100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 9/1/1921: Yankees Sweep Twin Bill From Senators; Giants Get Tripped-Up 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 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 #122

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Thursday, September 1, 1921 - BR

Washington Senators @ NEW YORK YANKEES 

POLO GROUNDS

Bob Meusel Powers Yankees in Opener

It's deuces wild for the Yankees upon their return home as they post pairs of runs in the first, third, and sixth innings en route to a 6-3 victory in Thursday's opening game.  Meanwhile, starter Bob Shawkey holds the Sens to three runs on seven hits and three walks with seven strikeouts for the win.  Catcher Patsy Gharrity pulls Washington with one in the second.  But Shawkey follows with five scoreless innings, then yields two unearned runs in the sixth, resulting from a throwing error by catcher Fred Hofman.  Bob Meusel connects on his 17th home run, and with two runs batted, he now boasts 108 this season.  Wally Pipp and Fred Hofman making the rare start, each drive in two runs as well.  Arguably having his best season to date, Washington veteran George Mogridge takes the loss.

• FINAL: WAS 3; NYY 6

⚾

GAME #123

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Thursday, September 1, 1921 - BR

Washington Senators @ NEW YORK YANKEES 

POLO GROUNDS

Make-Up: 6/28/1921

New Jersey Native Harry Harper Outperforms Walter Johnson; Yanks Sweep Twin Bill  

In front of 28,000 fans at Griffith Stadium, a dismayed crowd witnesses New York's seldom if ever utilized left-hander Harry Harper outperform the great Walter Johnson in game two of Thursday's twin bill.  Harper allows one run in the visitor's fourth, then keeps Washington scoreless the rest of the way.  He yields eight total hits and one walk with three strikeouts for only his second win this season.  Second baseman Bucky Harris accounts for the Senators' only run batted in, scoring Sam Rice.  In the home fourth, the Yankees string together five consecutive hits for a 3-1 lead.  After adding a run in the seventh, the Yankees again erupt for a four-run eighth inning for a commanding 8-1 lead and the final margin of victory.  Babe Ruth has now gone nine games without a home run, easily his longest drought this season.  This win, coupled with the Indians' extra-inning loss against the Tigers at Detroit, again elevates the Yankees to the top of the American League standings by one full game over Cleveland.

• FINAL: WAS 1; NYY 8
• RECORD: 77-46 (.626); First Place, 1.0 GA of Cleveland

⚾

GAME #129

BOXSCORE: Thursday, September 1, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ BROOKLYN ROBINS

Ebbets Field

Burleigh Grimes Wins Number Twenty; Brooklyn Halts Giants Win Streak at Eight

The Giants' eight-game win streak comes to an abrupt end in where else but, you guessed it, Brooklyn against Wilbert Robinson and Burleigh Grimes.  Despite their double-digit deficit in the standings, the still defending National League champions will not go down lightly, at least not against John McGraw.

Spitballer Burleigh Grimes yields just six hits, three of which occur consecutively, leading off the fifth.  The following batter, Earl Smith, lifts a liner to left field caught by Zack Wheat, who throws to third baseman Jimmy Johnston who in turn throws to Ivy Olson at second base to complete a triple play, as both Irish Meusel and Johnny Rawling blunder by straying too far away from their respective bases.  Otherwise, Making his 30th appearance this season, Burleigh Grimes holds the Giants scoreless through the first eight innings of play.  The Giants spoil the shutout in the ninth, but in truth, Burleigh Grimes needs to look no further than at the infield play behind him.  Errors by Ivy Olson at short and second baseman Pete Kilduff tarnish Burliegh's otherwise fine pitching line with an unearned run, just one walk, and four strikeouts for his twentieth victory this season against eight losses with a 3.02 ERA.  Since the Pittsburgh series, John McGraw is displaying little to no hesitancy in removing his starters.  This game is no different.  Fred Toney is relieved upon yielding three runs (two earned) on seven hits over four innings pitched.  Slim Salle and Rosy Ryan each surrender a run over the final four innings.  Robins' catcher Otto Miller drives home two runs.  Hi Myers, Clarence Mitchell, and Burleigh Grimes account for Brooklyn's other runs sent home.  

Meanwhile, out in Pittsburgh, the Pirates lose both ends of a doubleheader against the Cardinals at Forbes Field.  Thus, the Giants still managed to gain a half-game in the standings.

• FINAL: NYG 1; BRK 5
• RECORD: 78-51 (.605); second place, 1.0 GB of Pittsburg

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 

Tuesday, September 2, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/31/1921: Giants En Route To Brooklyn; Senators Routed By Yankees at Griffith Stadium

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!

TRAVEL DAY

Next Game: Thursday, September 1, 1921

New York Giants @ BROOKLYN ROBINS

Ebbets Field

The Standard Union (Brooklyn, NY), Monday, August 29, 1921

GAME #121

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, August 31, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ WASHINGTON SENATORS

Griffith Stadium

Make-Up: 5/5/1921

Senators Routed By Yankees in Series Opener at Griffith Stadium

The Yankees, for a second straight day, issue the Senators an unkind reminder that the American League is a two-team race.  Three Washington pitchers have their mound offerings battered to all corners of the yard.  Trailing 3-2 after four, the Yankees post an additional fifteen runs over the final five innings of play.  They amass 21 total hits, with just four going for extra bases.  Babe Ruth goes 2 for 5 with a double and a run batted in.  Elmer Miller, Roger Peckinpaugh, and starting pitcher Rip Collins wield doubles, and Bob Meusel homers to highlight a big six-run sixth inning.  In fact, Rip Collins and Meusel lead the Yankees with four runs batted in apiece, and Peckinpaugh drives home three while Elmer Miller plates two.  Rip Collins still gets roughed up for eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits and four walks in six innings pitched but still manages the win.  Jack Quinn, pitching in relief of Collins, yields a run on three consecutive hits in the seventh and is immediately replaced with Waite Hoyt, who closes out the game allowing just two hits over three scoreless innings.  Washington center fielder Sam Rice goes 2 for 4 with three runs batted in.

• FINAL: NYY 17; WAS 9
• RECORD: 75-46 (.620); second place, 0.5 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/26/1921: Babe Ruth Inches Closer to Home Run Mark; Giants and Phillies Idle

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

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

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

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

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

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

Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle as in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance.  However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions.  McGraw's disdain for his tenants was 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 #67

BOXSCORE: Sunday, June 26, 1921 - BR

Washington Senators @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Yankees Take Rubber Game From Senators; Babe Ruth Hits Number 27

Waite Hoyt allows a run on two hits in the first inning but does not yield another.  Washington remains stuck in place as the Erasmus High School product surrenders just five hits and no runs the rest of the way.  Right fielder Sam Rice is the lone Senator to cross home plate.  Meanwhile, Bob Meusel leads the Yankees effort going 3 for 4 with a double, home run, and two runs batted in.  The Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, hits home run number 27 in the third with Roger Peckinpaugh on base.  With his second home run in as many days, Ruth is now eight home runs shy of tying Roger Connor's all-time mark established 23 years ago.  With three hits, Roger Peckinpaugh raises his average to .309, and with a triple in the fifth, Wally Pipp drives home his 46th run this season.  Ruth now has 70 runs batted in.

• FINAL: WAS 1; NYY 9
• RECORD: 39-28 (.582); second place; 3.0 GB of Cleveland

New York Times, June 26, 1921

Sound familiar?

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/25/1921: Babe Ruth Hits Number 26 In Loss; Giants Sweep Twin Bill at Baker Bowl

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 #66

BOXSCORE: Saturday, June 25, 1921 - BR

Washington Senators @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Senators Even Up With Yankees; Bambino Hits Number 26

Washington sends a message informing the Yankees they're not alone in this race.  Yankees starter Bob Shawkey comes apart like wet paper in the first, yielding five runs on four hits and six fielding errors, three by Shawkey himself.  Wally Pipp finally gets the Yankees on the ledger in the fourth.  Facing  Walter Johnson with a runner on base in the fifth, Babe Ruth hits his 26th home run this season.  He is now just nine away from tying Roger Connor's all-time mark.  But The Big Train wins the day.  Shawkey recovers, allowing just one run the rest of the way.  However, the damage is done; two unearned runs are the difference.  Right fielder Sam Rice and second baseman Bucky Harris each drive home a run apiece.

• FINAL: WAS 6; NYY 4
• RECORD: 38-28 (.576); second place, 3.0 GB of Cleveland

New-York Tribune (New York, New York)

GAME #63

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Saturday, June 25, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Baker Bowl

Curt Walker Home Run Leads Giants Hit Parade

The Giants launch another major offensive against Philadelphia pitching at Baker Bowl.  This time, former Reds starter Jimmy Ring allows nine runs (eight earned) on 14 hits and three walks in just 5.2 innings pitched.  New York wields four more hits against reliever Huck Betts over the final 3.1 innings bringing their total number of hits to 18 for the game.  Ross Youngs, Dave Bancroft, and High Pockets Kelly each strike for three hits apiece.  Curt Walker hits his third home run this season in the fifth, and Earl Smith continues swinging a hot bat, going 8 for 24 (.333) in his last eight games.  John McGraw pulls starter Rosy Ryan with one out in the fourth upon yielding three earned runs on seven hits and no walks with two strikeouts.  Slim Salle earns the win in relief of Ryan, allowing just one unearned run on four hits over the final 5.2 innings.

• FINAL: NYG 9; PHI 4

⚾

GAME #64

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Saturday, June 25, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Baker Bowl

Giants Complete Sweep of Twin Bill With Yet Another Thrashing of Phillies

New York simply picks up where they left off.  The Philadelphia triumvirate of Lee Meadows, Stan Baumgartner, and Jimmie Keenan all endure the wrath of McGraw's batsmen.  Scoring five runs in the ninth inning for good measure, the Giants tally another 17 runs on 16 hits, seven going for extra bases of which five leave the playing field for home runs.  Frankie Frisch spearheads the attack going 4 for 6 with a double, home run, and two runs batted in, while Frank Snyder hits two home runs and drives in four.  High Pockets Kelly also drives home four runs giving him 68 to date, and Dave Bancroft homers in the seventh and drives in two.  Rube Benton hurls the first four innings, allowing three runs on seven hits for his fifth win.  Jesse Barnes yields just one run on seven hits over the final five innings.  New York sweeps the twin bill and now leads the series 3-0 ahead of the Phillies.  They become the third team this season after Cleveland and Pittsburgh to achieve forty victories.

• FINAL: NYG 17; PHI 4
• RECORD: 40-24 (.625); second place, 3.0 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/24/1921: Carl Mays Wins Eleventh; Giants Trounce Phillies at Baker Bowl

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 #65

BOXSCORE: Friday, June 24, 1921 - BR

Washington Senators @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Yankees Take Series Opener From Washington; Mays Wins Number Eleven

Back home at the Polo Grounds, the Yankees offer visiting Washington no quarter.  Making his 16th start, Carl "Sub" Mays holds the Senators to three runs on just six hits and one walk with a pair of strikeouts through nine.  Shortstop Frank O'Rourke connects on a two-run home run in the fifth, and right fielder Sam Rice drives home a run in the eighth.  Washington left-hander Harry Courtney allows nine runs, seven earned 15 hits, and three walks in a losing effort.  Home Run Baker goes 3 for 4, while Aaron Ward and Wally Schang drive home two runs apiece.  Carl Mays improves to 11-5 with a 2.44 ERA.

• FINAL: WAS 3; NYY 9
• RECORD: 38-27 (.585); second place, 3.0 GB of Cleveland

⚾         ⚾

GAME #62

BOXSCORE: Friday, June 24, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Baker Bowl

Giants Announce Their Arrival in the City of Brotherly Love with Authority

Back in Philadelphia for the first time since the regular season's grand opening, the Giants make themselves at home with an eleven-run, 19 hit barrage at the Baker Bowl.  They require less than two hours before strutting off the field in triumph.  Making his twelfth start this season, southpaw Art Nehf limits the Phillies to a pair of runs on eight hits and one walk with five strikeouts through nine.  Meanwhile, Phillies starter Stan Baumgartner's outing ends with haste, just four batters, four hits, and four runs for the loss.  The bullpen fares no better, allowing seven runs, five earned, on 15 hits.  Seven New York hits go for extra bases.  Catcher Frank Snyder is the big man on campus.  With the Giants leading 9-2 after six, Snyder homers in the seventh and again in the ninth for good measure.  George Burns goes 3 for 6 with a double and two runs scored.  Frankie Frisch and High Pockets Kelly each drive home two, and Ross Youngs goes 2 for 3 with two walks, two runs scored, and a run batted in, giving him 47 for the season.  Alas, the Giants gain no ground as the Pirates take down the Cardinals at Sportsman's Park.

• FINAL: NYG 11; PHI 2
• RECORD: 38-24 (.613); second place, 4.0 GB of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 6/1/1921: Giants Sweep Twin Bill from Phillies; Miller Huggins Questioned For Loss Against Senators

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

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

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

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

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

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

Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle as in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance.  However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions.  McGraw's disdain for his tenants was further heightened when the Yankees outdrew the host Giants in their own home for the first time in each franchise's history.  Headlined by Babe Ruth, the Yankees seized the city's attention, evidenced by an all-time major league record of 1,289,422 in attendance.

In 1921, over two million fans would again pack the Polo Grounds.  Babe Ruth would continue accomplishing the unimaginable, and if that wasn't surreal enough, he proceeds to top it.  All the while, with each passing day, John McGraw grows more incensed.  Lest we forget, New York City is still Little Napoleon's empire.  

Sharing a ballpark for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition—the Giants attempt to evict the Yankees before the start of 1921 to no avail.  But a solution lies not too far away ...  

Until then, two major league titans charge headlong into a season-ending October clash at the Polo Grounds.  It is New York City's first-ever World's Championship Subway Series.  All games are played at the Polo Grounds, making Coogan's Bluff the center of the baseball universe. 

This is my replay of that season.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  More than anything, this is about having fun and celebrating New York City's baseball history.  

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

GAME #42

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Wednesday, June 1, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Rosy Ryan Twirls a Dandy; High Pockets Hits Number Nine

Frankie Frisch and Rosy Youngs lash back-to-back triples in the first, giving the Giants an instant 3-0 lead and starter Rosy Ryan makes it stand.  Ross Youngs knocks home two more, and Curt Walker drives home another in a three-run third.  With Eddie Brown (double) standing on second in the fifth, High Pockets Kelly hits his ninth home run this season.  Not yet done, Kelly knocks home Frisch in the seventh for the Giants' ninth score of the afternoon.   Ryan comes up roses, allowing two earned runs on eight hits and no walks with two strikeouts through nine innings for the win.  Jimmy Ring takes the loss.

• FINAL: PHI 2; NYG 9

⚾

GAME #43

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Wednesday, June 1, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Rube Benton Tosses Three-Hitter, Dave Bancroft Takes Care of the Rest

The Phillies strike first.  Errors by Dave Bancroft and Goldie Rapp open the way for two Philadelphia runs in the second.  Bancroft makes up for his misplay with a triple in the third driving home George Burns.  In the fourth, Earl Smith plates Curt Walker with a sacrifice fly to center field, tying the game at two.  A big five-run fifth knocks Phillies starter George Smith out of the box.  Bancroft hits an inside-the-park home run; Ross Youngs, High Pockets Kelly, and Earl Smith also drive in runs.  Dave Bancroft caps off a big day at the plate with a double in the sixth, scoring Burns.  Starter Rube Benton yields three runs, none earned, on just three hits and two walks for his fourth victory against one loss with a 1.19 ERA.

• FINAL: PHI 3; NYG 8
• RECORD: 29-14 (.674); second place, 2.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾         ⚾         ⚾

GAME #41

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, June 1, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ WASHINGTON SENATORS

Griffith Stadium

Walter Johnson Outlasts Carl Mays; Miller Huggins Under Scrutiny

Behind the great Walter Johnson, Washington wins today's series finale and defeat the Yankees three games to one.  New York appeared headed towards a sure victory.  Chick Fewster's run-scoring double in the top of the ninth gives the Yankees a 7-3 lead.  But with one out and one on in the home ninth, starter Carl Mays yields a triple to pinch-hitter Clyde Milan.  Then with two outs, Bucky Harris reaches safely on an errant throw by shortstop Mike McNally, pinch-runner Bobby LaMotte scores from third.  Miller Huggins makes no move even as he watches Sam Rice triple to left field.  Now down by one, right fielder Frank Brower singles home Rice with the tying run.  Miller Huggins still makes no move.  Left Fielder Bing Miller then doubles to center field, plating Brower with the winning run.  Carl Mays allows eight runs, but only six are earned.  Otherwise, the Senators hammer Mays for twelve hits, four going for extra bases, and three coming in the ninth.  Miller Huggins must answer for this one.

• FINAL: NYY 7; WAS 8
• RECORD: 24-17 (.585), second place, 4.0 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/31/1921: Giants Bow to Phillies; Senators Rout Yankees

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

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

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

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

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

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

Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle as in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance.  However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions.  McGraw's disdain for his tenants was further heightened when the Yankees outdrew the host Giants in their own home for the first time in each franchise's history.  Headlined by Babe Ruth, the Yankees seized the city's attention, evidenced by an all-time major league record of 1,289,422 in attendance.

In 1921, over two million fans would again pack the Polo Grounds.  Babe Ruth would continue accomplishing the unimaginable, and if that wasn't surreal enough, he proceeds to top it.  All the while, with each passing day, John McGraw grows more incensed.  Lest we forget, New York City is still Little Napoleon's empire.  

Sharing a ballpark for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition—the Giants attempt to evict the Yankees before the start of 1921 to no avail.  But a solution lies not too far away ...  

Until then, two major league titans charge headlong into a season-ending October clash at the Polo Grounds.  It is New York City's first-ever World's Championship Subway Series.  All games are played at the Polo Grounds, making Coogan's Bluff the center of the baseball universe. 

This is my replay of that season.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  More than anything, this is about having fun and celebrating New York City's baseball history.  

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

GAME #41

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, May 31, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Giants Fail To Keep Pace With Phillies

Philadelphia gets back in this series, scoring early, often, and late.  The Giants recover from an early two-run deficit in the fifth.  But center fielder Cy Williams connects off Jesse Barnes for a home run to deep right field in the fifth, and with two outs, catcher Frank Bruggy legs out an inside-the-park home run spelling the end of Barnes' afternoon.  Facing Slim Salle in the seventh, left fielder Irish Meusel (brother of Bob Meusel) homers to right field, giving the Phils a 5-2 lead.  After trading runs in the eighth, Philadelphia erupts for four runs in the top half of the ninth.  Errors by Ross Youngs and reliever Pol Perritt contribute to the Giants' now seven-run deficit.  The home team generates two runs in the bottom of the ninth to no avail.  Jesse Barnes earned run average has done nothing but rise throughout May.

• FINAL: PHI 10; NYG 5
• RECORD: 27-14 (.659); second place, 3.0 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾         ⚾         ⚾

GAME #40

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, May 31, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ WASHINGTON SENATORS

Griffith Stadium

Senators Take Second Straight From Yankees; Ruth Hits Number Fifteen

Washington offers the Yankees no quarter.  After retiring the Senators in order in the first inning, Waite Hoyt, in the second, surrenders eight consecutive hits, including triples from starter Tom Zachary and center fielder Sam Rice.  Miller Huggins is forced to make an early selection from the bullpen for Tom Sheehan.  But that does little to slow down the Senators, who add a run in the third, and push across three more runs in the fourth for an 11-0 lead.  Tom Sheehan helps get the Yankees off the board with a run batted in and a run scored in the home fifth.  But Tom Zachry repays the favor with a run-scoring double in the sixth.  Babe Ruth connects on a three-run home run in the ninth inning to no avail as the Yanks still fall seven runs short.  Tom Zachry goes the distance for the win while Waite Hoyt loses his third.  For Ruth, his 15th home run of the season and the 117th of his career.  He is now just 21 home runs away from tying Roger Connor's all-time record.

• FINAL: NYY 5; WAS 12
• RECORD: 24-16 (.600); second place, 3.5 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 4/27/1921: Washington Takes Fourth Straight From Yankees; Giants Drop Third Straight 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, two full decades later, still harbored much animosity not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees themselves who were founded at the expense of his rendered defunct Baltimore Orioles.  

For as long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remained amicably strained.  Mainly because the middling Americans, except for one season in 1916, never elevated themselves above the ranks of Junior Circuit also-rans.  But that changed in 1919 when they briefly vied for the pennant but tuckered out down the stretch to finish third.  A franchise-record 619,164 fans showed up to root for the American League contenders.  However, the Yankees' burgeoning success was not yet a pressing issue, per 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 but an accomplishment for which John McGraw has little appreciation as one who 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 forward, accomplishing the unimaginable, and if that wasn't surreal enough, he proceeds to top it.  All the while, with each passing day, John McGraw grows more incensed.  Lest we forget, New York City is still Little Napoleon's empire.  

Sharing a ballpark for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition.  A solution lies not too far away ...  

In the meantime, two major league titans charge headlong into a season-ending October clash at the Polo Grounds.  It is New York City's first-ever World's Championship Subway Series.  All games are played at the Polo Grounds, making Coogan's Bluff the center of the baseball universe. 

This is my replay of that season.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  More than anything, this is about having fun and celebrating New York City's baseball history.  

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

⚾

GAME #11

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, April 27, 1921 - BR

Washington Senators @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Washington Senators Take Over First Place at Yankees Expense

Back-to-back twenty-game winner and last season's ERA champ, Bob Shawkey, makes his season debut and is opposed by the familiar Senators right-hander Jim Shaw.  

Washington scores right away when leadoff hitter Joe Judge singles, advances, and scores on left fielder Duffy Lewis' grounder to second.  But Shaw likewise hurls himself into first-inning trouble upon yielding a one-out single to Roger Peckinpaugh, then issuing consecutive bases on balls to Babe Ruth and Wally Pipp.  Bob Meusel's sacrifice flyball to center field scores Peckinpaugh, and an error by second baseman Bucky Harris on the relay permits Ruth to score the go-ahead run.  Later with two outs in the third and Babe Ruth stationed at third, Bob Meusel's single to right field gives the Yankees a 3-1 lead.  

Having shaken off that first inning rust, Bob Shawkey continues turning away Washington batters, that is until he issues the dreaded base on balls to Sam Rice leading off the eighth - for experience tells us over, and again the odds of that base runner scoring are quite good.  Sure enough, Duffy Lewis reaches safely on a fielder's choice when Chick Fewster mishandles the throw from third baseman Aaron Ward, and with one out, third baseman Howie Shanks triples home both base runners tying the game at three.

Pitching his second inning in relief of Jim Shaw, George Mogridge initiates an inning-ending 1-4-3 double play to end the Yankees eighth.  With one out in the top of the ninth, Joe Judge singles up the middle, and Bob Shawkey walks right fielder Clyde Milan.  Then just as he had done in the previous game, Miller Huggins, in an obvious temp of fate, summons from the bullpen another right-hander to again face the lefty-swinging Sam Rice.  In relief of Shawkey, Carl Mays this time induces a groundball to first, and the runners advance.  But Hug's vindication is short-lived when with two outs, some 15,000 dejected onlookers witness Carl Mays surrender a bases-emptying double to left field off the bat of Duffy Lewis.  Afterwhich, George Mogridge closes out the game with a third scoreless inning in relief of Shaw to earn his first win this season.  Bob Shawkey is tagged with his first loss.

The Senators take their fourth straight from the Yankees, the first back at Griffith Stadium, and now three straight here at the Polo Grounds with one game still left to play.  As a result of today's outcome, Washington moves into first place, one half-game ahead of Cleveland.  Locally, it marks the Yankees' fifth straight loss and their sixth of the season, dropping them one game under .500 with a 5-6 record.

• FINAL: WAS 5; NYY 3
• RECORD: 5-6 (.455); fourth place, 3.5 GB of Washington

⚾

GAME #11

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, April 27, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ BROOKLYN DODGERS

Ebbets Field

Giants Drop Third Straight at Ebbets Field

You'd never know it by simply observing John McGraw.  Looking on as Brooklyn plates both the tying and winning runs in the ninth, he remains stone-faced throughout.  However, anyone within close proximity could always sense Little Napoleon's loath towards perceived turncoat Wilbert Robinson.  Uncle Robbie knows this well.  After all, the feeling is mutual, and on Wednesday, he provides his once dear friend a third consecutive reminder where the defending National League champions are to be found.  

Making his third start, Jesse Barnes is opposed by Brooklyn's quietly effective southpaw Clarence Mitchell who gets staked to a 1-0 lead in the first on Zack Wheat's two-out hit scoring Jimmy Johnston from third.  The score remains unchanged through the fifth.  But High Pocket Kelly's Bedford Avenue-bound two-run home run in the sixth, along with Frankie Frisch's single plating George Burns in the seventh, gives Jesse Barnes and the Giants a 3-1 lead.  With two out in the bottom half of the frame and a pair of runners in scoring position, Clarence Mitchell helps his own cause with a single to center field, scoring both Hi Myers and Pete Kilduff, tying the game at three.  

When center fielder Eddie Brown opens the eighth with a single and third baseman Goldie Rapp follows with a double, manager Robinson replaces Mitchell with Al Mamaux, who immediately unleashes a wild pitch permitting Brown to score the go-ahead run.  Mamaux retires the Giants in order in the top half of the ninth.  Still facing Jesse Barnes, Robins' second baseman Pete Kilduff leads off with a single, advances, and scores on Bernie Neis's base hit to left.  After advancing to second, Neis scores on Jimmy Johnston's two-out game-winning hit to left field.  

Al Mamaux earns the win in relief, improving his record to 3-0 with a 1.50 earned run average.  Brooklyn's third baseman Jimmy Johnston finishes 3 for 4 with a double and a run batted in.  Jesse Barnes falls to 1-1 with a 1.88 ERA after allowing five earned runs on twelve hits through 8.2 innings pitched.  Third baseman Goldie Rapp goes 3 for 4 with two doubles.

• FINAL: NYG 4; BKN 5
• RECORD: 6-5 (.545); fourth place, 3 GB of Pittsburgh