It may have taken the Yankees twenty years to win their first
American League Pennant, but they certainly made up for lost time - They went to the World
Series 6 times in the 1920's, winning 3 World Championships.
1921
New York Yankees vs. New York Giants
Giants win Series 5-3 (8 games)
The first World Series clash between New York teams was also the first played entirely
in one ballpark, the Polo Grounds. The first two games went to the Yankees, both by the
score of 3-0, a five-hitter by Carl Mays in Game 1 and a two-hitter by Waite Hoyt in Game
2. The Giants responded with eight runs in the seventh inning on their way to a 13-5 romp
in Game 3.
Shufflin' Phil Douglas beat Mays in Game 4 as the Giants evened the Series. Hoyt won
for a second time, 3-1 in Game Five to push the Yankees back into the Series lead. The
Giants evened it up again on homers by Irish Meusel and Frank Snyder in Game 6 to win by a
score of 8-5. Snyder doubled in the go-ahead run in the seventh to give the Giants a 4-2
win in Game 7.
Roger Peckinpaugh, the Yankees' shortstop who had played flawless defense, missed a
routine grounder by George Kelly in the first inning of Game 8. The Giants scored one run
on the play, and Art Nehf made it stand up for a 1-0 victory over Hoyt, who didn't allow a
single earned run in 27 innings in the Series.
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1922
New York Yankees vs. New York Giants
Giants win Series 4-0
The World Series returned to a seven-game format in 1922, and the New York Giants faced
the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds for the second year in a row. In Game 1, the
Giants trailed 2-0 going into the eighth inning, but they loaded the bases on three
singles, then Irish Meusel added another single to tie the game at two apiece. Ross Youngs
followed with a sacrifice fly that gave the Giants the 3-2 lead, and they held on for the
win.
With the score tied at three in the tenth inning, Game 2 was called on account of
darkness. Irate fans, believing there was at least 45 minutes of daylight left, littered
the field with seat cushions and bottles. The commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who
had nothing to do with the decision to call the game, ordered that the $120,000 in gate
receipts be donated to a military hospital for disabled veterans.
The Giants' Jack Scott tossed a four-hit shutout in Game Three. The Giants' Hugh
McQuillan got past the Yankees' Carl Mays in Game 4 by the score of 4-3. In the final
game, the Giants trailed 3-2 in the eighth but scored three runs to get the 5-3 victory
and wrap up the Series. The winning pitcher was Art Nehf, who earned his second
Series-clinching win in a row.
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1923
New York Yankees vs. New York Giants
Yankees win Series 4-2
For the third consecutive year, the Yankees faced the Giants in the World Series, this
time at the newly built Yankee Stadium. Casey Stengel's inside-the-park homer in the top
of the ninth gave the Giants a 5-4 win in Game 1. Babe Ruth, who had his worst World
Series the year before - hit two homers to lead the Yankees to a 4-2 win in Game 2.
Art Nehf, an old nemesis of the Yankees, pitched a six-hit shutout in Game 3, with a
Stengel homer as the only run of the game. The Yankees scored six runs in the second
inning of Game 4 and cruised to an easy 8-4 victory. The Yankees scored another eight runs
in Game 5, with help from third baseman Joe Dugan' s three singles, a homer and three RBI
on the way to an 8-1 win.
In Game Six, the Yankees trailed 4-1 before loading the bases in the eighth inning. Two
runs were walked in, then Bob Meusel put the Yanks on track for victory with a two-run
single. The Yankees took the game 6-4, and the Series four games to two.
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1926
St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Yankees
Cardinals win Series 5-3
In the first World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals, Game 1 was lost by the Yankees'
Herb Pennock 2-1. The Cardinals rebounded in Game 2 behind Billy Southworth's three-run
homer in the top of the seventh, which helped them to a 6-2 win.
The Cardinals' Jesse Haines stole the show in Game 3, throwing a complete-game shutout
on five hits, and adding a two-run homer to help the Cards to a 4-0 win. The Yankees
bounced back in Game 4 with a 10-5 romp, including three home runs by Babe Ruth.
The Yankees scored one run in the ninth and another in the 10th to win Game 5. The
Cardinals bats came alive in Game 6. Les Bell had a homer and a pair of singles as the
Cards beat the Yankees 10-2. In Game 7, the Cardinals led 3-2 but the Yankees loaded the
bases. Player-manager Rogers Hornsby brought in Pete Alexander, who won Games 2 and 6 -
and Alexander struck out Tony Lazzeri to end the threat. Alexander held the Yankees back
in the eight and ninth. The game ended when Ruth was caught trying to steal second base.
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1927
New York Yankees vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Yankees win Series 4-0
The '27 Yankees, considered one of the greatest baseball teams in history, faced the
Pirates in the World Series. In Game 1, two errors and a bases-loaded walk by the Pirates
let the Yankees rally, and they held on for a 5-4 victory. The Yankees scored three runs
in the third inning in Game 2 off a Lou Gehrig double, an error and two sacrifice flies to
take Game 2 by a score of 6-2.
The Yankees' Herb Pennock took a perfect game into the eighth inning and held on for an
8-1 win in Game 3, with help from a three-run homer from Babe Ruth. The Pirates, facing
elimination in Game 4, took a 3-3 tie into the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees loaded the
bases, and Pirates pitcher Johnny Miljus threw a wild pitch that allowed Earle Combs to
reach home with the winning run. Babe Ruth finished the series with seven RBI and the only
two homers of the Series.
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1928
New York Yankees vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Yankees Win Series 4-0
The New York Yankees reached the World Series for the third time in a row, facing the
St. Louis Cardinals for the second time in three years. Waite Hoyt started the Yankees out
with a complete game three-hitter in Game 1 to beat the Cardinals' Bill Sherdel 4-1. Lou
Gehrig started the assault in Game 3 with a three-run homer in the first inning, and the
Yankees went on to a 9-3 drubbing of the Cards.
The Cardinals scored two runs in the first inning of Game 3 for their first lead of the
Series, but it didn't last long. Gehrig blasted a two-run homer in the second to tie the
game and then gave the Yankees the lead with a two-run inside-the-park home run in the
fourth.The Cardinals tied it up again, but the Yankees took advantage of sloppy fielding
in the sixth to grab a 7-3 win.
Babe Ruth tied Game 4 with a home run in the fourth inning. He came to the plate again
in the seventh with the Yankees down a run. Sherdel got two strikes on Ruth and threw a
"quick pitch" by Ruth for strike three, but umpire Charles Pfirman disallowed
it. Ruth then homered to tie the score, and Gehrig followed with another round-tripper to
put the Yankees in the lead for good. Ruth added one more homer to finish off the Yankees'
sweep of the Cardinals.
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