100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/18/1921: Earl Smith Ninth Inning Homer Thwarts Cubs; White Sox Rout Yankees at Comisky

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 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 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 before the start of 1921 to no avail.  But a solution lies not too far away ...  

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

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

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

⚾

GAME #28

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, May 18, 1921 - BR

Chicago Cubs @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Earl Smith Hits Ninth Inning Game-Winning Home Run; Giants Extend Win Streak to Eight

With the Cubs clinging to a one-run lead through seven, starter Buck Freeman authors his own demise by plunking pinch-hitter Eddie Brown leading off the eighth, then issuing two walks loading the bases.  Manager Johnny Evers summons Lefty York from the bullpen, who proceeds to walk High Pockets Kelly and Frank Snyder, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.  For the top half of the ninth, Mister McGraw replaces starter Rube Benton with righty Phil Douglas who walks the first batter he faces, then with one out walks another.  Mister McGraw would have none of it; out goes Douglas, and into the game comes Slim Salle.  With two outs, shortstop Charlie Hollocher's infield hit to first scores the tying run.  Leading off the bottom of the ninth, catcher Earl Smith homers to deep right field off reliever Speed Martin ends the game - just as Curt Walker had done one day ago.  The Giants take the series opener and extend their winning streak to eight games.  They also become the only second team in either league to achieve 20 victories to date.

• FINAL: CHI 2; NYG 3
• RECORD: 20-8 (.714); second place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #26

BOXSCORE: Wednesday, May 18, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Comisky Park

White Sox Mount Twelve Hit Attack; Veteran Red Faber Handles the Rest

Outside of a mild retort in the seventh, the Yankees have no answer for two-time 20-game winner Red Faber and the host White Sox.  Making his tenth appearance, the veteran Faber limits New York to a pair of runs on just five hits and four walks with three strikeouts over nine innings complete.  He improves to 7-2 with a 1.22 earned run average.  Aaron Ward is hit with a pitch leading off the seventh, then scored on the double by Chicken Hawks, who would also score when Roger Peckinpaugh bounces into a double-play.  All three Yankees hurlers took their lumps, yielding a total of 12 runs (only one unearned) on twelve hits and seven walks.  Starter Jack Quinn takes the loss.  Chicago's second baseman Eddie Collins leads the assault, going 4 for 5 with two runs batted in; right fielder Harry Hooper was 2 for 5 with two runs scored.  Left fielder Babe Ruth follows yesterday's focus-lacking performance with a muted 0 for 5 effort at the plate and therein lies Muller Huggins' consternation: with today's loss, the Yankees relinquish their half share of first place to fall one full game behind the Indians.  In fairness, Bob Meusel and Home Run Baker were likewise held hitless.  Said another way, today's series opener is an instance where it's perhaps best to just render Red Faber due credit.

• FINAL: NYY 2; CHI 12
• RECORD: 15-11 (.577); second place, 1.0 GB of Cleveland

OTD 5/17/1936: Bushwicks Defeat Brooklyn Royal Giants Before 9,000 at Dexter Park

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 18, 1936

On Sunday, May 17, 1936, in front of 9,000 fans at Dexter Park, the host Bushwicks defeat the  Brooklyn Royal Giants.  Starter Jim Duffy and Charlie Perkins join together in limiting the Royal Giants to a pair of runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts for the victory.  For the Royal Giants, Carter surrenders eight hits over five innings; Farrell walks one and strikes out three in relief.  But the Bushwicks make no distinction with nine total runs on 15 hits.  Only a few of the top Brooklyn Royal Giants' regulars appear in this match, first baseman Ed Rile, center fielder Pete Washington, and catcher Joe Lewis, among them.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 18, 1936

OTD in Eastern Colored League History 5/17/1926: Brooklyn Royal Giants Defeat Oscar Charleston Managed Harrisburg Giants

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

Delaware County Daily Times

On Monday, May 17, 1926, in a game featuring Eastern Colored League members, the Brooklyn Royal Giants defeat the Oscar Charleston managed Harrisburgh Giants on their grounds by the final score, 10 to 6.  Heavy rain delayed the game in the sixth, and in the eighth, ended it.  

While Oscar Charleston patrolled center field, the Harrisburgh Giants also featured outfielders Rap Dixon and Fats Jenkins and third baseman John Beckwith.  The 1926 Royal Giants are managed by Jock Waters.  They are being headlined by Jesse Hubbard, Bill Holland, Charlie Smith, and of course, Dick "Cannonball" Redding.

The Evening Journal, Wilmington, Delaware

⚾

Brooklyn Cyclones: Greenville Drives Coney Island Fans Crazy

From the desk: THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

OPENING DAY
Tuesday, May 18, 2021

HUDSON VALLEY RENEGADES

vs.

BROOKLYN CYCLONES

FROM

Old Steeplechase Grounds

Our Brooklyn Cyclones are finally coming home.  The 2019 New York Penn League champions have yet to play a game at Coney Island since I snapped this picture on that glorious September night twenty long months ago.  They've been promoted up in levels, and now play in the newly formed High-A East Division.  Because of MiLB realignment, many of the 2019 champions will be returning for a second season in Brooklyn.  Among them are position players Brett Baty, Antione Duplantis, Joe Genord,  Luke Ritter, Jose Mena, and Jake Mangum.  From the pitching ranks, returning hurlers include Dan Goggin,  Andrew Edwards, Mitch Ragan, Brian Metoyer, Josh Hejka, Alec Kisena, Jaison Vilera, and Josh Walker.  Hurry back, we miss you!

⚾

Greenville defeats Brooklyn; 4-2

I - BKN 6; GVL 1

II - BKN 3; GVL 2

III - GVL 8; BKN 2

IV - GVL 5; BKN 1

V - GVL 8; BKN 4

VI - GVL 10; BKN 9

Like deja vu all over again ... 

• BOXSCORE: Sunday, May 16, 2021; Game #11

Brooklyn was pushing the pace.  They held various leads in this game, some larger than others.  Meanwhile, the Drive remained just close enough to stay representative.  Then, reminiscent of Saturday's four-run eighth inning, Greenville erupts this day for five runs in the eighth to overtake the Cyclones.

After two superlative starts, Josh Walker yields four earned runs on seven hits and one walk with four strikeouts through five innings pitched.  Designated hitter Delvin Granberg connected off Walker for a two-run home run in the fourth.  In the eighth, the Drive tag reliever Michel Otanez for another five earned runs on four hits and two walks, and just like that, Brooklyn found themselves down 9-6 heading into the ninth.  

With Jose Mena and Antoine Duplantis on base, shortstop Ronny Mauricio Ronny clears the wall in left, tying the game at nine!

Leading off the bottom of the ninth, Greenville's first baseman Tyreque Reed deposits Brooklyn reliever Eric Orze's 3-2 offering over the right-field wall.

Game over.

See you TUESDAY ... 

N.Y. Islanders: Former New Jersey Devil Topples Penguins in Overtime

From the desk: THE LONG ISLAND NOMADS

2020-2021 

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

ROUND ONE

Islanders lead Penguins; 1-0

I - NYI 4; PITT 3*

*overtime

Kyle Palmieri Finishes What He Starts

The Islanders have trouble scoring?  Yeah, so let's make a trade?  Oh, it did little to impact offensive production? 

About that ...

Former New Jersey Devil Kyle Palmieri does exactly what the Islanders needed most, score pucks.  He opens the scoring at 7:58 of the first period on feeds from Noah Dobson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.  But whatever the Islanders did, the Penguins answered right back.   Within minutes Frederick Gaudreau ties the game at one.  Sidney scores the only goal of the second period.  Just 3:33 into the third period, Jean-Gabriel Pageau ties the game at two.  Then at 15:50, Brock Nelson gives the Isles a 3-2 lead with assists from Anthony Beauvillier and Ryan Pulock.  But a mere 36-seconds later, Kasperi Kapanen ties the game at three, and into overtime, they go.

At 16:30 of the extra session, the veteran Kyle Palmieri patiently settles an uncooperative bouncing puck then wrists it high over Tristan Jarry's left shoulder for the game-winner.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau matches Sidney Crosby with five SOG's and one goal but also comes away with two assists for three points.

Getting the start between the pipes, Ilya Sorokin stops 39 of 42 shots on goal, all at even strength.

OTD in the Brooklyn Semi-Pros 5/17/1936: Bay Parkways Spilt Double-Header With House of David

From the desk: THE KINGS COUNTY GAME

Eighty-five year ago, on Sunday, May 17, 1936, not more than two miles away from where I live, one of Borough's best semi-pro clubs, the Bay Parkways, host and split a double-header with the skillfully renowned House of David baseball club at Erasmus Field, Brooklyn. 

 

• GAME ONE FINAL: House of David 4; Bay Parkways 3

In the opener, House of David starter Moose Swaney is opposed by Marius Russo for the By Parkways.  Swaney yields three runs on eleven hits, with two walks and one strikeout.  Russo limits House of David to just eight hits and three walks with five strikeouts.  Bay Parkway overcomes a 3-1 deficit with two runs in the eighth.  However, with two outs and Jim McCloskey back from the Boston Braves on the mound in Russo's relief, Caldwell's ninth-inning error in the right field proves costly as the local neighborhood Bay Parkways fall late 4 to 3.  McGee leads Bay Parkway with three hits, and three of their eleven hits go for extra bases to no avail.

• GAME TWO FINAL: House of David 6; Bay Parkways 16

There was little House of David could do to stem the Bay Parkway onslaught in game two.  The Brooklyn squad scored early, often, and late.  Three HOD pitchers joined together in surrendering 16 runs on 20 hits.  Henderson earns the win for Bay Parkway despite surrendering six runs on 14 hits and six walks with two strikeouts.  House of Davis right fielder Durning and Bay Parkway right fielder Caldwell each hit a home run apiece.  Catina led House of David with four hits, and left fielder Kelly leads Bay Parkway going 5 for 5 with a double and triple, and three runs scored. 

Recap and Boxscores: Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 18, 1936

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/17/1921: Giants Complete Sweep of Reds; Careless Ruth Costs Yankees Share Of First

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 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 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 before the start of 1921 to no avail.  But a solution lies not too far away ...  

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

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

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

⚾

GAME #27

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, May 17, 1921 - BR

Cincinnati Reds @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Jesse Barnes Pitches Eleven to Complete Sweep Over Reds

The usual allotment of putouts proved unsatisfactory in settling Tuesday's affair at the Polo Grounds.  The host Giants and visiting Reds needed more.  Making only his second start in nine appearances, Cincinnati's unfamiliar Buddy Napier toes the slab in opposition of Jesse Barnes.  The two duel to a three-all tie.  Ross Youngs triples home Frankie Frisch in the first, and Curt Walker triples and scores in the second.  Cincinnati strings together three consecutive singles in the bottom of the frame, and with the bases loaded, third baseman Sam Bohne scores on Pat Duncan's sacrifice fly.  Center fielder Edd Roush later drives home the tying run in the fifth.  After trading runs in the sixth and into extra innings, they go.  With one out in the top of the eleventh, Jesse Barnes walks his counterpart, Buddy Napier.  Barnes then induces Sam Bohne into a 6-4-3 double-play.  Leading off the bottom half of the frame, center fielder Curt Walker homers to deep left field against Napier ending the game.  The Giants sweep the Reds in four and extend their consecutive game-winning streak to seven.

• FINAL: CIN 3; NYG 4
• RECORD: 19-8 (.704); second place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #25

BOXSCORE: Tuesday, May 17, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CLEVELAND INDIANS

Dunn Field

Miller Huggins Leers at Ruth During Loss to Indians 

Despite Babe Ruth's leadoff ninth-inning home run, the defending champions hold on to salvage the series finale against the Yankees.  The young right-hander George Uhle limits the Yankees to a pair of runs on nine hits and three walks with four strikeouts for the victory.  Uhle also helps his cause with a single, and a run batted in during a two-run seventh.  Making only his first start in four appearances, Alex Ferguson yields four runs on seven hits and three walks in a seven-inning losing effort.  For Babe Ruth, it marks home run number twelve of the season.  However, that seemingly mattered little to Miller Huggins, who was clearly perturbed with Ruth getting picked off second base in the sixth, then committing a costly error in left field during the pivotal seventh inning.  Thus, the Indians snap New York's five-game winning streak and regain a half-share of first place.

• FINAL: NYY 2; CLE 4
• RECORD: 15-10 (.600); t-first place with Cleveland

N.Y. Knicks: This Season Was Brought To You By The Letter "F"

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

((((( ( (FORTY)))))))

SUNDAY

BOSTON CELTICS

vs.

NEW YORK KNICKS

FROM

Eighth Ave Gym

No one, media, fans, or otherwise, predicted this season's regular-season win total would start with the letter F.  But the Eighth Avenue crew blew right through the letter T with continued winning through the teens, the twenties, and thirties.  

Holy F, what an accomplishment!

Moreover, no one could have imagined chanting M-V-P this season for one of their own.  But that's just what happened.  Under the tutelage of Coach Thibodeau, Julius Randle has become one of the premier stars of the league.

Against Charlotte on Saturday, Julius Randle led the floor with 33 points in 46 minutes.  It's the 15th time this season he's eclipsed 30 points in a game, and along with ten rebounds and a game-high 13 assists, Julius notches his sixth triple-double this season.

Reggie Bullock was next in with 17 points in 40 minutes.  Led by Derrick Rose's 15 points, the bench accounted for 44 points or 37.2% of the Knicks scoring.  Immanuel Quickly led the Knicks with a +18 and 13 points in 24 minutes.

On Sunday. the tentatively fourth-ranked Knicks end the season against the number seven Boston Celtics.  Today's games will greatly impact the final standings for the Knicks, the number five Hawks, and the number six Miami Heat.

POSTGAME

Celtics   92

Knicks   96

FINAL

The Knicks take the season series Celtics, three games to two, and lock up the fourth spot in the conference.  They wrap up the season on a three-game win streak and finish with a 41-31 (.569) record.  Their +2.4 point differential is fourth in the conference.  Julius Randle finishes an incredible season with 20 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in 37 minutes.  For the season, he averages 24.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, and six assists, in an NBA high 37.56 minutes per game.

RJ Barrett led the Knicks with 22 points in 33 minutes.  It was the 33rd time this season he scored 20-points or more.  Last season he accomplished the feat 15 times.

Brooklyn Nets: Final Rehearsal Before the Big Dance

From the desk: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

REGULAR SEASON FINALE

May 16, 2021

SUNDAY

Cleveland Cavaliers

vs.

Brooklyn Nets

FROM

Flatbush Avenue

A nice team effort against the Chicago Bulls.  Despite the big three returning to the floor, the Nets are now without Joe Harris.  As such, Steve Nash provided steady employment for five players off the bench, then in the last few minutes tasked Alize Johnson, Reggie Perry, and Timothe Luwawau-Cabarrot with closing out the game.

The bench accounted for 48 points or 45.7% of Brooklyn's scoring.  Durant, Harden, and Kyrie account for 37.1% of the scoring.  Blake Griffin's only two points (in 20 minutes) came from the line.  Otherwise, he was 0/6 from the floor.  However, Bruce Brown was +8, with 16 points off the team's third-most attempts, and secured a team-high 12 rebounds.

THE BIG THREE  REUNITED

First off, they are now 6-2 when playing together.  When the triumvirate is on the floor, the Nets average about 124 points per game.  But when two of the three are missing, the Nets average, what did YES-TV say ... 107 points per game?  Don't quote me; that's somewhere in the ballpark, but we all understand the gist.

Saturday vs. Chicago:

• The returning James Harden only posts 5 points, 5 rebounds but distributed a game-high seven assists, with a +5, in 25 minutes.  He was only 2/4 from the field and 0/2 from the line, but make no mistake, the facilitator is back.  If nothing else, it's worth reiterating he led the floor in assists.  He's clearly and carefully being worked back into the fold.

• Kevin Durant's line reads 12 points, 9 rebounds, six assists, +10, in 30 minutes.  He put up the most attempts but finished shooting just 4/17 from the field, including 1/6 from behind the arc and 3/4 from the line.

• Kyrie Irving, like Durant, played a team-high 30 minutes.  He put up the second-most attempts, shooting 9/16 from the field, including 3/7 from behind the arc and 1/1 from the line for a team-high 22 points.  In fact, he was the only Net to exceed 20 points.  However, he registered not a single assist, and at some point, I fret that may become a detriment to the team.  In the absence of Harden or KD, or even both, how many times have we watched Kyrie pile up points, and the Nets still lose?

They have one more regular-season tune-up before the playoffs.  Or should I say this upcoming game will serve as their most important practice session of the entire season?

 

Brooklyn Cyclones Queasy After Rollercoaster Ride at Fluor Field

From the desk: THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

2001   20th   2021

ANNIVERSARY SEASON

Drive lead Cyclones; 3-2

I - BKN 6; GVL 1

II - BKN 3; GVL 2

III - GVL 8; BKN 2

IV - GVL 5; BKN 1

V - GVL 8; BKN 4

SUNDAY

Brooklyn Cyclones

vs.

Greenville Drive

FROM

Fluor Field

After Staging Comeback, Cyclones Come Undone in the Eighth

Second baseman Luke Ritter in the first inning drives home the first Cyclones run of the game, and away they go!  

Or, so we thought ...

Facing Brooklyn starter Jaison Vilera in the fourth, first baseman Tyreque Reed connects on a two-run home run over the center-field fence; catcher Alan Marrero follows with another two-run blast over the Green Monster in left for a 4-1 lead.  Jake Mangum scores on a sacrifice fly in the sixth, then in the eighth dramatically launches his own two-run home run just to the right of the Green Monster, tying the game at four.  

But the sense of joy is short-lived as the proverbial piano falling out of the sky had a Cyclones logo on it.  Greenville generates four runs in the home eighth against reliever Brian Metoyer.  An error in center field by Jake Mangum exacerbated the matter.

Greenville wins their third straight and now leads the series, 3 to 2.  Brooklyn looks to salvage a series split on Sunday.  Ten games into their journey through new territories, the Coney Islanders have lost six and won four. 

• BOXSCORE: Saturday, May 15, 2021; GAME #10

The beach beckons!  Opening Day at MCU Park is now just two days away.  

NOTE: I called the box office on Saturday.  The ticket window will be open as usual.  They will be allowing upwards of 1,500 fans into the park with the stipulation you must be fully vaccinated.

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/16/1921: Giants Take Third Straight From Reds; Yankees Overtake First Place At 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 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 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 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 before the start of 1921 to no avail.  But a solution lies not too far away ...  

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

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

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

GAME #26

BOXSCORE: Monday, May 16, 1921 - BR

Cincinnati Reds @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Giants Take Toney Off The Hook; Rosy Ryan Takes Care Of The Rest

Neither starting pitcher lasts into the sixth.  Reds starter Fritz Coumbe momentarily escapes trouble in the first inning when shortstop Sam Crane throws out George Burns at home.  However, an error by second baseman Lew Fonseca clears the way for two Giants runs.  Tying his shortest start to date, Fred Toney surrenders four runs, all in the fifth inning, including right fielder Charlie See's first home run this season.  But the Giants get Toney off the hook with five runs in the bottom of the fifth highlighted by Frankie Frisch's triple.  Mister McGraw then brings in reliever Rosy Ryan, and Cincinnati would score no more.  Ryan yields just two hits and one walk over the final four innings.  Toney still walks away with his fifth win against two losses but an increased 2.41 ERA.  At the top of the lineup, George Burns, Dave Bancroft, Frankie Frisch, and Ross Youngs are each credited with one run batted in.  The New Yorkers lead the series three games to none and are now winners of six consecutive games.  They gain a full game on Pittsburgh, who today encountered defeat at Philadelphia.

• FINAL: CIN 4; NYG 7
• RECORD: 18-8 (.692); second place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh

GAME #24

BOXSCORE: Monday, May 16, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CLEVELAND INDIANS

Dunn Field

Veni, Vidi, Vici!

Message from the mid-western front: Miller Huggins' New York Yankees gain the high ground.  With a trio of runs in the ninth, the Yanks untie a three-all knot en route to their third straight victory against the defending World Series champions.  Moreover, they take over sole possession of first place in the American League standings.  For a third straight game at Dunn Field, the Yankees open the scoring right away in the first inning, this time pushing three runs across the plate.  With two outs and two base runners at the ready, Frankie Frisch laces in an inside-the-park home run to center field.  Indians' left fielder Charlie Jamieson singles home two runs in the second inning reducing Cleveland's deficit.  Afterwhich, Tris Speaker and third baseman Larry Gardner doubles in the third inning, knot the game at three.  The score remains unchanged through the eighth.  New York tallies three runs in the final frame partly due to Cincinnati lapses in the field but largely highlighted by Babe Ruth's triple plating Roger Peckinpaugh with the Yankees sixth and final run of the afternoon.  Making his second start and fourth appearance within the last seven days, the wonderous Carl Mays surrenders three earned runs, nine hits, three walks, and fans three in a complete-game winning effort.  Mays improves to 6-2 with a 1.33 ERA.

• FINAL: NYY 6; CLE 3
• RECORD: 15-9 (.625); first place, 1.0 GA of Cleveland

ALL CLIPS (4)

Daily News (New York) p20, c1-4 

5/17/1921

Brooklyn Cyclones: More Swings and Many Misses at Greenville

From the desk: THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

Brooklyn Cyclones @ GREENVILLE DRIVE

I - BKN 6; GVL 1

II - BKN 3; GVL 2

III - GVL 8; BKN 2

IV - GVL 5; BKN 1

Things started out well.  However, it's how you finish that counts.  Brooklyn first baseman Joe Genord in the second clubbed his third home run this season.  But it wasn't long till Drive catcher Kole Cottam homered in the fourth, knotting the game at one.  

Trouble then finds Cyclones starter Alec Kisena again in the fifth.  This time he is knocked out of the box as the Drive rally for three runs.  In the fifth, Greenville third baseman Nick Sogard for good measure, homers off Nick MacDonald pitching in relief of Kisena.  

Southpaw Andrew Edwards is the only Brooklyn pitcher to come away from this game unscathed.  He tosses 2.1 innings in relief of MacDonald with three strikeouts.  Led by Greenville starter Brayan Bello, four Drive pitchers limit the Coneys to just four hits and issue four walks.  But the Surf Avenue Sluggers ponderously strike out another 14 times (falling one short of Thursday's total).  That makes 29 strikeouts through two games and 64 at-bats, or a 45% rate of whiffff.  

They've generated just ten hits in two losses to the Drive.  In this game, they go 0 for 6 w/ risp, and leave eight runners on base.  Greenville ties the series at two, but the Cyclones now fall a game under par with a 4-5 record through nine games and two games left versus the Drive before returning to Coney Island on Tuesday.

OTD 5/15/1921: Bushwicks Sweep Doubleheader From Brooklyn Royal Giants at Dexter Park

From the desk: DEM BARNSTORMERS

 

MAY 15, 1921

DOUBLE-HEADER

BROOKLYN ROYAL GIANTS

vs.

BUSHWICKS

FROM

DEXTER PARK

⚾

l - The Brooklyn Citizen, May 14, 1921

r - The Standard Union, Brooklyn, May 14, 1921

 Times Union, Brooklyn, May 16, 1921

The largest-ever crowd being reported for a baseball game at Dexter Park witnesses Max Rosner's Bushwicks sweep a double-header from the rival Eddie Johnson-managed Brooklyn Royal Giants.

GAME ONE

Royal Giants   2

BUSHWICK     3

FINAL

Game one is a tightly contested affair.  Ralph Carlstrom toes the slab for Bushwick, opposed by the Royal Giants right-hander Jesse "Mountain" Hubbard, who strikes out the first three batters he faces.  The pitchers trade zeroes until the fourth.  A double to center by left fielder Bob Scott and a single by Eddie Johnson stake the Royal Giants to a 1-0 lead, but it is short-lived.  An error by shortstop Irvin Brooks ultimately results in an unearned run and a tie game in the bottom half of the frame.  Until the sixth, when second baseman and Bushwicks captain Joe Weiss connects off Mountain Hubbard on a two-run home run hit deep into the overflow crowd stationed in straightaway center field.  The Royal Giants generate a late run in the eighth on singles by third baseman Louis Miller, Bob Scott, and Brooks.  But it's too little too late.  A stellar catch in left field by Johnny Menzel is key in quelling any further threat; the large crowd uproariously expressed their appreciation.  Winning pitcher Ralph Carlstrom issues just one walk and five hits through nine.  Jesse Hubbard takes the loss upon yielding three runs on eight hits (one home run), no walks, and eight strikeouts.

BOXSCORES: Times Union, Brooklyn

May 16, 1921

GAME TWO

Royal Giants    2

BUSHWICK    10

FINAL

Bushwick romps to victory in game two.  John Harris starts for the Royal Giants and is treated rather roughly.  He yields ten runs on twelve hits, three going for extra bases, six walks, and four strikeouts through eight innings pitched.  Harris also hits his mound opponent with a pitch which does little to hinder winning pitcher Jimmy Clinton from limiting the Giants to a pair of late runs on just six hits and one walk with two strikeouts.  Five Bushwick batters post multiple hits.  Only Harris of the Giants registers two hits; left fielder Bob Scott scores both Giants runs.

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 5/15/1921: Giants Upend Rube Marquard; Yankees Tie Indians For 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 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 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 before the start of 1921 to no avail.  But a solution lies not too far away ...  

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

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

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

GAME #25

BOXSCORE: Sunday, May 15, 1921 - BR

Cincinnati Reds @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

38,000 Uproarious Fans Celebrate Ninth Inning Comeback Against The Familiar Rube Marquard

New York City gets their first look at old friend Rube Marquard in a Cincinnati uniform.  A former 20-game winner with the Giants and member of last season's National League champion Brooklyn Robins, the 34-year old Marquard toes the slab at the Polo Grounds and is opposed by Art Nehf.  High Pockets Kelly drives in the first run of the game in the opening frame, and in the third, Ross Youngs makes it a two-run Giants' lead.  But with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth, Rube Marquard himself singles home two runs.  Afterwhich, third baseman Sam Bohne singles home catcher Bubble Hargrave giving the Reds and Marquard a 3-2 lead.  Art Nehf gets through the seventh without further damage.  Mister McGraw summons Pol Perritt from the bullpen, and the score remains unchanged through the eighth.  With Marquard still twirling in the ninth, Frank Snyder doubles to left, and pinch-hitter Alex Gaston singles putting two runners in scoring position.  Reds manager Pat Moran makes no move, and George Burns makes him pay dearly with a single to left scoring pinch-runner John Monroe for the tying run.  Dave Bancroft then steps into the box and, with another sharply hit single to left, delivers home the winning run, and the packed house of 38,000 go wild!  Making his first appearance of the season, Pol Perritt yields no runs and just one hit over the game's final two innings for the win.  George Kelly now leads the major leagues with 34 runs batted in.  The Giants are now winners of five in a row and eleven of their last 13 games.

• FINAL: CIN 3; NYG 4
• RECORD: 17-8 (.680); second place, 2.5 GB of Pittsburgh

NEW YORK TRIBUNE, May 15, 1921

The contentious tenant/landlord relationship 

between the Yankees and Giants takes 

a huge step forward towards resolution.

GAME #23

BOXSCORE: Sunday, May 15, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ CLEVELAND INDIANS

Dunn Field

Yankees Catch Indians; Teams Tied For First Place

A robust Sunday crowd of just under 40,000 at Dunn Field watches in dismay as the Yankees, minus any hits off the bat of Babe Ruth, knock veteran Stan Coveleski from the box after just three innings pitched.  The Indians starter yields five runs (four earned), seven hits, and one walk with three strikeouts before heading off to the showers.  For good measure, New York strikes for three more runs in the fifth.  All told, the Yankees unleash a 13-hit attack that garners eight runs.  Meanwhile, the Brooklynite Waite Hoyt limits the defending World Champions to a pair of runs on nine hits and four walks through nine complete innings.  Hoyt evens his record at 2-2 with a 2.88 earned run average.  Center fielder Braggo Roth, Roger Peckinpaugh, and Bob Meusel record three hits each and join together for five runs batted in.  Home Run Baker goes 2 for 5 with a double and one run batted in.  The Yankees extended their winning streak to four and improve to 5-1 on this road trip.  Moreover, the Yankees and Indians are now tied for first place.

• FINAL: NYY 8; CLE 2
• RECORD: 14-9 (.609); t-first place with Cleveland