100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/6/1921: Miller Huggins Must Answer For Latest Loss Against Tigers; Giants Lose Series Opener at Cubs 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 #97

BOXSCORE: Saturday, Aug 6, 1921 - BR

Detroit Tigers @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Game Ends on a Very Bad Decision; Yanks Drop Back to Second Place

Back into second place, they go.  After yielding a first-inning run, Waite Hoyt is knocked out of the box in the fourth.  Trailing 5-0, the Yankees pull within one of the Tigers in the sixth inning; Chick Fewster drives home Wally Schang, and Babe Ruth follows with a three-run home run, his 39th clout this season.  Facing Jack Quinn, the Tigers scored twice in the seventh, and Tiger starter Red Oldham homers in the eighth for an 8-4 Detroit lead.  The Yankees again erupt for four runs in the bottom half of the eighth and finally knock Red Oldham out of the box; Home Run Baker triples home two,, then scores on a second consecutive triple by Bob Meusel,, who likewise crosses the plate on Wally Pipp's base hit through the right side.  With Bob Shawkey pitching in relief of Jack Quinn, Detroit loads the bases on two hits and an intentional walk.  Bob Jones then scores on pinch-hitter Chick Shorten's fielder's choice to short.  With runners on the corners and two outs in the home ninth, and Bob Meusel at the plate, pinch-runner Mike McNally is thrown out attempting to steal second base to end the game.  The question begging to be asked is, why?  Bob Shawkey takes the loss, Waite Hoyt walks off to a no-decision, and Jim Middleton wins in relief.

• FINAL: DET 9; NYY 8
• RECORD: 60-37 (.619); second place, 0.5 GB of Cleveland

⚾

GAME #103

BOXSCORE: Saturday, August 6, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CHICAGO CUBS

Cubs Park

Rosy Ryan and Phil Douglas Get Clawed Up By Cubs

The Giants open the last leg of their road trip with yet another loss, this time against Chicago at Cubs Park.  After three scoreless frames, New York jumps out to a 3-0 lead.  All runs are unearned as a result of two Chicago errors.  However, starter Rosy Ryan cannot hold.  In the bottom half of the fourth, Ray Grimes drives in a run, and with the bases loaded, catcher Bob O'Farrell connects off Ryan for a grand slam home run.  The Giants never fully recover, mustering only a run on Frank Snyder's sacrifice fly in the seventh.  Chicago scores twice more in the bottom half of the frame against Phil Douglas in relief of Ryan, who loses after yielding five runs on five hits through four innings pitched.  Rookie right-hander Virgil Cheeves earns the win.  McGraw's regulars come up empty.  However, his reinforcements, Irish Meusel and Johnny Rawlings, each drive in a run apiece.  With the loss, the Giants fall below par on the road trip with a 7-8 record with three games left to play.  Be sure Mister McGraw will have something to say in all regards.

• FINAL: NYG 4; CHI 7
• RECORD: 62-41 (.602); second place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/31/1921: Carl Mays Two-Hits Cleveland; Giants Lose Twin Bill at Redland Field

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 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.  

For 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 #93

BOXSCORE: Sunday, July 31, 1921 - BR

Cleveland Indians @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Carl Mays Yields Just Two Hits; Babe Ruth Hits Number 38

The Yankees turn around and do to Cleveland what the Indians had done to them.  After yesterday's fifteen-run discrepancy, the Highlanders assail Cleveland pitching for twelve runs on 14 hits.  Starter Allan Sothoron, who just over one week ago hurled a three-hit shutout over the Yankees, surrenders seven runs on eight hits and four walks through five innings for the loss.  But the Yankees are far from done.  Reliever Ray Caldwell allows five more runs on six hits and two walks over the final three innings.  With the bases loaded in the home sixth, starting pitcher Carl Mays doubles home all three runners to knock Allan Sothoron out of the box.  Then with two outs and two runners aboard, a crowd of 28,000 comes to its feet when Babe Ruth connects off Caldwell for his 38th home run this season.  With four runs batted in, Ruth also breaks the century mark, notching his 102nd to date.  Carl Mays allows two runs on just two hits, including a home run by Doc Johnston, and three walks with two strikeouts for his 16th victory against seven losses with a 2.93 ERA.  With the win, the Yankees, again, pull within two games of first-place Cleveland.  The third-place Washington Senators are a distant eleven games out of first.

• FINAL: CLE 2; NYY 12
• RECORD: 58-35 (.624); second place, 2.0 GB of Cleveland

⚾

GAME #96

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Sunday, July 31, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CINCINNATI REDS

Redland Field

Make-Up: 6/9/1921

Eppa Rixey Outlasts Giants

Cincinnati owns a 5-2 lead after five.  All runs are earned on eight hits and two walks as starter Phil Douglas exits after the fifth.  The Giants seize a 7-5 lead in the top of the sixth when an errant throw by center fielder Edd Roush clears the way for five unearned runs.  But Rosy Ryan pitching in relief of Douglas does not hold.  Jake Daubert and Larry Kopf drive in a run apiece, tying the game at seven, and into extra innings, they go.  The score remains unchanged through the eleventh.  In the twelfth, the Giants have the go-ahead run on second with less than two outs, then, with two outs, Frankie Frisch poised at third, but Irish Meusel leaves him stranded.  With one out and two runners on base in the bottom half of the frame, Jake Daubert singles to right field, scoring Sam Bohne from second for the win.  Rosy Ryan surrenders three runs on five hits and three walks over 6.1 innings pitched for the loss.  In his first season with Cincinnati, hurler Eppa Rixey allows seven runs, but only two are earned.  He gains his 13th victory with a fine 2.12 ERA.

• FINAL: NYG 7; CIN 8 *12 innings

⚾

GAME #97

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Sunday, July 31, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CINCINNATI REDS

Redland Field

Giants Leave Ducks On The Pond; Reds Complete Sweep

The Giants and Reds again go into extra innings, and again the Reds come out on top.  However, the McGrawmen should feel fortunate their twin bill loss only cost them one game in the standings.  They started the afternoon tied with Pittsburgh and now fall one game back.  After four scoreless innings, the Reds score single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.  With two outs in the eighth, the Giants string together three consecutive hits, highlighted by Dave Bancroft's two-run double.  Starting pitchers Art Nehf and Pete Donohue continue their duel through the ninth and into extra innings.  In the top of the eleventh, the Giants again string together three consecutive hits, this time highlighted by Ross Youngs' run-scoring double.  With no outs, the Giants then strand two runners in scoring position; High Pockets Kelly grounds to third, Irish Meusel pops foul to third, and Johnny Rawlings flies harmlessly to right field.  In truth, therein lies the difference in this game.  Cincinnati scores twice in the bottom of the frame to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  Art Nehf walks two and yields the decisive hit to left field by Heinie Groh.

• FINAL: NYG 3; CIN 4 *11 innings
• RECORD: 60-37 (.619); second place, 1.0 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/29/1921: Giants Pull Within Half-Game of First; Yankees Poised To Host Cleveland

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.  

For 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!

New-York Tribune (New York, New York), Friday, July 29, 1921

GAME CALLED: RAIN

Friday, July 29, 1921

St. Louis Browns @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

NEXT: 7/30/1921

CLEVELAND INDIANS

* *  100 Years Later, in 2021, Cleveland Changes Their Name to the Guardians  * *

⚾

GAME #93

BOXSCORE: Friday, July 29, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CINCINNATI REDS

Redland Field

With Series Opening Win Over Reds, Giants Pull Within Half-Game Of First Place

In a back and forth affair, the Giants and Reds play to a seven-all tie through nine.  Starting pitchers Rosy Ryan and Cincinnati's Pete Donohue both fail to register even one out.  Donohue faces five batters, allows two hits, issued two walks, and makes an errant throw on Frankie Frisch's attempted sacrifice bunt.  At which point, Manager Moran replaces Donohue with Cliffe Markle.  Ryan is no better.  After Dave Bancroft's error, Ryan allows three straight hits, including a triple by Edd Roush, giving the Reds a 3-2 lead.  Four batters in, Slim Salle, is summoned to relieve Rosy Ryan and yields a fourth run charged to Ryan.  With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, and Ross Youngs at the bat, catcher Ivy Wingo's errant throw to first base clears the bases, tying the game at five; Cincinnati commits six costly errors overall.  The Reds score in the sixth, but the Giants answer with two in the seventh.  With Slim Salle still toeing the slab in the ninth, second baseman Sam Bohne triples home the game-tying run.  Into extra innings, they go.  In the top of the tenth, the Giants bunch together three hits for a run, and, after another pitching change, Frankie Frisch doubles home two runs giving the Giants a 10-7 lead.  With two outs in the home tenth, Pat Duncan triples to center field, but in his attempt to score is thrown out at home, Ross Youngs, to Johnny Rawlings, to Frank Snyder to end the game.  Slim Salle puts forth a representative effort, allowing three runs on twelve hits and one walk with three strikeouts over tenth innings for the win.  The Giants win their fourth in a row and seven of their last eight in taking the series opener.  Pittsburgh is idle, and thus the Giants gain another half-game in the standings.

• FINAL: NYG 10; CIN 7
• RECORD: 59-34 (.634); second place, 0.5 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/28/1921: Waite Hoyt Hurls Gem Over Browns; Giants Take Series From First-Place Pirates

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.  

For 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 #91

BOXSCORE: Thursday, July 28, 1921 - BR

St. Louis Browns @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Waite Hoyt Hurls Gem Against St. Louis Browns

Leave it up to the kid from Brooklyn to show 'em how it's done.  The Yankees rebound from yesterday's defeat to tie their series with St. Louis at one.  Browns' starter Dixie Davis comes apart like wet paper in the third inning, yielding four runs on four hits, two walks, and a wild pitch.  In his first season with the Yankees, Erasmus High School graduate Waite Hoyt, undeniably having his finest campaign to date, makes it stand, limiting the Browns to just four scattered hits and four walks with five strikeouts over nine scoreless innings for his twelfth win against eight losses with a 3.25 ERA.  In fact, Hoyt drives in the first and decisive run for the Yankees.  Babe Ruth delivers home two runs giving him a major league-leading 97 RBI, and Bob Meusel goes 3 for 4 with two runs batted in.  St. Louis Browns' first baseman  George Sisler sat out his fourth straight game with an injury.

• FINAL: STL 0; NYY 6
• RECORD: 57-34 (.626); second place, 1.5 GB of Cleveland 

⚾

GAME #92

BOXSCORE: Thursday, July 28, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Forbes Field

Giants Take Three of Four Against the First-Place Pirates

The Giants have their say in Pittsburgh and punctuate their departure with a four-run rally in the ninth.  New York opens the scoring in the second; High Pockets Kelly scores on a Johnny Rawlings sacrifice fly, and Rabbit Maranville's misplay at short leads to a second run.  However, the Pirates struck for three runs on five hits in the third, inspiring John McGraw to remove starter Jesse Barnes in favor of Phil Douglas, who ends the threat.  That is until Max Carey gives Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead in the fourth.  The score remains unchanged through the eighth.  Pirates' rookie Whitey Glazner returns to the hill for the top of the ninth and promptly issues a walk to Earl Smith.  Consecutive hits by Eddie Brown and George Burns load the bases.  Pinch-runner Bill Cunningham scores on Dave Bancroft's fly to left field.  Frankie Frisch then cleared the bases with a double to center field and scored on second baseman George Cutshaw's errant throw.  Rosy Ryan is called upon to close out the ninth and retires the Bucs in order.  Max Carey ends the game on a pop-up to Dave Bancroft.  This gives the Giants three straight wins against the Pirates and a 3-1 series victory.  McGraw's Men are now just two games out of first place.

• FINAL: NYG 6; PIT 4
• RECORD: 58-34 (.626); second place, 1.5 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/24/1921: Giants Close Home Stand With Win Over Phillies; Yankees Depart Cleveland Back In Second Place

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lost 102 games.  Rebranded as the Yankees, in 1913, they moved just a few blocks away into the Polo Grounds as tenants of the Senior Circuit's New York Giants.  To the chagrin of Giants manager John McGraw, the Americans proceeded to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw still harbored much animosity two full decades later, not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees.  As they were founded at the expense of his rendered defunct Baltimore Orioles.  

For as long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remained amicably strained.  Mainly because the middling Americans, except for one season in 1916, never elevated themselves above the ranks of Junior Circuit also-rans.  But that changed in 1919 when they briefly vied for the pennant but tuckered out down the stretch to finish third.  A franchise record of 619,164 fans showed up to root for the American League contenders.  However, the Yankees' burgeoning success was not yet a pressing issue, per se, for the Giants, who were coming off a second-place finish and their best season in a decade at the turnstile.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates along the New York/New England fault shift.  The Yankees' purchase of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Boston Red Sox sends seismic waves reverberating throughout the baseball world but none more intense than in Washington Heights.  

Ruth's earth-shattering record of 54 home runs was something never experienced before in the history of baseball.  However, it was an accomplishment for which John McGraw had little appreciation.  He believes players work too hard and earnestly to have their skills disrespected by some miscreant's lone swing of the bat.

Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle as in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance.  However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions.  McGraw's disdain for his tenants was heightened more so 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 #88

BOXSCORE: Sunday, July 24, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

High Pockets Kelly and Rosy Ryan Lead Giants in Home Stand Finale Against Phillies

In the final tilt of this homestand, before departing for Pittsburgh and embarking on an 18-game road trip, the Giants put up four runs against the Phillies, and Rosy Ryan makes it stand.  Philadelphia opens the scoring with a run in the second, but High Pockets Kelly puts the Giants ahead in the third with a two-run double.  Phillies catcher John Peters triples home the tying run in the fifth.  High Pockets Kelly again puts the Giants ahead, with a two-run home to the deepest left field.  The Phillies leading off the eighth put two runners into scoring position; right fielder Lee King then grounds into a 4-6-3 double-play, scoring the runner from third.  However, the Phillies would tally no more.  Rosy Ryan allows three runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts for the win.  High Pockets Kelly finishes the day hitting 3 for 4 with all four of the Giants' runs batted in.  Philadelphia's Bill Hubbell takes the loss.

• FINAL: PHI 3; NYG 4
• RECORD: 55-33 (.625); second place; 3.0 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #89

BOXSCORE: Sunday, July 24, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CLEVELAND INDIANS

Dunn Field

Yankees Salvage Series Split At Cleveland; Fail To Achieve Their Objective

The Yankees salvage the series finale but depart Cleveland one game further back in the standings than when they first arrived back on Wednesday.  At least on May 17, the Yankees left Cleveland bound for Chicago locked in a tie with the Indians.  This time the Yankees must ponder a one-game deficit as they head back to their rented home in Washington Heights, where they'll host the incoming St. Louis Browns.  The Yankees conclude their trip with a 10-5 record.  However, it seems as that season-high nine-game win streak went for naught.  In the meantime, they snap their two-game skid with a late surge at Dunn Field.  Bob Shawkey and Indian starter Duster Mails keep affairs tight through the seventh.  Afterwhich, Miller Huggins replaces Shawkey with Carl Mays but not before the right-hander yields two runs on just three hits and two walks with five strikeouts.  The Yankees finally knock Duster Mails out of the box in the eighth, scoring three runs on four hits.  Facing Jim Bagby, Babe Ruth triples home two runs in the ninth, and Bob Meusel delivers home Ruth with a double.  Cleveland scores once in the home ninth on a Carl Mays wild pitch, otherwise giving the Yankees a 7-3 final margin of victory.  Bob Shawkey wins his tenth against five losses and a 3.42 ERA.

• FINAL: NYY 7; CLE 3
• RECORD: 56-33 (.629); second place, 1.0 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/19/1921: Giants Lose Ground To Pirates; Yanks Extend Win Streak To Eight

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 heightened more so 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 #83

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, July 19, 1921 - BR

Pittsburgh Pirates @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Pittsburgh Departs New York With Series Split And Three Game Circuit Lead

Pittsburgh answers back for yesterday's shellacking by inflicting one of their own.  Having salvaged a four-game split, the Pirates set sail for Boston's Back Bay, leaving the Giants one game further from first place than when they first arrived at the Polo Grounds on Saturday.  But the competition was fierce.  In this series, the victor scored in double-digits three times, while game two went into extra innings.  On Tuesday, Pittsburgh opens right away with three runs on three hits and a walk in the first.  The Pirates then erupt for seven runs in the seventh, kicked off by first baseman Charlie Grimm's two-run home run, knocking starter Rosy Ryan from the box.  Facing Slim Salle, the Bucs post five more runs highlighted by Max Carey's two-run home run.  Johnny Rawlings triples leading off the fifth and scores on pinch-hitter Casey Stengel's ground ball to second to ruin the shutout.  Otherwise, long-time Pirate veteran Babe Adams limits the Giants to a run on eight hits and no walks with six strikeouts for the win.  

• FINAL: PIT 10; NYG 1
• RECORD: 52-31 (.627); second place, 3.0 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #85

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, July 19, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ DETROIT TIGERS

Navin Field

Tigers Throw One Away; Yankees Extend Win Streak To Eight

New York completes a sweep of the Tigers and ties their season-high eight-game consecutive win streak.  Waite Hoyt is good enough, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts for his eleventh win against seven losses and a 3.77 ERA.  Down 5-0 after three, Detroit rallies for two runs in the fourth and three runs in the sixth to knot the game at five.  The decisive run crosses the plate in the top half of the sixth; Babe Ruth doubles to center field with one out.  Tiger backstop Eddie Ainsmith attempting to pick off Ruth throws errantly down to second, allowing him to score.  Wally Schang goes 2 for 4 with a double and a run batted in.  With the victory, the Yankees pull within one game of the first-place Indians.  Onward to Cleveland.

• FINAL: NYY 6; DET 5
• RECORD: 54-31 (.635): second place, 1.0 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/14/1921: Giants Take Third Straight From Cardinals; Yankees Rained Out At Sportsman's 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 heightened more so 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 #79

BOXSCORE: Thursday, July 14, 1921 - BR

St. Louis Cardinals @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

McGrawmen Win In Tenth; Take Third In A Row Versus Cardinals

Rosy Ryan continues to dazzle.  Pitted against the journeyman and former Federal Leaguer Bill Baily, the Giants and Cardinals reach a three-all stalemate by the fifth.  The score then remains unchanged through the ninth.  St. Louis third baseman Milt Stock, shortstop Doc Lavan, and center fielder Burt Shotton drive in a run apiece.  For the Giants, Dave Bancroft homers in the third, Johnny Rawlings helps push a run across in the fourth, and Bancroft triples and scores again in the fifth.  Ryan and Baily continue their duel, and into extra-innings, they go.  But it is short-lived.  Rosy Ryan retires the Cardinals in order.  With two outs and two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the tenth, George Burns lines a single to right field scoring Home Run Kelly from third base to end the game.  The Giants are now winners of three straight against St. Louis, but despite the McGrawmen becoming the third aggregation in baseball to reach 50 wins, they still fail to gain ground on Pittsburgh. 

• FINAL: STL 3; NYG 4
• RECORD: 50-29 (.633); second place, 3.0 GB of PIttsburgh

⚾

The News-Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania),

Friday, July 15, 1921

GAME CALLED: RAIN

Thursday, July 14, 1921

New York Yankees @ ST. LOUIS BROWNS

Sportsman's Park

Low and behold, the Yankees get assistance from their Boston rivals, which outpace the first-place Indians 5-2 and bring to a halt Cleveland's five-game win streak.  Thus, the second-place Yankees, in all their idleness, gain one-half game in the standings.  Meanwhile, Yankees ownership seems quite copacetic with attendance ...

The Evening World (New York, New York),

Thursday, July 14, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/10/1921: Rosy Ryan Hurls Gem Over Cubs; Yankees Drop Third Straight 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 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 heightened more so 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 #75

BOXSCORE: Sunday, July 10, 1921 - BR

Chicago Cubs @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Giants Take Third Straight From Cubs Behind Rosy Ryan's Stellar Performance

In yet another one-run affair, the Giants gain their third consecutive victory over the Cubs.  Making only the fifteenth start of his young career, the not-yet 23-year old Rosy Ryan limits the Cubs to one earned run on just five scattered hits and one walk with three strikeouts over nine innings for the win.  Ryan faces just five over the minimum and sets down the final ten batters faced.  Meanwhile, twelfth-year veteran Lefty Tyler is the hard-luck loser, allowing only two runs, one earned, ten hits, and no walks.  Appearing in his third straight game at first base in place of High Pockets Kelly, the sparingly utilized Mike Gonzalez rewards Mister McGraw with three hits in four at-bats.  To that effect, recently acquired Johnny Walker with two more hits continues reaffirming Mcgraw's want for bringing him to Gotham. Otherwise, Chicago mistakes in the sixth are their undoing.  Dave Bancroft reaches safely on an error by shortstop Charlie Hollocher.  Frankie Frisch triples home Bancroft, then scores after essentially being picked off but winds up scoring nonetheless on a mishandled ball by catcher Bill Killefer.  Afterwhich, Rosy Ryan slams the door shut on the Cubs.  The Giants finally gain a half-game on the Pirates, who fall to the Dodgers in Brooklyn.  Appreciative, perhaps.  Confident the Giants boast the strongest pitching in the circuit, yes indeed.

• FINAL: CHI 1; NYG 2
• RECORD: 47-28 (.627); second place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #77

BOXSCORE: Sunday, July 10, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Comisky Park

Yankees Drop Third In A Row At Comiskey Park

Long-time White Sox and two-time 20-game winner Red Faber hurled a gem at the Yankees, limiting the visitors to a run on just five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts for his eye-popping17th victory this season against only six losses with a 2.50 ERA.  Babe Ruth drives home Chick Fewster in the third for the Yankees only tally.  After trading runs in the third, the White Sox pull ahead with a run in the fifth and two in the seventh.  Chicago's Amos Strunk, Johnny Mostil, and Earl Sheely drive in one run apiece.  Yankees starter Jack Quinn allows four runs, three earned, on 13 hits and three walks with five strikeouts in a losing effort, his seventh against five wins with a 4.65 ERA.  After a third straight loss to the White Sox, all eyes remained on Miller Huggins, whose team today slipped an additional 1.5 games in the standings behind the Indians, who twice today defeated the A's at Cleveland.

• FINAL: NYY 1; CHI 4
• RECORD: 46-31 (.597); second place; 3.5 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/4/1921: Yankees Sweep Athletics; Giants Sweep Robins at Ebbets Field

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lost 102 games.  Rebranded as the Yankees, in 1913, they moved just a few blocks away into the Polo Grounds as tenants of the Senior Circuit's New York Giants.  To the chagrin of Giants manager John McGraw, the Americans proceeded to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw still harbored much animosity two full decades later, not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees.  As they were founded at the expense of his rendered defunct Baltimore Orioles.  

For as long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remained amicably strained.  Mainly because the middling Americans, except for one season in 1916, never elevated themselves above the ranks of Junior Circuit also-rans.  But that changed in 1919 when they briefly vied for the pennant but tuckered out down the stretch to finish third.  A franchise record 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 heightened more so 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!

Philadelphia Inquirer

GAME #72

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Monday, July 4, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Athletics @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Home Run Baker Powers Highlanders to Game One Win

A crowd of 25,000 descend from and around Coogan's Bluff for a hot and humid holiday twin bill against the Athletics.  Despite staking Bob Shawkey to an early three-run lead, the Yankees require three decisive runs in the bottom half of the seventh.  After shutting down Philadelphia through six innings, the A's scored once in the top half of the seventh and three more times in the eighth to no avail.  A's second baseman Jimmy Dykes leads Philadelphia with three hits, including a triple.  Right-hander Dave Keefe yields six earned runs on ten hits, including two home runs struck by Home Run Baker and one knock by Bob Meusel; the two join together for half of the Yankees ten hits and six runs batted in, for Meusel, his 53rd and 54th this season.  Bob Shawkey, at least mentally contented by the white powdery substance now being applied to baseballs by umpires, holds the A's to his standard four runs on eight hits and three walks with five strikeouts for his sixth victory against four losses.  For the eleventh straight game, Miller Huggins does not utilize the bullpen.  Otherwise, the Athletics fall to 29-43, an apathetic 17.5 games out of first place, sticky powder be damned.

• FINAL: PHI 4; NYY 6

⚾

GAME #73

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Monday, July 4, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Athletics @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Aaron Ward and Wally Schang Lead the Way To Sweep Of Athletics

Don't look now, but with today's sweep of the Athletics, the Yankees win their seventh in a row.  Despite Philadelphia jumping out to a four-run lead in the top half of the first, game two is a no contest.  Facing sophomore pitcher Eddie Rommel, the Yankees amass 13 runs (twelve earned) on 14 hits and four walks through seven innings.  Lefty Wolf yields the Yankees 14th and final run in the eighth.  Aaron Ward leads the Yankees, going 2 for 4 with a double, home run, and four runs batted in.  Babe Ruth drives in three runs with two hits, Bob Meusel drives home two, and Wally Schang hits his third home run this season.  Ruth raises his season total to 77 runs batted in.  Even Carl Mays drives home a run.  Making his 18th start, Mays holds the A's to four runs on eleven hits for his 13th victory against five losses with a 2.49 ERA.

• FINAL: PHI 4; NYY 14
• RECORD: 45-28 (. 616); second place, 2.0 GB of Cleveland  

Philadelphia Inquirer

GAME #69

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Monday, July 4, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ BROOKLYN ROBINS

Ebbets Field

High Pockets Kelly Lifts Giants Above Robins

The McGrawmen show Brooklyn fans just what is thought of Uncle Robbie's vaunted pitching staff.  Facing Clarence Mitchell, who is indeed in the midst of an improved campaign over last, the Giants unleash a 14-hit mid-morning assault en route to a game one triumph.  The Giants open with three runs in the first, and starter Rosy Ryan ensures they hold.  A three-run third and single runs in the fourth and seventh give the New Yorkers their final margin of victory.  Ross Youngs and High Pockets Kelly set off holiday fireworks as a dismayed Ebbets Fields crowd watches on.  Youngs hits his third home run and drives home two, while George Kelly twice hits for the circuit and drives in five; they are home run numbers eleven and twelve.  Meanwhile, Kelly's 75 runs batted in are just two behind Babe Ruth for the major league lead.  Third baseman Jimmy Johnston in the first inning is the lone Robin to cross home plate courtesy of Zack Wheat's sacrifice fly.  Center fielder Hi Myers goes 3 for 4 with a double.  Otherwise, to John McGraw's great delight Rosy Ryan hurls a gem, shutting out Uncle Robbie's batsmen over the final eight innings.  All told, Ryan allows just one earned run on eight hits and two walks for his fourth win this season.

• FINAL: NYG 8; BRK 1

⚾

GAME #70

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Monday, July 4, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ BROOKLYN ROBINS

Ebbets Field

McGrawmen Complete Sweep at Ebbets Field

McGraw's men essentially pick up where they leave off, this time overcoming a one-run deficit in a more closely contested affair.  The Giants open with a 2-0 lead, but it does not last as Brooklyn counters with three runs in the third.  After tying the game at three, the Giants plate the game's decisive runs in the sixth.  Brooklyn pulls within one in the eighth, but the Giants put the game away with two scores in the ninth.  Zack Wheat homers and drives home three for Brooklyn, and Tommy Griffith drives in one.  Starting at second base, newcomer Johnny Rawlings goes 2 for 4 with a pair of runs batted in.  George Burns leads the Giants with three hits, and Ross Youngs drives home his 53rd run this season.  McGraw's starter again proves better than Uncle Robbie's.  Phil Douglas allows four runs (three earned) on seven hits and just two walks for the win.  Uncle Robbie favorite Sherry Smith takes the loss.

• FINAL: NYG 7; BRK 4
• RECORD: 44-26 (.629); second place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh

Meanwhile, out in Utah ...

Philadelphia Inquirer