1923 World Series

In the 1923 World Series, the New York Yankees beat the New York Giants in six games. This would be the first of the Yankees' 27 World Series championships (as of 2016). The series was not played in a 2–3–2 format: as with the previous two Series (where both clubs had shared the Polo Grounds) the home field alternated each game, though this time it involved switching ballparks, as the first Yankee Stadium had opened this season.

Background

The Yankees opened their new stadium in April on a home run by Babe Ruth, setting the tone for the season and this Series, in which Ruth hit three home runs along with drawing eight walks. In Game 2, second baseman, Aaron Ward hit a home run. The Giants' one bright spot was "Old Casey" Stengel, who hit game-winning homers in each of the two Giants' victories. In typically eccentric Stengel fashion, one of them was inside-the-park at the cavernous Yankee Stadium, and his shoe came loose during his run around the bases. Stengel was traded after the season, leading him to quip later in life, "It's a good thing I didn't hit three homers in three games, or McGraw would have traded me to the Three-I League!". A quarter century later, Stengel would take on the role of Yankees manager, and would guide the Bronx Bombers through one of their most successful eras.

In Game 6, The Yankees overcame the 4–1 deficit by staging a five-run rally in the eighth inning to clinch the series.

The three consecutive matchups between the Yankees and Giants (1921–1923) marked the only time (as of 2016), that three straight World Series featured the same two clubs.

Thanks to the large seating capacity of the new Yankee Stadium, coupled with expansion of the Polo Grounds the same year, the 1923 Series was the first to eclipse 300,000 in total attendance (301,430), averaging over 50,000 per game (50,238), with gate receipts over $1 million ($1,063,815.00).

This was the third time that a team had inaugurated a new stadium with a World Series win, and would be the last until the St. Louis Cardinals victory in their new ballpark in 2006 and the New York Yankees again won the World Series in 2009 in their new Yankee Stadium.

Babe Ruth had a great series, his first great one as a Yankee, batted .368 and hit three home runs in the series.

Neither Lou Gehrig, Bill Terry nor Hack Wilson played in the Series. These future Hall of Famers were each in their first season and had played no more than thirteen games in the regular season. Gehrig had been called up from Hartford to play for the Yankees that year. In that time, however, a team had to have the permission of both the commissioner and the opposing team's manager to make a roster change so late in the season eligible for postseason play. The Yankees gained the permission of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis who then told them to get John McGraw's permission. McGraw and the Yankees had a long history of disdain after both teams had shared a stadium and the Giants had won both the 1921 and 1922 World Series from New York. Therefore, he declined permission and Gehrig would not be allowed to participate in the series which otherwise would have been his first World Series. As noted baseball historian John Thorn said, "As if the Yankees needed any more reason to hate John McGraw."^[1]

Summary

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL New York Giants (2)

Matchups

Game 1

Fans entering Yankee Stadium before Game 1 of the World Series.

A ninth-inning inside-the-park homer by Casey Stengel beat the Yankees on their home field. Babe Ruth scored in the first inning on a Bob Meusel double. Yankee center fielder Whitey Witt's two-run single in the next inning made it 3-0. The Giants fought back with a four-run third, knocking out Yankee starter Waite Hoyt from the game. It was tied at 4-4 in the ninth until Casey came to bat, legging out a long drive to the left-center gap.

Game 2

The newly built Yankee Stadium was visible from the Polo Grounds in 1923, seen here above the outfield bleachers.

After trading solo home runs by Aaron Ward and Irish Meusel, a pair of Babe Ruth blasts in the fourth and fifth innings turned out to be the difference.

Game 3

A scoreless pitching duel lasted until the seventh inning, when Casey Stengel struck again, this time with a homer that left the park. It gave Sad Sam Jones the win over Art Nehf, despite the Giants getting just four hits.

Game 4

A six-run second inning chased Giant starter Jack Scott, the first four Yankee batters of that inning reaching safely. Bob Meusel added a two-run triple. A ninth-inning leadoff inside-the-park homer by Ross Youngs gave the home team a flicker of hope, but Herb Pennock mopped up in relief.

Game 5

It was over in a hurry. Bob Meusel's two-run triple and a Wally Pipp sacrifice fly made it 3-0. Then the Yankees got four more in the second, Joe Dugan's three-run inside-the-park homer the big blow. Bullet Joe Bush surrendered just three hits to the Giants, who now faced elimination.

Game 6

Right off the bat, the Yankees struck with a Babe Ruth two-out homer in the first. But then the Giants and their Polo Grounds crowd came to life. Three singles in the first tied the score. Center fielder Bill Cunningham knocked in a go-ahead run in the fourth, followed by catcher Frank Snyder's homer in the fifth. Down 4-1, the Yankees took advantage of three singles, three walks and an error for a five-run eighth that put the game and the Series in the bag.

Composite line score

1923 World Series (4–2): New York Yankees (A.L.) over New York Giants (N.L.)

Notes

References

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990). The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 97–101. ISBN 0-312-03960-3. 
• Reichler, Joseph (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2131. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. 

External links

• 1923 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1923 World Series at Baseball Almanac
• 1923 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• The 1923 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1923 at The SportingNews. Archived from the original on 2008.
• Audio – Casey Stengel talks a little Stengel-eese about the Series
• New York Yankees History – 1923 World Series

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