100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 9/20/1921: Harry Harper Again Comes Through For Yankees; Giants Fall in Tenth Inning 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 shifted 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 #143

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, September 20, 1921 - BR

Detroit Tigers @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Harry Harper Tames Tigers; Yanks Bounce Back Atop Circuit

Pressure?  What pressure?  New Jersey native Harry Harper again comes through for an anxiety-riddled Miller Huggins.  Making just his sixth appearance, the southpaw earns his third win in four September starts.  Facing Detroit's Bert Cole, the Yankees strike for three runs in the fourth.  Harry Harper makes them stand, allowing two late runs in the seventh and ninth innings, on eight hits with four strikeouts for the win.  The Yankees added a run in the sixth en route to a 4-2 final score.  Bob Meusel and Aaron Ward drive home two runs each.  Cleveland falls to the Red Sox at Fenway Park, so the Highlanders retake a half-game lead over the Indians.  After their series finale with Detroit, the Yankees host the defending champion Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds one last time.  Cleveland is 13-7 in September, while the Yankees boast a 15-7 record.  The upcoming series victor is very likely to go on and secure the American League pennant. 

• FINAL: DET 2; NYY 4
• RECORD: 90-53 (.629); First Place, 0.5 GA of Cleveland

⚾

GAME #146

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, September 20, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CHICAGO CUBS

Cubs Park

Giants Fall in Tenth at Cubs Park; First Place Lead Shrinks to Three 

Facing the great Grover Cleveland Alexander, the Giants jump out to a 3-0 in the second inning on four consecutive two-out base hits.  Chicago scores twice against Jesse Barnes in the third, then pounces for four runs in the fifth, highlighted by Ray Grimes' leadoff home run for a 6-3 lead.  But the Giants claw back with two runs in the seventh and High Pockets Kelly homers in the eighth, tying the game at six.  Jesse Barnes is pulled after 4.2 innings pitched, having allowed six runs on ten hits.  Red Shea throws 1.1 scoreless innings, and Slim Salle pitches a scoreless seventh.  Afterwhich, Art Nehf hurls a scoreless eighth and ninth frame, and into extra innings, they go at Cubs Park.  In his third inning in relief of Alexander, Virgil Cheeves retires the Giants in order during the visitor's tenth.  In the home half, leadoff batter John Sullivan safely reaches on Frankie Frisch's errant throw to first base.  Ray Grimes swaps places with Sullivan on a fielder's choice, then advances to second on a wild pitch by Art Nehf.  Catcher Bob O'Farrell promptly follows with a single up the middle, driving home the winning run.  The idle Bucs, therefore, gain one-half game on the present National League leaders.  McGraw's men are now 6-2 on this road trip with seven games left with which to protect their precarious lead.  After Friday's finale with Chicago, the Giants must still trek through St. Louis and Philadelphia, then finally back within city limits to Brooklyn for the last scheduled game of the regular season.  

• FINAL: NYG 6; CHI 7  10 innings
• RECORD: 90-56 (.616); First Place, 3.0 GA of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 9/13/1921: Yankees Bow to White Sox; Giants Win in Twelfth Inning 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.  

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 shifted 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 #136

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, September 13, 1921 - BR

Chicago White Sox @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Dickey Kerr Wins Eighteenth; Yanks Lead Cut to Half-Game

With the Yankees coming off their fourth doubleheader in eleven days, southpaw Harry Harper is again thrust into action.  Making his third start this month and fourth overall, he yields five runs on eight hits and three walks while surrendering two home runs off the bat of right fielder Harry Hooper for the loss.  Tom Rogers allows a run on two hits and two walks over the final two innings, making just his third appearance.  A 21-game winner last season, Chicago southpaw Dickey Kerr holds the Yankees to a pair of runs on five hits and four walks with seven strikeouts for the win.  Bob Meusel drives home a run in the first, and the Yankees are gifted one in the fourth with Ernie Johnson's misplay at short.  With Cleveland's victory at Philadelphia, the Indians gain a full game in the standings.  The Yankees lead is a mere half-game.

• FINAL: CHI 6; NYY 2
• RECORD: 85-51 (.625); First Place, 0.5 GA of Cleveland

⚾

GAME #140

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, September 13, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CINCINNATI REDS

Redland Field

Ninth Inning Comeback Results in Twelve Inning Triumph at Redland Field

Art Nehf walks second baseman Sam Bohne leading off the home first.  Next up, shortstop Larry Kopf doubles into the left/center gap scoring Bohne.  Third baseman Heinie Groh then singles, putting runners on the corners.  A wild pitch advances Groh.  Still, with no outs, Rube Bressler grounds to Dave Bancroft at short, who throws out Kopf at home.  The Giants then turn an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Jake Daubert.  Irish Meusel strikes out with one out and the bases loaded in the fourth, and Johnny Rawlings bounces to third.  First baseman Jake Daubert accounts for himself in the home fifth with a two-run single, giving the Reds a 3-0 lead.  John McGraw removes Art Nehf after the sixth.  With Slim Salle now opposing Reds starter Dolf Luque, the score remains unchanged through the eighth.  With High Pockets Kelly on first and one out in the visitor's ninth, Irish Meusel's grounder to second is booted by Sam Bohne.  Johnny Rawlings then singles to load the bases.  Base hits by Earl Smith and pinch-hitter Frank Snyder result in three runs.  Pitching in relief of Slim Salle, Red Shea retires the Reds to force extra innings.  Red Shea continues the dual against Dolf Luque, and the score remains unchanged through the eleventh inning.  With two outs in the visitor's twelfth, Irish Meusel triples home Frankie Frisch with the go-ahead run.  Shea then sets down the Reds in order to close out the victory.  Art Nehf is taken off the hook, and Red Shea earns his fourth win against one loss with a 3.29 ERA.  Salle and Shea together account for six scoreless innings in relief of Nehf.  The Giants are now winners of six straight and own a 16-4 record over their last twenty games. Pittsburgh defeats Boston at Forbes Field.

• FINAL: NYG 4; CIN 3  12-innings
• RECORD: 86-54 (.614); First Place, 1.5 GA of Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AT THE POLO GROUNDS 9/4/1921: Braves Defeat Giants In Series Opener; Yankees En Route to Fenway 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!

Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona), 

Monday, September 5, 1918

GAME #131

BOXSCORE: Sunday, September 4, 1921 - BR

Boston Braves @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Joe Oeschger Greets Old Friends; Billy Southworth Strikes Decisive Blow Against Art Hehf

In the midst of his best season, National League veteran and one-time New York Giant until John McGraw included him in the trade to acquire Art Hehf, right-hander Joe Oeschger holds his former team to three runs on eight hits and two walks en route to his twentieth win this season against seven losses with a 3.25 ERA.  Earl Smith drives home High Pockets Kelly in the second, and Frankie Frisch triples home Dave Bancroft in the third.  But Boston jumps ahead with three runs in the visitor's fourth.  Earl Smith then ties the game in the bottom half of the frame with his ninth home run this season.  Handed a clean slate entering the fourth, Art Nehf yields a three-run home run to right fielder Billy Southworth, 

giving Oeschger and the Boston Braves a 6-3 lead and the final margin of victory.  With 28,000 bewildered fans looking on, Art Nehf surrenders six earned runs on eight hits in only 4.1 innings pitched for the loss.  Slim Salle and Red Causey joined together on 4.2 scoreless innings in relief of Nehf.  Tied no more - with Pittsburgh's extra-inning victory over the Reds, the Giants again fall back into second place.

• FINAL: BOS 6; NYG 3
• RECORD: 79-52 (.603); second place, 1.0 GB of Pittsburgh

Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona), 

Monday, September 5, 1918

Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia, PA), 

Monday, September 5, 1921

TRAVEL DAY

Next Game: Monday, September 5, 1921

New York Yankees @ BOSTON RED SOX

Fenway Park

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/29/1921: Giants Defeat Cubs For Seventh Consecutive Win; Yankees En Route to Nation's Capital

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!

Daily News (New York, NY), Tuesday, August 30, 1921

GAME #127

BOXSCORE: Monday, August 29, 1921- BR

Chicago Cubs @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

McGraw's Reinforcements Continue Earning Their Worth; Bullpen Gets Giants Back on Track After Fred Toney Is Knocked Out of the Box

With Fred Toney toeing the rubber, Chicago right fielder Max Flack singles leading off the game, and shortstop Charlie Hollocher follows with a home run to right field.  Cubs starter Buck Freeman does himself no favors in the bottom of the frame, hitting Ross Youngs with a pitch and walking a pair to load the bases.  Burns scores on High Pockets Kelly's sacrifice fly to center field, and Irish Meusel follows with a two-run double to right field.  However, Toney yields three runs on four hits in the fourth and is replaced by Slim Salle, who ends the threat.  Chicago takes a 6-3 lead in the visitor's sixth on a Ray Grimes double.  Facing Chicago's Percy Jones pitching in relief of Freeman in the home sixth, George Burns and Dave Bancroft drive home a run pulling the Giants within one.  With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Irish Meusel triples, and scored on Johnny Rawlings' doubles, knocking Percy Jones out of the box.  Bill Cunningham greets incoming reliever Lefty York with a single to score Rawlings giving the Giants a 7-6 lead.  Irish Meusel then drives in what proves to be the decisive run in the eighth, as the Cubs score once in the ninth.  Still threatening with two outs and the tying run at third, Red Shea pitching in relief of Slim Salle secures the final out.  Shea earnes the win while Fred Toney escapes with a no-decision.  Slim Salle's work through the middle innings proves pivotal.  Irish Meusel and Johnny Rawlings continue expressing their appreciation of John McGraw through their performance and productivity.  They've been key contributors to the Giants success since their respective acquisitions,  Bill Cunningham included.  The Gians take a 2-0 series lead against the Cubs, and win their seventh consecutive game.  Meanwhile over in Brooklyn, the Robins shutout the Pirates.  Thus, the Giants gain a full game on Pittsburgh.

• FINAL: CHI 7; NYG 8
• RECORD: 77-50 (.606); second place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

TRAVEL DAY

Next Game: Tuesday, August 30, 1921

New York Yankees @ WASHINGTON SENATORS

Griffith Stadium

Daily News (New York, NY), 

Tuesday, August 30, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/20/1921: Cardinals Rout Giants in Series Opener; Elmer Miller Highlights Yanks Win 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 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!

The State (Columbia, South Carolina), 

Sunday, August 21, 1921

GAME #117

BOXSCORE: Saturday, August 20, 1921 - BR

St. Louis Cardinals @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Giants Fall a Season-High Seven Games Back of the Pirates With Less Than 40 Games Left To Play

The Giants' woes continue.  With a series-opening 10-1 thrashing handed them by the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, McGraw's men drop their eleventh game in August and fall to a season-high seven games out of first place.  Last season's 20-game winner, Bill Doak, limits the Giants to just one run in the first on Ross Youngs' fielder's choice to second base plating George Burns.  Otherwise, Doak allows eight hits and one walk with four strikeouts for his eleventh win this season.  New York starter Art Nehf surrenders six runs on eight hits, including home runs by first baseman Jack Fournier and right fielder Joe Schultz through 4.2 innings for the loss.  Slim Salle yields another four runs on seven hits, including Milt Stock's eighth-inning home run.  Catcher Earl Smith is the lone Giant to wield multiple hits.  For Ross Youngs, his 83rd run batted in.  Up in Boston, the Pirates defeated the Braves, who trail the Giants by a mere 2.5 games with just 37 games left on the regular season schedule.

• FINAL: STL 10; NYG 1
• RECORD: 69-48 (.590); second place, 7.0 GB of Pittsburgh

The State (Columbia, South Carolina), Sunday, August 21, 1921

GAME #110

BOXSCORE: Saturday, August 20, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ ST. LOUIS BROWNS

Sportsman's Park

Yanks Take Series Opener at Sportsman's Park

Waite Hoyt hurls the Yankees to a series-opening win at St. Louis.  The right-hander from Brooklyn holds the Browns scoreless through the first five, then yields single runs in the sixth and eighth innings en route to his 14th win against ten losses with a 3.44 ERA.  Yankee center fielder Elmer Miller shines at the top of the lineup, going 3 for 5 with two runs scored.  He opens the game with a triple and Babe Ruth drives him home on a fielder's choice.  Wally Schang drives home a run in the fourth.  Ruth goes 2 for 4 with a double, triple, and two runs batted in giving him 130 for the season.  Subbing in at third base for Home Run Baker, Mike McNally goes 3 for 4 with two runs batted in.  Of the Yankees' 14 hits half go for extra bases.  St. Louis right-hander Dixie Davis surrenders all five runs in the loss.  The Yankees gain no ground as the Indians defeated the Red Sox at Cleveland.

• FINAL: NYY 5; STL 2
• RECORD: 68-42 (.618); second place, 1.0 GB of Cleveland

The State (Columbia, South Carolina), 

Sunday, August 21, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/18/1921: Reds Cuban Born Lanzador Dolf Luque Defeats Los Gigantes; Red Farber Outlasts Carl Mays at Comiskey

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 #115

BOXSCORE: Thursday, August 18, 1921 - BR

Cincinnati Reds @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Dog Days of Summer Continue Knawing Away at McGrawmen's Pennant Aspirations

Toeing the slab for Gotham, Phil Douglas is opposed by Cuban native Dolf Luque for Cincinnati.  Both put forth representative efforts.  Support from his batsmen is what Douglas lacks.  In the meantime, the Reds incrementally build a modest lead with single runs in the second, then the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings for a 4-1 lead through eight.  The Giants scored their first run back in the fifth on Irish Meusel's triple and Johnny Rawling's sacrifice fly.  In the top of the ninth, reliever Slim Salle retires the Reds in an orderly manner.  Still facing Dolf Luque in the home ninth, Frankie Frisch's double and Ross Youngs' hit positions runners at the corners.  High Pockets Kelly follows with a comebacker snatched by Luque, who then throws out Frisch at home.  With two runners still in scoring position, McGraw's savvy pickup Irish Meusel clears the bases with a hit to right field.  But the Giants threat ends there.  Dolf Luque regroups to retire Bill Cunningham and Earl Smith to close out Cincinnati's 4-3 victory and even the series at one.  McGraw's men fall to 8-10 in August.  The loss coupled with Pittsburgh's doubleheader sweep at Philadelphia pushes the Giants away to a season-high 6.5 games back of the Pirates.

• FINAL: CIN 4; NYG 3
• RECORD: 68-47 (.591); Second place, 6.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #108

BOXSCORE: Thursday, August 18, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Comiskey Park

White Sox Even Series With Yankees; Red Farber Wins Number 23

In a rather entertaining back and forth affair, that is, for the locals, the White Sox rally late to lift starter Red Farber to his 23rd victory this season against ten losses with a 2.40 ERA.  The teams traded single runs in the first inning, then exchanged a pair of runs in the fourth.  The White Sox claim their first lead with a run in the sixth, but the Yankees roar back on Babe Ruth's three-run home run in the top of the seventh.  Then with the Giants leading 6-4, Carl Mays retires the Reds in order in the home seventh.  Red Farber returns the gesture retiring the Yankees in the top half of the eighth.  But Mays appears to lose effectiveness in the bottom half of the frame, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks before being replaced by Waite Hoyt, who brings Chicago's threat to an end, albeit too late.  In the midst of arguably his best season, Red Farber tosses a scoreless ninth to close out the White Sox series-tying victory.  Wally Schang goes 2 for 4 with a double and two runs batted in.  The Bambino drives home four runs giving him 125 RBI to date.  His home run is career number 149, leaving him shy of 150 and undoubtedly many more to follow.  Out in Cleveland, Philadelphia defeated the Indians, and so the Yankees lose no ground.

• FINAL: NYY 6; CHI 7
• RECORD: 67-41 (.620); second place, 0.5 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/1/1921: Yanks Take Series From Cleveland; Giants Split Series 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 #94

BOXSCORE: Monday, August 1, 1921 - BR

Cleveland Indians @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Yankees Take Series Finale From Indians; Pull Within One Game of First Place

Waite Hoyt wins his third decision this season against Cleveland, and just as they did a week ago, the Yankees take the series finale and conclude their series one game in the standings behind the Indians.  Chick Fewster drives home a run in the second, and Home Run Bakers clouts a two-run home run in the third.  Waite Hoyt makes it stand.  He allows two runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts for the win.  Wally Pipp and Roger Peckinpaugh also drive home runs for the Yankees en route to a 5-2 final score.  Jim Bagby takes the loss.  For the moment, the embattled Miller Huggins' terms of employment remain in place as the Yankees take two of three from the Indians.

• FINAL: CLE 2; NYY 5
• RECORD: 59-35 (.628); second place, 1.0 GB of Cleveland

⚾

GAME #98

BOXSCORE: Monday, August 1, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ Cincinnati Reds

Redland Field

Giants Salvage Series Split at Redland Field

Staked to a 2-0 lead, Cincinnati starter Cliffe Markle opens with five scoreless innings pitched.  High Pockets Kelly drives home New York's first run of the game in the sixth, but the Reds strike back with a run in the bottom half of the frame for a 3-1 lead.  Fred Toney yields all three runs on eight hits and one walk through six innings pitched.  George Burns helps manufacture a run in the seventh, and Frankie Frisch doubles to center field, plating two for a 4-3 Giants lead.  Cliffe Markle surrenders three consecutive hits to load the bases in the top of the ninth, then walks Ross Youngs to force home a run.  Facing Slim Salle in the bottom of the frame, Larry Kopf doubles home Pat Duncan.  John McGraw wastes no time bringing in Jesse Barnes, who records the final out.  Fred Toney earns his first tenth victory this season, but the Giants gain no ground on Pittsburgh.

• FINAL: NYG 5; CIN 4
• RECORD: 61-37 (.622); 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