100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/5/1921: Benny Kauff's Day In Court; Babe Ruth and Miller Huggins Struggle To Get Along

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 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 in 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!

The Standard Union, Brooklyn - 5/5/1921

GAME CALLED: Rain

Thursday, May 5, 1921

Brooklyn Robins @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

⚾

GAME CALLED: Rain

Thursday, May 5, 1921

New York Yankees @ WASHINGTON SENATORS

Griffith Stadium

Babe Ruth vs. Miller Huggins

The Buffalo Enquirer, May 5, 1921

N.Y. Knicks: Turning Up The Heat

From the desk: KICKING CANS DOWN 33RD STREET WITH JIMMY

Knicks Scorching and Torching the Competition

Forget the nine-game win streak.  Like the weather outside, the Knicks keep cranking up the heat.  

They totaled 2,146 points through 21 games in December and January for an average of 102.1 points per game.  

Since the acquisition of Derrick Rose, the Knicks are averaging 109.9 points over their last 44 games.  

• The Knicks played the first three games of February without Rose, who made his debut on Feb. 9 against Miami.  

In fifteen April games, they averaged 114.3 points per game and limited their opponents to 105.4 points per game for a +8.7 differential.  After Monday's victory over Memphis, the Knicks are averaging 120 points through two games in May.

Meanwhile, they remain the league's stingiest team, yielding just 104.6 points per game.

Against the Grizzlies, Rose scored 25 points with a +16 in 27 minutes off the bench.  That makes back-to-back 20-plus point games and the third such effort in his last four games.  It's the fifth time since rejoining the Knicks he eclipsed 20 points.  In fact, all five instances have occurred in the last eight games.

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/4/1921: Giants Defeat Brooklyn in Series Opener; Yankees Postponed At Washington

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 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 in 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!

New York Herald

GAME #17

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, May 4, 1921 - BR

Brooklyn Robins @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

The Art Of Managing As Demonstrated by Mister McGraw; Giants Turn Away Brooklyn In Series Opener

The defending National League champions from Brooklyn arrive for their first visit this season to the Polo Grounds.  They bring an eleven-game consecutive win streak with them, including four in a row against the Giants back in April at Ebbets Field.  

One of Wilbert Robinson's very few off-season reinforcements, Dutch Ruether toes the slab for a third straight start against the Giants and is opposed by Mister McGraw's little experienced right-hander Rosy Ryan.  After trading zeroes through the fourth, Brooklyn strikes.  Center fielder Hi Myers singles leading off the fifth, advances to second, and scores on Dutch Ruether's base hit to left field.  Then with two outs and runners on the corners, Brooklyn successfully executes a double steal; Ivy Olson breaks for second drawing a throw while Dutch Ruether swipes home, giving the Robins a 2-0 lead.  

Two more scoreless innings go by until John McGraw takes over.  He replaces Rosy Ryan with Art Nehf, who pitches a scoreless top half of the eighth.  Meanwhile, Uncle Robbie sends Ruether out for the bottom half of the eighth.  At McGraw's insistence, the Giants strike back.  Lee King laces a lead-off double, and Goldie Rapp reaches on an infield hit.  With one out and both runners in scoring position, McGraw pinch-hits Alex Gaston for Nehf, who promptly triples into the right/center field gap tying the game at two.  McGraw then replaces Gaston with pinch-runner John Monroe, who scores the go-ahead run on George Burns' hit back through the box that hits Dutch Ruether but cannot assist for a putout.  After which, Jesse Barnes obliges Mister McGraw by closing out the ninth.  No twelfth consecutive victory for the Robins, not in Little Napoleon's empire.

• FINAL: BKN 2; NYG 3
• RECORD: 11-6 (.647); third place, 2.5 GB of Pittsburgh

GAME CALLED: Rain

Wednesday, May 4, 1921

New York Yankees @ WASHINGTON SENATORS

Griffith Stadium

This marks the seventh game this season for the Yankees compromised by rain.  Meanwhile, the King of Clout remains stuck at six home runs.  

Babe Ruth entered the season with 103 career round-trippers, giving him a total of 109 to date.  Roger Conner, the former 19th century Troy Trojans/New York Giants great, holds the major league record with 138 home runs over an 18-year National League career.  Lest we forget, just three years ago, while a member of the Red Sox, Ruth led the American League with eleven home runs.  A year later, he shatters Philadelphia A's Socks Seybold's 16-year old single-season American League record of 16 home runs.  Later that same season he ties and surpasses by one the all-time record of 28 home runs set in 1894 by Chicago White Stockings third baseman Ned Williamson.  Then, of course, last season Ruth accomplishes the once-unimaginable, breaking his own record, and resetting it at an incredible 54 home runs in one season - no player before had ever before hit 50 home runs.  

The man is hitting more home runs than whole teams!  Fans of both circuits are still struggling to comprehend the historical events unfolding before them.  In Ruthian terms, he is a mere 29 home runs away from tying Roger Connor with upwards of 140 regular-season games left to play.  If last season is any indication, the home run record once again rides a pale horse.

BRG Date 5/4/1908: Brooklyn Royal Giants Defeated by St. Bonaventure College

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

BUFFALO COURIER, May 5, 1908

 

On Monday, May 4, 1908, the Brooklyn Royal Giants were defeated by St. Bonaventure College playing in their season-opening game at Olean, New York.  

Starting for Brooklyn barnstormers is right-hander Harry Buckner with Phil Bradley completing the battery.  

St. Bonaventure puts bat to ball for a run in the first inning, then erupts for five runs in the second.  The collegiates post two more in the seventh and another pair in the eighth.  All told, Harry Buckner yields eleven hits.  However, Brooklyn is partly undone by six errors in the field.  The Royal Giants post their first run in the fourth, then rally for five runs in the eighth to no avail.  St. Bonaventure pitchers Hughes and McDonald join in limiting the Royal Giants to seven hits with just one misplay behind them.

100 YEAS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/3/1921: Giants Complete Sweep of Braves; Yankees Whitewash Red Sox at Fenway

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 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 in 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 #16

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, May 3, 1921 - BR

Boston Braves @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Rube Benton's First Start is a Dandy; Giants Complete Sweep of Braves

Upwards of 15,000 cranks arrive for the make-up of Friday's postponement, wherein the Giants defeat the Braves for a fourth straight game and complete the series sweep.  Making his first appearance of the season, the veteran Rube Benton allows two runs, one earned, on just three hits and one walk with two strikeouts over nine complete innings for the win.  Boston's first run is helped along by first baseman High Pocket Kelly's error in the second.  In the ninth, center fielder Roy Howell led off with a triple and scored when Frankie Frisch mishandles the relay from George Burns.  Ross Youngs starts things off for the Giants in the first inning with two runs batted in.  An error by Braves second baseman Hod Ford and a hit from High Pockets Kelly gives the Giants a 4-1 lead after three.  A run-scoring double struck by third baseman Goldie Rapp in the sixth knocks starter Mules Watson out of the box.  Catcher Frank Snyder greets reliever Joe Oeschger with a run-scoring hit through the left side.  Then with the bases loaded, Oeschger hits Dave Bancroft with a pitch plating the Giants' seventh and final run of the game.  Tomorrow, the second-place Brooklyn Robins pay this season's first visit to the Polo Grounds.

• FINAL: BOS 2; NYG 7
• RECORD: 10-6 (.625), third place, 3 GB of Pittsburgh

Home Run Race Through May 3, 1921

BOSTON GLOBE

GAME #14

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, May 3, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ BOSTON RED SOX

Fenway Park

Billy Piercy Blanks Red Sox in Fenway Park Finale 

New York salvages a win for a split in what was otherwise a washout at Boston.  Two of the four scheduled games were postponed due to yet more rain.  But after bowing in the ninth inning of yesterday's game, the Yankees respond this day with a cleanly orchestrated performance in an overall well-played and tightly contested affair at Fenway Park.  In the midst of his triumphant return to the big leagues, righty Bill Piercy climbs the hill and is opposed by Boston southpaw and naval veteran Herb Pennock.  Piercy surrenders no runs, ten hits, and two walks with two strikeouts in a complete-game shutout victory, his third of the season against one loss.  Leading off the third, a single from Aaron Ward and a double by catcher Wally Schang put two runners in scoring position.  Bill Piercy's hit to left plated one run, and with one out, Roger Peckinpaugh's sacrifice-fly to center scores Wally Schang for a 2-0 lead and the Giants' final margin of victory.

• FINAL: NYY 2; BOS 0
• RECORD: 7-7 (.500); fourth place, 3.5 GB of Cleveland

N.Y. Rangers: Some Things Never Change

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

In round one of the 1978-1979 NHL playoffs, the New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers.  They would likewise defeat the New York Islanders in round two en route to the Stanley Cup finals against the Montreal Canadiens.  

Islanders defenseman and Norris trophy winner Dennis Potvin scored 101 points that season, making him only the second blueliner in NHL history to notch 100 points in a season.  

Rangers fans of that generation always wondered if the outcome against Montreal might have played out differently had defenseman, Ulf Nilsson, been available.  On Feb. 25, 1979, in a game against the Islanders, Nilsson skated into the left corner to pursue a loose puck.  With his head down and eyes focused on the puck, Nilsson gets blasted into the boards by an onrushing Dennis Potvin.  The result of the hit was a broken ankle.  It was also the genesis of the "Potvin Sucks!" chant, now over 40 years old.  Too many fans today participate in the chant, not knowing its origin, but just play along because it's the thing to do.  

I digress ...

Nick Fotiu played for that Rangers team.  His presence often made opponents think twice before committing any on-ice indiscretions against the Blueshirts.  The lack of a similar type of player arguably cost the Rangers a Stanley Cup or even two during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  

Fast-forward, Mike Keenan was aghast upon his arrival as head coach of the Rangers at that systemic lack of physicality and essentially ordered general manager Neil Smith to fix it. 

All these years later, the song remains the same.  On Apr. 14, against the Islanders, Jacob Trouba absorbed a big hit from Matt Martin and has been out of action ever since.  Max Pacioretty's hit on Brad Richards several years back comes to mind.  But the list of unanswered hits goes on and on.

The assumption was John Davidson lived it and knows better.

The assumption was Jeff Gorton came through the Boston organization and knows better.

Yes, the Rangers are rebuilding, but they continue ignoring this one critical component.

One Stanley Cup since 1940 ... just ask Mike Keenan.  He knew post-haste what the problem was.

• UPDATE: Did you see Monday's game against the Washington Capitals?  Did you see what Tom Wilson did to Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin?

Smurfs!

Islanders Clinch Playoff Berth at Rangers Expense

From the desks: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS & THE LONG ISLAND NOMADS

ISLANDERS CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH

Islanders defeat Rangers; 6-2

I - NYI 4; NYR 0

II - NYR 5; NYI 0

III - NYI 2; NYR 0

IV - NYR 4; NYI 1

V - NYI 3; NYR 2*

VI - NYI 6; NYR 1

VII - NYI 4; NYR 0

VIII - NYI 3; NYR 0

*overtime

Look What The Islanders Did To The Rangers, Again!

In what was possibly the final regular-season game ever to be played between the Islanders and Rangers at the Uniondale barn, Long Island blanks the city folk for a second consecutive game and the fourth time in their season series.  After splitting the first four games, the Isles take the final four.

Don't look now, but the Pittsburgh Penguins lead the Capitals by two points.  The Islanders clinch a playoff spot with 67 points. 

Insofar as the Rangers are concerned, I have no interest in Saturday's score and outcome.  However, the game itself and the fact that Long Island shut out the Rangers a fourth time in eight games partly serve my overall point.

Allow me to pick up where I left off ...

We know about Mika Zibanejad's terrible start to the season.  In January, he failed to score in six of eight games and similarly failed to score in eight of eleven games in February.  Mika totaled just six points over his first 19 games of the season.  But we also know he was returning from a pre-season bout with COVID.  

Mika then scored in nine of 16 games in March for 21 points, and in April, he scored in 12 of 15 games for 19 points.  That gives him 40 points in his last 31 games entering May.  His overall season stats now look more representative: 51 games, 20 goals, 26 assists, 46 points.

And therein lies the rub ...

In 16 games against the Devils and Flyers, Mika Zibanejad has grossed ten goals and 17 assists for 27 points. 

Through 35 games so far against the Islanders, Bruins, Capitals, Sabres, and Penguins, Mika has ten goals and nine assists for 19 points.  

Closer to the point, Mika scored just three points in eight games this season versus the Islanders; no points on Thursday, no points on Saturday.  

Just for the sake of being an equine posterior about it ... before going down with a season-ending injury, Islanders center Anders Lee scored 12 goals with seven assists for 19 points in 27 games, eight fewer games than Zibanejad.

On This Day at Washington Park 5/2/1908: Brooklyn Colored Giants Defeat Bronx F.C. in Battle of Boroughs

From the desk: KINGS COUNTY BASEBALL CHRONICLES

 

The Brooklyn Citizen

By 1906, Brooklyn Royal Giants' owner John W. Conner had struck up an acquaintance with one Charles Hercules Ebbets, president of the Brooklyn Superbas.  They agree that when the National League team is on the road, the still fledgling Brooklyn Royal Giants can play some of their home games at the refurbished Washington Park located along Fourth Avenue and Third Street in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn.  In 1908, this informal agreement is extended to Grant "Home Run" Johnson and his new aggregation, the Brooklyn Colored Giants who this season would play at Washington Park on the Saturdays that manager Pat Donavan's Superbas were away from home.

⚾

On Saturday, May 2, 1908, the Brooklyn Colored Giants featuring the great Grant "Home Run" Johnson host the Bronx Field Club at Washington Park.  Brooklyn scores early, often, and late in this latest battle of the boroughs en route to a commanding 12-1 victory over the visiting Bronx County nine.  

Grant Johnson this day plays behind the plate with Emery completing the battery.  Among Brooklyn batters, (SS) Paul, Grant Johnson, (CF) Murphy, and (2B) Gardner account for eleven of the Giants' hits.  Everyone in Brooklyn's lineup, except for (LF) Howell, scores at least once; Paul crosses the plate three times while third baseman Fuller and Johnson score two runs apiece, respectively.  

"The batting and fielding of the home team prevented the visitors offering the semblance of a close contest during the eight inning game, and when Brown went to third on Green's single and scored on Schaefer's hit to midfield the invaders saved themselves a shutout." - Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BOXSCORE: The Brooklyn Citizen

Bronx F.C. does themselves no favors in committing six fielding errors, including one by the catcher Schaffer and at least one each from all four members of the infield (two at shortstop).  Otherwise, the Giants amass fifteen hits against Bronx starter Riley, three going for extra bases, three walks; they swipe five bases and leave nine runners on base.  Emery earns the victory after yielding a lone run on six hits, two walks, ten strikeouts, and one hit-by-pitch for good measure. 

This second boxscore appearing in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle details the same game but with conflicting results.  The final score reads 11-1 in this account.  As opposed to Howell being the lone Giant to not score a run, he is herein listed with two runs scored and it is second baseman Gardner who fails to score from among the lineup.  Grant Johnson also goes from being credited with eleven putouts down to eight, and first baseman Smith increasees from five putouts to nine.  Brooklyn likewise goes from fifteen totals hits and none by starting pitcher Emery, to sixteen hits including two by Emery.  In turn, Bronx is charged with four errors, not six. 

UPCOMING GAMES AT WASHINGTON PARK:

• Saturday, May 9, 1908: the Brooklyn Colored Giants host the Resolutes of Washington. 

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/2/1921: Giants Take Third Straight From Braves; Red Sox Defeat Carl Mays at 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 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 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 in 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 #15

BOXSCORE: Monday, May 2, 1921 - BR

Boston Braves @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

High Pockets Kelly Hits Number Seven; Jesse Barnes Takes Care of the Rest

The Giants continue their assault against Boston pitchers.  Leading off the first against Braves starter Mule Watson, George Burns triples to center field, and Dave Bancroft draws a base on balls.  Next up, Frankie Frisch delivers home both runners with a triple right.  Then with one out and Frisch still at third, High Pockets Kelly homers to deep left field triggering pandemonium among the 10,000 at the Polo Grounds and more to the point, spelling the end of Mule Watson's afternoon.  Reliever Jack Scott fares no better, surrendering another four runs on eight hits and two walks through the seventh.  Runs batted in by George Burns and Dave Bancroft give the Giants a 6-0 lead after two, and doubles by High Pockets Kelly and Goldie Rapp make it a 7-0 lead after three.  Right fielder Ross Youngs drives in the Giants' eighth and final run in the seventh.  Back in the sixth, Boston musters their lone run of the game when center fielder Ray Powell triples and scores on Walter Barbare's grounder to short.  Jesse Barnes yields just six hits in an otherwise stellar effort and no walks through nine complete innings for his second win of the season against one loss.  High Pockets now has 24 runs batted in through the team's first 15 games.  This marks the Giants' third straight win of the series and their fifth consecutive win this season against the Braves.  However, their standing remains unchanged as the second-place Robins defeat the Phillies and the first-place Pirates fend off the Cubs.

• FINAL: BOS 1; NYG 8
• RECORD: 9-6 (.600); third place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh

Daily News, New York

GAME #13

BOXSCORE: Monday, May 2, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ BOSTON RED SOX

Fenway Park

Sad Sam Jones Outduels Carl Mays; Babe Ruth Home Run Goes For Naught

HOME RUN BAKER RETURNS TO THIRD BASE

Sad Sam Jones helps send home 8,000 Fenway fans happy as clams at high tide by outlasting former Red Sox, now Yankees ace Carl Mays.  The former stablemates duel through seven scoreless innings.  Boston finally breaks through in the eighth when center fielder Shano Collins doubles home first baseman Stuffy McInnis.  However, Babe Ruth brings to pause any premature celebration by leading off the top of the ninth with a home run to deep right field, his sixth of the season.  But with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Del Pratt stationed at second base, Red Sox right fielder Tim Hendryx saves the day with a clean single to center field, ending the game.  Sad Sam improves to 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA after yielding one earned run on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts through nine complete innings.  Carl Mays loses for the second time upon his surrender of two runs on five hits and one walk over 8.2 innings pitched.  Bob Meusel accounts for three of New York's seven hits.  And a hardy welcome back to Home Run Baker, who, after two pinch-hitting appearances, makes his first start at third base after sitting out the entire 1920 season for family reasons.

• FINAL: NYY 1; BOS 2
• RECORD: 6-7 (.462); fourth place, 4.0 GB of Cleveland

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/1/1921: Fred Toney Turns Away Braves; Babe Ruth's Return to Boston Not So Grand

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 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 in 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 #14

BOXSCORE: Sunday, May 1, 1921 - BR

Boston Braves @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Fred Toney Returns to Last Season's Form

After the Braves stranded three base runners in the first, Boston starting pitcher Hugh McQuillan in the next inning takes matters into his own hands, lashing a two-out double and scoring the game's first run on center fielder Ray Powell's base hit to right field.  However, Fred Toney matches McQuillan at the plate and outclasses him on the hill.  McQuillan is gone by the sixth, whereas Toney completes what he begins.  

In similar fashion to yesterday's contest, the Giants' lineup storms ahead with a flurry of late-inning runs.  With one out in the home fourth, center fielder Curt Walker's home run ties the game, and with two outs, catcher Earl Smith homers to deep right field, giving the Giants a lead they would not relinquish.  Fred Toney comes to his own aid in the sixth with a hit and two runs batted in.  In the seventh, second baseman Lloyd Christenbury singles home Boston's second and final run of the game.  Afterwhich, left fielder George Burns in the eighth adds the finishing touches with a hit-scoring third baseman Goldie Rapp and Earl Smith.  George Burns finishes 2 for 4 and leads the Giants with three runs batted in, en route to a five-run margin of victory.

But it's Fred Toney beginning with the last out in the second who captures the spotlight by retiring 13 of the next 14 batters, interrupted only in the third when he plunks left fielder Walton Cruise with a pitch.  Otherwise, coming off two straight losing performances, Fred Toney allows two runs, one earned, eight hits, and just one walk through nine full innings.  He improves to 2-2 with a decreased 2.45 ERA through 24 innings pitched to date.  Upon retiring Billy Southworth for the final out of the game, Fred Toney's effort is met with a roar of appreciation and a standing ovation by some 12,000 strong.

• FINAL: BOS 2; NYG 7
• RECORD: 8-6 (.571); third place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh.

OFF DAY

Sunday, May 1, 1921

New York Yankees @ BOSTON RED SOX

Fenway Park

It seems somewhat ponderous the respective owners elect to not play on this day despite having to make up back-to-back postponements.  In town since Thursday night, the Yankees and Red Sox have yet to step onto the field at Fenway Park.  At long last, they're scheduled for Monday afternoon.  But that's no consolation to Babe Ruth, who hoped to spend time commiserating with old friends.  However, a three-day layoff should prove quite beneficial insofar as Ruth's recovery from a sprained wrist incurred during the previous series versus the Washington Senators.  

Boston Post, May 2, 1921

NEXT GAME

Monday, May 2, 1921

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 4/30/1921: High Pockets Kelly Slam Sinks Braves; Yankees Postponed Again at Boston

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—the Giants attempt to evict the Yankees in 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 #13

BOXSCORE: Saturday, April 30, 1921 - BR

Boston Braves @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

High Pockets Kelly Grand Slam Highlights Giants Victory Over Braves

After Friday's postponement, the Giants take the field with energy at the Polo Grounds.  Despite yielding a run in the first, the Giants furnish starter Art Nehf with more than enough support to get him through to his third victory of the season against one loss.  Nehf allows four runs, three earned, twelve hits, and one walk with three strikeouts through nine.  The bottom of the order, center fielder Curt Walker, third baseman Goldie Rapp, and catcher Earl Smith all drive in runs against Braves starter Joe Oeschger.  Right fielder Ross Youngs' sacrifice-fly to center field off reliever Ira Townsend scores George Burns giving the Giants a 4-1 lead after five.  Then with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh, High Pockets Kelly connects for a grand slam home run to deep right field for a commanding 9-2 advantage.  Acquired from Pittsburgh, Braves right fielder Billy Southworth drives home two runs in the top of the ninth to no avail.  The Giants get back in the win column after sustaining four straight losses at Brooklyn.  They close out the month of April with a modest 7-6 record.

• FINAL: BOS 4; NYG 9
• RECORD: 7-6 (.538); fourth place, 3.5 GB of Pittsburgh

GAME CALLED: Rain

Saturday, April 30, 1921

New York Yankees @ BOSTON RED SOX

Fenway Park

The visiting New York Yankees and host Red Sox 

are rained out for a second consecutive day at Boston.

The Boston Globe, April 30, 1921

Boston Sunday Globe, May 1, 1921