THE FIRST CHALLENGE BETWEEN THE NEW YORK GIANTS AND THE NEW YORK YANKEES IS STAGED AT THE 1921 WORLD SERIES – SportHistoria

Article by John Manenti

In the US sports panorama, the City of New York excels, among the four major professional leagues – MLB (Baseball), NBA (Basketball), NFL (Football) and NHL (Ice Hockey) – only in Baseball, with the New York Yankees having played 40 World Series – or the challenge for the title between the winners of the American League and National League – winning 27 with only 13 defeats, for an undisputed superiority given that behind them there are the St. Louis Cardinals, with 11 affirmations out of 19 Finals played …

But, for the New York franchise it has not always been like this since, originally founded at the beginning of the 20th century in Baltimore and moved to the Metropolis in 1903 under the name “New York Highlanders” – although transformed into the current Yankees as early as 1913 – had to deal with the fair in its early years city ​​rivalry of the New York Giants, formed since 1883, name assumed two years later compared to the initial New York Gothams.

And here it is the Giants, led on the bench by theirs former player John McGrow for three consecutive decades, the first to bear the title in the “Big Apple”, winning the 1905 World Series thanks to a 4-1 against the Philadelphia Athleticsto then reach the Final four more times (1911-’13 and 1917), without however being able to repeat the initial success, undergoing the revenge by Philadelphia in 1911 and 1913, while in 1912 and 1917 to get the upper hand are the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox, respectively …

On the other hand, the Yankees, since taking on this denomination, are barely able to conclude the “regular season” of the American League with a 50% record, providing a first revival nod in 1919, finished in third place with 80 wins and 59 losses, same placement repeated the following year, but with a record of 95-59 just two wins from the Cleveland Champions, to then finally make his own the title in 1921 by completing a 98-55 seasonalso superior to what (94-59) obtained by the Giants by imposing themselves in the National League.

At this point, a digression is needed as regards the practice of sport in the United States of the time, namely the fact that, in addition to the aforementioned American and National Leagues, there was a third, the Negro National League reserved only for black players, who were not allowed to be registered for other professional clubswhich speaks volumes, being just a century ago, what racial discrimination was in a self-described country”the emblem of democracy” …

Having done this, we deem it necessary, digression, that’s it New York Giants and New York Yankees are facing each other for the first time in their respective history (and it won’t be the last …) with the overall MLB title up for grabs, but also the last in which the same is awarded to the best of 9 games – which also happened only in 1913 and in the two previous editions – given that from next we return to a series of best of 7 matches as in Basketball, standard still in effect.

And, in addition to the first “Derby newyorkese”, there is a further first fruit, deriving from the fact that the World Series is broadcast on the radio – something that has never happened before and with the task of narrating the event entrusted to the 41-year-old Grantland Rice – testifying to the growth of the Discipline within the country and, we believe, also from the rivalry between the two franchises, not least also having reference to the two technicians, with the Giants led by Miller Hugginsmarried in New York in 1918 after four years with the St. Louis Cardinals …

And, moreover, it could not be otherwise, given the interest aroused by the event, which has attracted in Metropolis New York fans from all over North America, from the extreme west of California and Mexico to Cuba, with booming business for city hotels and the need for the railway companies to provide supplementary trains, on a par with road transport.

From a purely technical point of view, the challenge promises to be a valid topic of discussion for the media and insiders, as it pits two different styles of play, with the Giants practicing the inside game typical of the so-calleddead-ball era”, while the Yankees favor a power game whose greatest exponent is the “legendary” Babe Ruthin his second season in New York after spending five years with the Boston Red Sox, with whom he had won the World Series in 1915, 1916 and 1918and moreover returning from one of his best seasons in his career …

To try to celebrate the title again, the Giants have neglected nothing, demonstrating the fact that even during the “regular season” they put under contract Johnny Rawlings, Irish Meusel, Casey Stengel e Red Causey provenienti dai Philadelphia Phillies, oltre all’esterno Bill Cunningham bought by Seattle, while the movements of the Yankees are minor, ensuring only the performances of the fielder Elmer Miller and the pitcher Tom Rogers.

Everything is therefore ready for the start of the series and, given that we have already talked about “first time”, this also applies to the pitch, given that all matches are played at the “Polo Grounds”located in upper Manhattan, actually owned by the Giants, but which had been sub-leased to the Yankees for a decade (1913-1922) while waiting for the construction of the famous “Yankee Stadium” with a capacity, at the time, of over 60,000 spectators …

With the Yankees and Giants alternating in the purely symbolic role of hosts, they are the first to host race-1 on 5 October 1921, which they won 3-0, the same result with which they also brought home race-2before the Giants prove their worth with the clear affirmation for 13-5 in race-3 and therefore impacting the series on 2-2 with the 4-2 in his favor in race-4.

Balance therefore reigns supreme, just as it is constant the attendance of the public, which, after the slightly more than 30,000 spectators of the first match, stands at an average of around 35/36,000 in the subsequentwith a first breakthrough to reach the end of race-5, in which the Yankees take back the series lead with a 3-1 win. but forgiveness for the rest of the contest Babe Ruth, who already suffers from an arm, also injures a knee …

Nonetheless, the Yankees lead 3-0 in their favor at the end of the first inning of Game-6before undergoing the progressive comeback of the Giants who, reduced the gap to 3-5 after the second inning, they posted a 4-0 in the quarter to then conclude victorious for 8-5 and give the conviction that the inertia of the series is now on their side, even if they haven’t come to terms with the pride of their opponents.

With the series in fact tied (3-3), game-7 of October 12, 1921 sees the two formations firm on the score of 1-1 before Frank Snyder makes an RBI in the seventh inning (“Run Batted In”, which translates into “run home” …) for the final 2-1 that gives the Giants the first “match point” for race-8 which takes place the day after …

Now one step away from defeat, Huggins also plays the Ruth card as last batter, sending him to the field with the score still at 1-0 in favor of the Giants from the first inningwhich is why a home run would be needed (“home run” according to the English meaning …) to rebalance the fate of the match, but the Champion is unable to provide the usual contribution and, shortly after, Frank Baker tempts a “double playwhich fails as Aaron Ward is out at third baseso that the Giants can close the series at 5-3 returning to celebrate a title 16 years later …

But don’t think it’s over here, since the “Derby newyorkese” goes on stage for another two consecutive years, with the Giants confirming themselves Champions the following year by finishing the series at 4-0, before the 1923 Yankees inaugurate in the best way the “Yankee Stadium” with a 4-2 that certifies the first of an endless series of successes …

And the best was still long to come …