Wednesday, January 15, 2014

World Series: Did You Know?

The first Subway Series involving New York teams was in 1921.

The arrival of Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920 truly had ushered in a new era of prosperity for the only American League team based in the Big Apple.

So the Bronx Bombers were there with Babe Ruth and 98 wins. Opposing them were the New York Giants with 94 wins. Would it be an even match-up? For a time, yes! The World Series was still a best-of-9 affair, and this one certainly had the potential to go the distance. That would give everyone a good long look at the Babe in his prime.

Carl Mays was the pitcher for the Yankees in game 1. He was also acquired by New York from Boston, coming over in a July 1919 deal. Here, he made the deal, a steal!

Mays finished with a fine complete game 5-hitter. Babe Ruth got into the action and got an RBI to put a stamp on the Boston Red Sox's bad deal. Here were two fine Red Sox, who shared the spotlight in an opening act.

The Yankees were stealing some of the Giants' thunder for good measure. Although both teams used the same ballpark (The old Polo Grounds), the Giants were the home team here. The next game would see the Yankees bat in the bottom of every frame.

In game 2, Ruth was pitched to very carefully. Actually, he ended up with just 1 AB. The Giants walked Ruth 4 times and the rest of the Yankees 3 times. But what a pitcher's duel this game was!

Art Nehf of the Giants gave up just 3 hits and 3 runs scored. Of those, only 1 was earned. The 7 walks he issued were his only glaring problem. But Waite Hoyt outshone him by tossing a 2-hitter, and getting the shutout. More importantly, the American League pennant winners were up 2-0.

But the Giants would come back to win the two games.

The Yankees led 3-0 after 2 1/2 innings of game 3. But then the wheels came off the chariot. The Giants outscored the Yankees 13-1 the rest of the way!

Ross Youngs, the Giants' rightfielder, led the way with 4 RBIs. But he had plenty of company there as leftfielder Irish Meusel had 3, as did second basemen Johnny Rawlings.

Ruth, for his part, did have 2 RBIs, but he and his teammates might have tried a little too hard with the wheels in this game. Ruth and Bob Meusel (Irish's brother) were both caught stealing in this game.

In game 4, Ruth had his signature moment. It came in the bottom of the 9th, as he hit a solo home run off Phil Douglas. The problem was, the Yankees trailed 4-1 when Ruth went yard. An even bigger problem was that was the last run the Bronx Bombers were to score. The first Fall Classic Battle Of New York was now tied 2 games apiece.

The Yankees were back "on the road" in game 5. But they were also back in the winner's circle. Indeed, the Yankees came out on top 3-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the Series.

Ruth, continuing his clutch play, proved his versatility in this game. When he faced Neft again in the top of the 4th, the game was tied at 1. But The Sultan Of Swat surprised everyone with a bunt, and made it to first! When Bob Meusel followed with a double. Another run by the Yankees that inning made a winner out of Hoyt again. Hoyt gave up 10 hits in 9 innings, however.

Just when things had started to look up for the Yankees, however, disaster struck. Ruth was out for this game and perhaps more. Indeed, he had a bad knee and now a scraped elbow was making it hard to continue.

The Yankees started the game looking like they didn't need him. As the "home team", they scored 3 times in the bottom of the 1st and 2 more times in the bottom of the second. But the Giants had tied the game in the top of the 2nd, and the Yankees offence was out of gas after the two-run second inning. The Giants were just getting started. Irish Meusel, High Pockets Kelly and Dave Bancroft all had 2 RBIs in this game for the Giants. The World Series of 1921 was now deadlocked again, 3-3.

Game 7 was one of the best game 7's that you will see from a pitcher's perspective. Alas, this was a winner-take-all game 7. And Babe Ruth did not play.

The Giants, playing at their home and batting in the bottom of every frame, took this one 2-1. Douglas, who used a spitball among his arsenal, won over Mays despite giving up 8 hits to Carl's 6. Irish Meusel again did some damage with an RBI in the 4th that tied the game.

Leading 4-3 in the Series, and needing just one more win to end it, the Giants turned to Nehf again. Nehf had pitched well in the Fall Classic, but was 0-2. His performance in game 8 would change that!

Nehf went out and fired a 4-hit shutout of the Bronx Bombers. It was a heart-breaking loss for the Yankees, as Hoyt pitched his third straight complete game. He gave up just 6 hits and 1 run. But he took the loss.

Babe Ruth did make a dramatic appearance in this game. He pinch-hit in the bottom of the 9th, but could only ground out. The Yankees would not go quietly as Aaron Ward drew a walk. Then, Frank Baker hit a hard smash that looked like a sure hit to centre. Rawlings, at second, got a piece of it to keep it in the infield. He threw to first then got Baker. Ward tried to make it to third on the play. A fine throw by Kelly got him at third. A spectacular play to end a memorable first World Series, New York exclusive!


References

Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.

Retrosheet. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.  <www.retrosheet.org>

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.

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