White Sox starter Shovel Hodge goes the distance, allowing nine earned runs on 15 hits and six walks in an agreeably bloated nine-inning winning effort.  Babe Ruth and Home Run Baker drive home two runs each, and Bob Meusel drives home run number ninety.  Despite batting 10 for 17 with runners in scoring position, the Yankees nevertheless fall to the White Sox, winners of the series two games against one.

• FINAL: NYY 9; CHI 13
• RECORD: 67-42 (.615); second base, 1.0 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/18/1921: Yankees Bow To White Sox; Giants Outburst Too Much For Cubs

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 #57

BOXSCORE: Saturday, June 18, 1921 - BR

Chicago White Sox @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Red Faber Wins 14th Game; White Sox Take Series Lead

A crowd of 22,000 watches in dismay as Miller Huggins removes Waite Hoyt early in the game.  Wally Schang's triple drives home the first run of the game in the second.  But Hoyt surrenders three runs on three hits and two walks while recording just one out in the fourth.  Alex Ferguson comes in from the bullpen to put out the fire, but not before Ray Schalk, and Ernie Johnson gives Chicago a 3-1 lead.  Third baseman Eddie Mulligan supplies Chicago the insurance they need with a run-scoring double to left field.  In the sixth facing White Sox starter Red Faber, Roger Peckinpaugh hits a leadoff home run to deep left field.  Then leading off the eighth, Peckinpaugh triples and scores on the throw when Babe Ruth grounds out third to first.  But the Yankees score no more.  Faber strikes out Wally Schang and Carl Mays to end the game.  Two-time 20 game-winner Red Faber appears on his way towards another milestone season; he improves to 14-3 with a 2.52 earned run average.  

• FINAL: CHI 4; NYY 3
• RECORD: 34-23 (.596); second place, 1.5 GB of Cleveland

⚾          ⚾          ⚾

GAME #57

BOXSCORE: Saturday, June 18, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CHICAGO CUBS

Cubs Park

Giants Tie Series With 11th Inning Outburst

The Giants and Cubs play into extra innings for the third time in four games.  A double from Dave Bancroft, a walk to Frankie Frisch, and another double off the bat of Ross Youngs give the Giants a prompt 2-0 lead.  Chicago gets one back in the bottom of the first, then takes a 3-2 lead in the second on a home run by catcher Bob O'Farrell and a run batted in from second baseman Zeb Terry.  Starter Fred Toney does not complete the second.  With Phil Douglas in relief, the score remains unchanged through the sixth.  Chicago starter Lefty York continues on.  With two out and two on in the top of the seventh, High Pockets Kelly drives home Bancroft with the tying run, and into extra innings, they go.  Manager Johnny Evers sends York out for the eleventh.  Perhaps, a mistake.  He allows York to yield seven runs on six hits, two for extra bases, and two walks, without making a move.  Art Nehf retires the Cubs in the bottom of the eleventh to close out the Giants victory.  Phil Douglas earns the win, and the Giants even up the series at two.

• FINAL: NYG 10; CHI 3
• RECORD: 35-22 (.614); second place, 4.0 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/20/1921: Giants Execute Late Inning Comeback; Yankees Do Not

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 #30

BOXSCORE: Friday, May 20, 1921 - BR

Chicago Cubs @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Late Surge Turns Back Cubs; Giants Lead Series 2-1

Despite taking an early 3-0 lead, the Giants find themselves trailing by three after five innings.  Making his ninth and worst appearance to date, Fred Toney surrenders six runs all in the fifth inning, highlighted by home runs from second baseman Zeb Terry and left fielder John Sullivan.  Mister McGraw removes Toney before the inning is through.  Facing Hippo Vaughn pitching in relief of Percy Jones, the Giants strike back with five runs in the sixth; George Burns and Ross Youngs drive in two apiece, and Dave Bancroft delivers another for an 8-6 lead.  New York scores twice more in the eighth for a 10-6 final.  They are now winners of nine of their last ten and lead the Cubs two games to one.

• FINAL: CHI 6; NYG 10
• RECORD: 21-9 (.700); second place, 2.5 GB of Pittsburgh

New York Herald

GAME #28

BOXSCORE: Friday, May 20, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Comisky Park

Yankees Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short

Chicago catcher Ray Schalk opens the scoring with a run-scoring double in the second.  But Babe Ruth promptly answers in the third with a triple to center field scoring Roger Peckinpaugh, then scores on Wally Pipp's hit.  Undeterred, Harry Hooper and center fielder Amos Strunk help Chicago retake a 4-2 lead.  Wally Schang delivers home New York's third run in the fifth.  Pitching in relief of starter Carl Mays, Tom Sheehan walks the first two batters leading off the seventh.  After advancing into scoring position, Eddie Collins drives both based runners home for a 6-3 White Sox lead.  With Chicago starter Dickey Kerr still in the game, the Yankees rally for two runs but fall short of a third and tying run.  Carl Mays (6-3) takes the loss after surrendering four earned runs on nine hits through six innings pitched.  Chicago now leads the series two games to one.

• FINAL: NYY 5; CHI 6
• RECORD: 16-12 (.571), second place, 2.0 GB of Cleveland

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