100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 9/23/1921: Waite Hoyt Hurls Yanks to One Game Lead Over Tribe; Pirates Gain Ground on Idle Giants

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 previous 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 #145

BOXSCORE: Friday, September 23, 1921 - BR

Cleveland Indians @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Waite Hoyt Outduels Stan Coveleski in Series Opener; Yankees Lead By One

Occupying the first base dugout, the challengers from the highlands of upper Manhattan, and hosts of this weekend's American League showdown, the New York Yankees.  In the visiting dugout, hailing from the lakeshore of Ohio, the defending World Series champion, Cleveland Indians.  With both teams locked in a tie for first place, the Brooklynite Waite Hoyt is opposed by 22-game winner Stan Coveleski for Cleveland.  Three innings go by before the Indians open the scoring in the fourth on Joe Sewell's run-scoring triple and a wild pitch.  The Yankees get one back on doubles from Babe Ruth and Wally Pipp, then pull ahead in the sixth on consecutive doubles from Ruth and Bob Meusel and another run batted in by Wally Pipp.  After a scoreless seventh, Wally Pipp drives home his third run, giving the Hugmen a 4-2 lead and the final margin of victory.  Waite Hoyt holds Cleveland to a pair of runs on six hits and three walks with a season-high seven strikeouts for the win.  He improves to 18-13 with a 3.11 ERA.  Amid his fourth consecutive 20-win season, Yankee nemesis Stan Coveleski allows four earned runs on six hits and four walks in the loss as Cleveland slides back into second place.

• FINAL: CLE 2; NYY 4
• RECORD: 92-53 (.634); First Place, 1.0 GA of Cleveland

The Evening News (Harrisburg, PA), Saturday, September 24, 1921

⚾

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Saturday, September 24, 1921

GAME CALLED: RAINED OUT

Next Game: Saturday, September 24, 1921

New York Giants @ ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

SPORTSMAN'S PARK

A second straight day of idleness has harmed the McGrawmen as the Pirates defeated the hapless Philadelphia Phillies at Forbes Field to close within 3.5 games of the Giants.  The latter tomorrow open a series against the third-place Cardinals at St. Louis on Saturday.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Saturday, September 24, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 8/24/1921: Revived Giants Sweep Twin Bill From Pirates; Yankees Take Over First Place From 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.  

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 Pittsburgh (PA) Press, 

Thursday, August 25, 1921

GAME #121

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Wednesday, August 24, 1921 - BR

Pittsburgh Pirates @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Make-Up: 5/25/1921

Art Nehf and High Pockets Kelly Lead McGrawmen in Rout of Pirates

The great National League showdown begins.  Facing southpaw Art Nehf, shortstop Rabbit Maranville leads off the game with a double.  He advances to third on Carson Bigbee's grounder to second, then scores on Max Carey's sacrifice fly to left field.  Far from a portent of things to come,  starting for Pittsburgh, two-time 20-game winner Babe Adams surrenders a home run to Irish Meusel with High Pockets Kelly on base.  In the fourth, Earl Smith then singles home Irish Meusel, giving the Giants a 3-1 lead.  Babe Adams must aid his own cause doubling home Charlie Grimm in the sixth because that would be all for Pirate batters.  Art Nehf surrenders just one hit the rest of the way.  Not yet done, the Giants continue making their opening statement with an eight-run margin of victory.  High Pockets Kelly punctuates the game with his 22nd home run this season with one out in the sixth, and Earl Smith once again drives home Irish Meusel for a 5-2 lead.  High Pockets Kelly then delivers home Ross Youngs in the seventh.  Facing Whitey Glazner pitching in relief of Adams, the Giants post four more runs en route to a 10-2 victory.  Irish Meusel steals home, Frankie Frisch singles home two, and Ross Youngs drives in Dave Bancroft with the Giants' tenth and final run.

• FINAL: PITT 2; NYG 10

⚾

GAME #122

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Wednesday, August 24, 1921 - BR

Pittsburgh Pirates @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Phil Douglas Outperforms 20-Game Winner Wilbur Cooper; Giants Sweep Twin Bill

John McGraw, throughout the season, has always believed his pitching staff is the National League's best.  Following Art Nehf's performance, Phil Douglas in game two further reinforces that notion with a pure gem.  Outdueling Pittsburgh's 20-game winner Wilbur Cooper, Douglas allows just five hits and no walks with four strikeouts in a complete-game shutout victory.  After four scoreless frames, George Burns drive home a run in the fifth.  The Giants then knock Wilbur Cooper out of the box with five more runs in the sixth.  Johnny Rawlings kicks off the rally with a run batted in, Phil Douglas pushes across another, and George Burns highlights the inning with a three-run inside-the-park home run.  Facing reliever Lyle Bigbee in the seventh, Irish Meusel triples home High Pockets Kelly for a 7-0 final margin of victory.  The Giants complete the twin bill sweep of the Pirates and gain two full games in the standings.

• FINAL: PITT 0; NYG 7
• RECORD: 72-50 (.590); seond place, 5.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #115

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, August 24, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CLEVELAND INDIANS

Dunn Field

Cleveland Surrenders First Place to Yankees; Two Infield Errors Are Indians Undoing

Let Miller Huggins revel at this moment.  This season's head-to-head series against Cleveland has levied a great tax upon the Yankee skipper.  In May, the Yankees took 3 of 4 from the Indians and departed Cleveland tied for first place.  Since then, the Indians have resided in first-place every day except for three.  The defending champions simply refused to yield ground.  When you consider that players, during this time, openly said they do not appreciate Miller Huggins' managerial style and that Col. Jacob Ruppert came very close to trading for Chicago's Eddie Collins as his replacement, well, then let him have his day.  The Brooklynite Waite Hoyt and 20-game winner Stan Coveleski duel to a two-all tie through eight.  In the first inning, Bob Meusel singles home Babe Ruth.  In the second, Mike McNally then plates Wally Pipp.  Shortstop Joe Sewell and first baseman Doc Johnston each drive in a run during the fourth.  After which, the score remains unchanged.  That is until the visitor's ninth.  Elmer Miller reaches safely on Joe Sewell's misplay at short.  Roger Peckinpaugh bunts Miller over, who advances to third base on second baseman Bill Wambsganss' errant throw to first.  Miller then tags up on Wally Pipp's flyball to left field, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead and the final margin of victory.  Since May 16, the Yankees own sole possession of first place in the American League for only the third time. 

• FINAL: NYY 3; CLE 2
• RECORD: 71-44 (.617); first place, 0.5 GA of Cleveland

The Winnipeg Tribune (Canada), Thursday, August 25, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/30/1921: All Fingers Pointing At Miller Huggins; Giants Achieve First-Place Tie With Pirates

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Season Revisited

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) July 30, 1921

GAME #92

BOXSCORE: Saturday, July 30, 1921 - BR

Cleveland Indians @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Yankees Routed By Cleveland in Series Opener

It's rumored that Yankee ownership is willing to trade upwards of five players to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for second baseman Eddie Collins with designs to make him manager.  However, discussions were seemingly put on hold as it appears Colonel Ruppert decided to extend Miller Huggins one more opportunity during this homestand to prove himself worthy of guiding the club.  Should that, in fact, be the case, Huggins might as well start packing his bags.  Even worse than the 17-8 loss they sustained just over a week ago at Cleveland, the first-place Indians, fresh off a two-hit shutout over Boston, this time clobber the Yankees by a sorrowful score of 16 to 1.  New York manages just seven hits and committed four errors in the field, one by Babe Ruth.  But there is no leering at him this time, for the Bambino accounts for the lone Yankee run, his 37th home run this season to spoil the shutout.  Players are speaking up, as the Yankees played their best ball of late, with Miller Huggins feeling ill and absent from the team.  Fans are likewise not allied with Huggins.  The Yankees are being accused of not having the spirit of a winner.  Players say it's because they don't believe in Huggins and his peculiar style of managing.  Which is to say, the defending World Champion Indians are again leading the league because they believe in Tris Speaker. 1 In the meantime, starter Bob Shawley, Rip Collins, and Alex Ferguson all suffered the wrath of Cleveland's batsmen.  Cleveland's first baseman Doc Johnston goes 3 for 5 with a triple, home run, and an impressive seven runs batted in.  Shortstop Joe Sewell drives home three.  Cleveland starter  Stan Coveleski allows one run on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts for his 17th victory against seven losses and a 3.40 ERA.

 

right - The Ponca City News (Ponca City, Oklahoma), July 30, 1921

1 - The Hutchinson Gazette (Hutchinson, Kansas) July 30, 1921

• FINAL: CLE 16; NYY 1
• RECORD: 57-35 (.620); second place, 3.0 GB of Cleveland

⚾

GAME #94

BOXSCORE GAME ONE: Saturday, July 30, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CINCINNATI REDS

Redland Field

Make-Up: 6/8/1921

Rube Marquard Hurls A Gem Over Former Mates

Left-hander Rube Marquard shows his old mates he still has what it takes to win, or in this case, defeat the Giants, knowing they're pressing to keep pace with Pittsburgh.  Many believe the Giants boast the top pitching staff in the circuit, even better than Pittsburgh.  But Rube Marquard was having none of it.  He limits the New Yorkers to just one run.  Second base substitute Joe Berry triples home Irish Meusel in the ninth to spoil the shutout.  Otherwise, the Giants wield only six hits and draw just two walks as Marquard wins his tenth game this season.  Starter Fred Toney is knocked out of the box after four innings but not before yielding six runs on ten hits and three walks.  The Giants' most recent win streak comes to an end at four.

• FINAL: NYG 1; CIN 8

⚾

GAME #95

BOXSCORE GAME TWO: Saturday, July 30, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ CINCINNATI REDS

Redland Field

Jesse Barnes Lifts Giants Into First Place Tie With Pittsburgh

Jesse Barnes and the Giants turn the tables on Cincinnati.  New York scores early, often, and late en route to twelve runs off 18 hits.  Just as the Giants did in game one, Edd Roush and the Reds spoil the shutout with a run in the home ninth.  Jesse Barnes nonetheless wins his ninth, allowing one run on just five hits and no walks through nine complete.  High Pockets Kelly hits his eighth home run of the month, giving him 18 for the season.  His three runs batted in gives him a National League most 96, only two behind Babe Ruth for the major league lead.  Ross Youngs goes 2 for 3 with three runs batted in, giving him 70 for the season.  Today's twin bill split, and Boston's victory over the Pirates leaves Pittsburgh and Gotham tied for first place.  The Giants, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland are the three teams to achieve 60 wins to date.

• FINAL: NYG 12; CIN 1
• RECORD: 60-35 (.632); tied for first place with Pittsburgh

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 7/20/1921: Giants Fall in Cincinnati; Yankees Down Indians, Gain Share of First Place

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 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 #84

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, July 20, 1921 - BR

Cincinnati Reds @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Fred Toney Bows to Eppa Rixey in Series Opener

Two former 20-game winners take the mound in the opening game between the Giants and Reds at the Polo Grounds, Eppa Rixey for Cincinnati and Fred Toney for the Giants.  The two duel to a one-all tie through six.  Cincy right fielder Greasy Neale leads off the game with a triple and scores in the first inning, and Ross Youngs drives home George Burns in the fourth.  The game's decisive run comes in the seventh.  Center fielder Edd Roush hits a leadoff double, advances to third, then scores on Pat Duncan's ground ball, third to first.  Eppa Rixey allows just one run on eight hits and two walks for the win.  Fred Toney yields two runs on nine hits and no walks in a losing effort.  The Giants sink four games behind the circuit leader.

• FINAL: CIN 2; NYG 1
• RECORD: 52-32 (.619); seond place, 4.0 GB of Pittsburgh

The Holyrood Gazette (Holyrood, Kansas),

Wednesday, July 20, 1921

GAME #86

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, July 20, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CLEVELAND INDIANS

Dunn Field

Yankees Take Opening Clash at Cleveland

New York's loss at Cleveland in their series finale back on May 17 has haunted Miller Higgins through all these days.  Just ask Babe Ruth, who, despite his exploits, has drawn his manager's ire ever since.  The Yankees ceded sole possession of first place that day and had yet to ascend the mountain top again.  That is until this afternoon's clash at Dunn Field.  No home runs for Ruth, but he crosses home plate three times.  Home Run Baker leads the Yankees, going 3 for 4 with a double and four runs batted in, and Bob Meusel drives home two.  Bob Shawkey puts forth one of his finest performances this season, allowing just one run on six hits and a season-high nine strikeouts for the win.  Right fielder Elmer Smith ruins the shutout with a home run in the sixth.  Otherwise, Shawkey wins his ninth against five losses and a 3.37 ERA.  Long-time nemesis and perennial 20-game winner Stan Coveleski yields seven earned runs in seven innings for the loss.  With the victory, New York ties Cleveland for first place.

• FINAL: NYY 7; CLE 1
• RECORD: 55-31 (.640); tied first place with Cleveland 

The Holyrood Gazette (Holyrood, Kansas),

Wednesday, July 20, 1921

100 Years Ago Today 10/12/1920: Cleveland Indians Defeat Brooklyn Robins to Claim World Series Title

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF DEM BUMS

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS
1920 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

WORLD SERIES: Tuesday, October 12, 1920 - GAME SEVEN

Brooklyn Robins vs. Cleveland Indians

Dunn Field

Stan Covelesky Whitewashes Brooklyn, Earns Third Win Over Robins

CLEVELAND INDIANS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS

Sunday's pre-game arrest of Rube Marquard clearly impacts the rest of the series as Burleigh Grimes is forced into making an emergency start on short rest in Game Five.  He promptly proves ineffective.  With the Robins facing elimination after also losing Game Six, Grimes is again tasked with pitching Game Seven on just two days rest.  The gamely spitballer does his best but his performance palls in comparison to that of mound opponent Stan Covelaski.  Brooklyn is held scoreless for the second straight game and is limited to eight runs all series.  Zack Wheat accounts for two of the Robins five scattered hits.  Coveleski walks just one batter in a complete game shutout, his third victory against the Robins this series.  In three starts he allows just two runs and fifteen hits over 27 innings pitched.  Meanwhile, Grimes allows three runs, two earned, on seven hits and four walks through seven innings pitched.  Cleveland scores an unearned run in the fourth helped along by an error from Grimes.  Tris Speaker triples to drive in a run in the fifth and left fielder Charlie Jameison doubles home the Indians final run in the seventh.  Al Mamaux pitches a scoreless eighth inning to no avail.  The Cleveland Indians are World Champions of baseball, their first ever title following their first ever pennant.  Indians players dedicate the victory to their fallen comrade, Ray Chapman.  In his first full season as skipper, Tris Speaker claims the title.  His team this season won the most games in baseball and now sweep the Robins at League Park.

Thank you for following my recap of the 1920 Brooklyn Robins season.

100 Years Ago Today 10/5/1920: Brooklyn Robins Bow in Game One to Cleveland Indians

From the desk of: FINGERPRINTS OF DEM BUMS

DODGERS STADIUM MURAL

100th Anniversary

BROOKLYN ROBINS

1920 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

WORLD SERIES: Tuesday, October 5, 1920 - GAME ONE

Cleveland Indians vs. Brooklyn Robins

Ebbets Field

Sporting black arm bands in memory of their fallen shortstop Ray Chapman, the Cleveland Indians take game one of the 1920 World Series by a 3-1 final score at Ebbets Field.  Perennial 20-game winner Stan Coveleski goes the distance limiting the Robins to one run on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Brooklyn ruins the shutout in the seventh.  Zack Wheat leads off with a double into the right/center gap.  Hi Myers advances Wheat to third, who then scores on a 3-1 putout of Ed Konetchy.  Ivy Olson accounts for two of Brooklyn's five hits.  Indians catcher Steve O'Neill gets the best of Robins starter Rube Marquard with run scoring doubles in the second and fourth innings.  Marquard yields three runs overall on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts in a losing effort.  Al Mamaux and Leon Cadore contribute three scoreless innings in relief.

On August 16 the Cleveland Indians were in New York playing the Yankees at the Polo Grounds.  Leading off the top of the fifth against New York's Carl Mays, shortstop Ray Chapman was struck in the head with a pitch.  Bleeding from his left ear, a semi-conscious Chapman was rushed to St. Lawrence Hospital where he perished three hours after surgery at 4:40 am.  Commissioner Landis immediately ordered all scuffed and dirtied baseballs henceforth be taken out of play and replaced with new ones.