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Domination of New York Baseball

Page history last edited by James burrus 13 years, 3 months ago

 

Domination of New York Baseball

 

 

 

 

          The New York Yankees baseball franchise was not always the kings of New York, but rather to gain that status they would have to slay a Giant. When the Yankee franchise moved to New York from Baltimore there was already a well established baseball team in the city. The New York Giants were the cities baseball pride and joy and their home at the Pologrounds was the altar at which the fans worshiped. When the Yankees arrived in New York at highland park they were seen as outsiders and unlikely challengers to crown of New York baseball. However by the end of the 1920's this upstart team of pinstripe wearing ball players would shift the entire balance of power in New York baseball.

 

         The New York area would have multiple baseball organizations that would operate as professional teams, but it is clear that the Giants were the most successful and the only real competition for the Yankees franchise. That is why for the purpose of this paper that I will not focus on the Brooklyn Dodgers, as they were never really a dominating team in New York sports culture like the Giants, and also like the Yankees seen as outsiders to the New York baseball establishment. The Yankees would eventually take the crown as the premier, and only New York Baseball franchise after the end of the 1957 season when both the Giants and Dodgers would pack their bags and leave the City for California. However it was the savvy business moves of the Ruppert ownership in the 1920's that would build this foundation for New York baseball dominance.

 

        Both the Giants and the Yankees would be fortunate to call the most influential city in the world home during their early years as teams, and New York was without doubt a baseball town. One has to remember these were the years before other organized sports like football and basketball really drew any real fan base. Baseball during turn of the century America was king of sports and where it earned its name as America's past time.

With both teams being seated in the hotbed of the gowning and most powerful city in the world, each had the chance to succeeded. Unfortunately for the Giants the recipe for success was not followed quite like that of the Yankees organization. As one looks back at these teams one can see that "two very different approaches to the conduct of the baseball business and the means of owning, staffing, and operating a big-league ball club were being put to the test" (Fetter 57). The Yankees owners of Ruppert and Hudson applied the business principals of staffing the very best in the way of management, namely Ed Barrow, and then allowed him to construct a wining team by staying of his way. The Giants on the other hand during this period of time had a mess with a mix of owners who felt they knew the best way to run a team. The "Little Napoleon" of the Giant ownership John McGraw actually had a great deal of success in this mix, and by the 1920's had won several pennants. By the time the Yankees started sharing the Pologrounds with the Giants their was no completion in baseball history, the Giants had all the accolades while the Yankees were barely considered a team. but through the "well ordered efficiency of the Ruppert-Barrow-Huggins system" , all that was about to change (Fetter 61). 

          

 

         By 1921 the Yankees had built a team around their star Babe Ruth that would take them to three consecutive World Series against their city rivals the Giants. During this same period the Giants organization had began to experience infighting among the ownership over management decisions and plans for dealing with their fieldmates new success. Also during this period the state of New York removed Blue Laws that allowed teams to host games on sundays. This was a new windfall of income and the Pologrounds became very cramped for space in the minds of the ownership of the Giants. With the Yankees new popularity and the draw of their new star Babe Ruth they had eclipsed the attendance total of the Giants in 1920, and achieved a number that the Giants had never even come close to. The decision was made by the Giants ownership to evict the Yankees from the Pologrounds and cast them out to "goatville" better know as Brooklyn. The decision seemed like a clear cut one that would allow the Giants to have sole owner ship of the Pologrounds and substantial increase their income; however, Ruppert used this as a chance to invest in his teams future. The Yankees built a stadium right across the river from the Pologrounds that could house many more ticket holders and would also be hosting games on Sundays. In essence the Giants had by evicting the Yankees created an superior competitor. The business sense of the Ruppert driven Yankee organization used their time at the Pologrounds to build while the Giants became stagnant. By the end of the 1923 season the Yankees were on their way up and the Giants on their way down when they met for the World Series. The Yankees would win the series and cement themselves as the new baseball kings of New York City.

 

 

         Although the rivalry would continue for years to come and many memorable World Series confrontations would occur, the die was cast in those early years. The Yankees had the stadium, the stars, fans, and the city by the end of the 1923 season. After their first World Series victory the Yankees would go on to win many more the following decades while the Giants would fluctuated between great and forgetable. The ownership decisions of those early years made by both the Yankees and the Giants would play a great role in the future of the baseball in the city off New York. Now people have to be reminded that the Giants of San Francisco were once the Giants of New York, and at one point looked as though they would always would be.

 

 

 

The Shift in

 

Power,

 

&

 

the New Giants of New York

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mythical Yankee Players        

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The Evil Empire and The New York Yankees

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