Following significant pomp and circumstance in celebration of the first-ever World's Series game to be played at the brand-new Yankee Stadium, Babe Ruth baptized the park's postseason history in the same way he had done so during the regular-season, belting the first Series homer out of the new yard with Whitey Witt aboard and one out in the 3rd. The cross-town Giants were doing little to trouble 23-year-old Waite Hoyt, unable to score at all until they finally found some purchase in the 6th; with two out, Heinie Groh singled and then Frankie Frisch and Ross Youngs delivered RBI doubles to tie the score. The National Leaguers edged a nose in front in the top of the 8th when Dave Bancroft walked and scored on Frisch's two-out two-bagger and Mule Watson came out to toe the slab in the bottom of the inning having set the Yanks down without a run other than Ruth's circuit clout. With one out, however, Wally Schang hit a high fly ball that managed to get over the wall and into the short porch in right field and, two batters later, pinch-hitter Harvey Hendrick pulled the same stunt - suddenly the Yankees had jumped back into the lead and they weren't finished. Witt (3-for-5, two 2B) and Joe Dugan doubled back-to-back to score another and, after Ruth was intentionally passed, Bob Meusel drilled the third double of the inning into the left-field corner to score Dugan. Joe Bush came on in relief of Hoyt and walked Casey Stengel to start the 9th, but retired the next three men without allowing the ball to so much as leave the infield and the "grand re-opening" party continued well into the evening. New York (A) 6-13-0, New York (N) 3-8-1. [scoresheet] [broadcast]
The Giants settled in quickly in front of the home fans at the Polo Grounds - in the 2nd they got a Youngs walk to start the inning, and then strung together three singles and a groundout to plate three scores. But Ruth began the top of the 4th with his second homer in two days, and the Yankees also used three safeties and a ground ball to score twice more to knot the game at three apiece. The Giants answered immediately in their half of the inning when Bill Cunningham singled, George Kelly tripled and pitcher McQuillan hit a ball deep enough in the air to Ruth to allow "High Pockets" to tag up with a second run. Irish Meusel hit a solo homer in the 5th, and Frisch hit another sac fly in the 6th as the National Leaguers built a more comfortable lead, while McQuillan kept the Yanks in check until they scored a run and then put men on second and third with two outs in the 9th; Ruth was walked intentionally in the late innings for the second straight game and, with the tying runs now aboard, McQuillan snapped off a breaking ball which Bob Meusel could only watch dip into the top of the strike zone for the final strike and the final out. New York (N) 7-10-2, New York (A) 4-8-0. [scoresheet]
Back at the Stadium, the Giants continued to hit - three singles, a hit batsman, and a Yankee error combined to produce a four-run 2nd inning that put the capacity crowd on mute and, in the 5th, another error was backed up by Youngs' two-run double and an RBI triple from Kelly to make the score 8-0 in favor of the visitors. It was all smooth sailing for Nehf as he cruised through seven scoreless innings, before coming unstuck in the 8th. Fred Hofmann singled to start the inning, Witt reached on Bancroft's error, and Joe Dugan lined one over the head of Irish Meusel and into the stands in left for a quick three runs. After a walk to Ruth, and a visit from John McGraw, the Giant skipper signaled for Claude Jonnard; the Tennessee righty promptly walked Bob Meusel and allowed a run-scoring single to Wally Pipp, but then steadied to fan Aaron Ward and cajole weak dribblers out of both Schang and Scott. After Stengel's single sent Frisch home, after a leadoff walk in the 9th, to restore a five-run cushion for the Giants, the improved mood of the Stadium crowd sagged into silence once again as the home club came up to take their hacks in the bottom of the 9th. With one out and a man on first, Jonnard seemed to lose his nerve, walking Dugan and Ruth to load the bases, but Bob Meusel popped one up to Scott for the second out and a Giants win now seemed a foregone conclusion. When Pipp singled through the box to score a pair of runs that made it 9-6, the crowd began to babble, and when Groh then threw Ward's ground ball over Kelly's head at first to allow Ruth to score another it was suddenly a roar. The tying runs were in scoring position, and McGraw was back on the field but this time he decided to stick with Jonnard, who had been his regular source of pitching relief all season long. Hendrick grabbed a bat in place of Schang and singled to left to score one run, and Scott then did the same to bring the Yankees all the way back. Nine runs against nine, and the home side had Hendrick standing at third base, just one swing away from the plate, and Hofmann delivered that swing - his soft liner into right-center gave Hendrick all the time he needed to trot home and complete perhaps the most improbable comeback in Series history. The Yankees had trailed 8-0 in the 8th inning, and by 9-4 with two outs in the 9th and yet, somehow, had won the game. The Giants stood dumbfounded in their fielding positions for some time while the Yanks celebrated, and you had to wonder whether there was going to be any way back from this for McGraw's men. New York (A) 10-14-3, New York (N) 9-10-2. [scoresheet] [broadcast]
The shock of the preceding afternoon's outcome had clearly not worn off by the time the crowd at the Polo Grounds had sat down following the Star-Spangled Banner and Jack Scott had taken the mound for the Giants. Witt and Dugan led off with singles, and Ruth doubled Witt home. After Bob Meusel's rocket was snared by Kelly at first, Pipp singled to score Dugan, Ward doubled to chase Ruth in from third and Schang hit a high-hopper to Kelly which allowed Pipp to cross with the fourth run of the inning, all before the Giants had even had a chance to bat. The Yankees added two more in the 2nd on RBI hits from Ruth and Pipp and the National Leaguers were underwater. Youngs singled home one in the 3rd, and Irish Meusel drove in a pair in the 5th to close within three runs and, after Youngs had singled home Groh in the 7th to make it 6-4. it looked like the home team might yet have a chance. Miller Huggins called upon Waite Hoyt to relieve Shawkey, though, and the Schoolboy barred the door closed by recording the final eight Giant outs without allowing a hit. New York (A) 6-9-1, New York (N) 3-8-0. [scoresheet]
The Stadium crowd wanted the deal closed here and now, and the Yankees did their best to get the business finished early. Witt tripled to start the home half of the 1st and Dugan followed with a double. Ruth walked, Dugan moved to third on a groundout, and he scored on Pipp's ground ball to second. Kelly struck for a triple with one out in the top of the 2nd, but was gunned down at the plate attempting to stretch the hit into four bases; the price of this mistake doubled when Bush singled with two outs in the home half of the inning, moved up on Witt's walk, and scored the third Yankee run when Dugan singled to right. The Giants' early-inning problems continued in the 3rd - again with two outs, Ward singled, and Schang doubled him home before himself being cut down at home on Scott's hit. Down 4-0, with the sand running out of their hourglass, the visitors summoned one last outburst; three one-out singles in the 6th scored their first run of the contest, and Irish Meusel doubled home two more with two away. Bush caught Stengel looking at a third strike to end the threat with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, however, and the best that the NYG could do in the late innings was to get two men on with one out in the 8th before Bush got Irish Meusel to pop to short and Stengel to drive Bob Meusel to the wall in left with his fly ball. The Yankee hurler pushed through to the close, setting the Giants down in order in the 9th to secure a championship christening for the Stadium. New York (A) 4-9-1, New York (N) 3-10-0. [scoresheet] [broadcast]
The Yankees had a relatively small statistical edge given the final margin in games, but two late come-from behind victories and two jump-ahead-early-and-hold-on wins were enough to seal the Series win. They hit for slightly more power and walks, but three of their five homers came in Game One and they scored ten times in Game Three with the benefit of only a single extra-base hit. The Giants' pitching was obviously more vulnerable and when Frisch went 2-for-13 over the final three games there wasn't enough offense to compensate. [Series stats]
Yankees 3B Joe Dugan led all Series hitters in hits, extra-base hits and RBI while finishing second in runs scored, and five of his seven RBI came in the 8th inning or later.
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