October 1, 1921: The 1st Yankee Pennant

October 1, 1921: The New York Yankees go into this date with 4 games left in the regular season, and were 2 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians in the race for the American League Pennant.

The season before, the Yankees had finished in 3rd place, 3 games behind the Indians, with the Chicago White Sox 2 games behind. This season, with 7 White Sox players banned for life for their role in the fixing of the 1919 World Series (actually 8, but 1 had already retired), it's between the Indians, who went on to win the 1920 World Series, and the Yankees.

The Yankees had begun play in 1903, with the name "New York Highlanders" until 1912. And had never won a Pennant. In 1904, their 2nd season, they lost the Pennant to the team that would become the Boston Red Sox (and, eventually, their arch-rivals) on the last day of the season. In 1906, they finished 2nd, 3 games behind the White Sox. In 1910, they finished 2nd, but 14 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics.

They didn't get close again under their original owners, Frank Farrell and Bill Devery. In 1915, Jacob Ruppert bought the team, and began rebuilding. By 1919, they were 3rd, 7 1/2 games behind the White Sox. Then Ruppert purchased Babe Ruth from the Yankees, and the course of baseball history was changed. But it didn't quite result in a Pennant.

More pitching was needed, and with the addition of Waite Hoyt, and the record-breaking 59 home runs of Ruth, the Yankees -- wearing white caps for the last time in their history -- were now in line for a Pennant. They could win the Pennant on October 1, with a doubleheader sweep of the Philadelphia Athletics, or an Indians loss to the White Sox.

Here was the Yankee lineup for the opening game of their doubleheader with the Philadelphia Athletics at the Polo Grounds, at 155th Street and 8th Avenue in Upper Manhattan:

CF Elmer Miller

SS Roger Peckinpaugh

RF Babe Ruth

LF Bob Meusel

1B Wally Pipp

2B Aaron Ward

3B Mike McNally

C Wally Schang

P Carl Mays

Remember: No uniform numbers back then.

Oddly, it would be the pitcher, Mays, that started the Yankees scoring, with a single in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Miller hit a triple to left field, to bring Mays around. But in the top of the 4th, Mays allowed a triple to Whitey Witt, an RBI double to Jimmy Dykes, an RBI single to Tillie Walker, a groundout by Cy Perkins, a triple by Frank Welch, and an RBI single by Chick Galloway. It was 3-1 A's.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th, Pipp singled, and tried to steal 2nd. Perkins, the A's catcher, threw the ball away, and Pipp made it to 3rd. Welch, the center fielder, threw the ball back, and it was a bad throw. This allowed Pipp, then better known for being one of the few home-run hitters before Ruth, to score. That make it 3-2 A's. (Pipp would later be best remembered for being replaced by Lou Gehrig.)

Even in the 1920s, walks, especially the leadoff variety, could kill you. McNally led off the bottom of the 7th with a walk. Schang singled, and, again, Welch made an error, allowing McNally to score the tying run. Mays bunted Schang over to 3rd. Miller singled Schang home.

Meanwhile, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the White Sox beat the Indians, 8-5. Ray Schalk, one of the White Sox players who had no role in the Black Sox Scandal, did something no catcher had ever done before, nor has since: He makes a putout at every base at least once in a game.

Mays sent the Tribe down 1-2-3 in the 9th. Yankees 5, Athletics 3. For the 1st time, the New York Yankees were Champions of the American League. The win advanced Mays to a 27-9 record on the season.

The Yankees would also win the 2nd game, 7-6 in 11 innings. Elmer Miller hit a home run, Johnny Mitchell singled home the winning run, and the Babe himself was the winning pitcher.

But they would lose their 1st appearance in the World Series to their Polo Grounds landlords, the New York Giants. They would also lose to the Giants in the 1922 Series. But in 1923, in their 1st Series in the original Yankee Stadium, they would beat the Giants.

Meusel and Peckinpaugh lived until 1977, with Meusel living 11 days longer, making him the last survivor of the 1921 Yankees.

Other games played on this Saturday:

* A doubleheader was split at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies won the opener, 10-9. The New York Giants won the nightcap, 3-0. Red Causey and Claude Jonnard combined on an 8-hit shutout.

* The Brooklyn Robins beat the Boston Braves, 7-6 at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers were known as the Robins from 1914 to 1931, in honor of manager Wilbert Robinson.

* The Washington Senators swept a doubleheader from the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The Senators won the 1st game 7-2, and the 2nd game 6-1, and they didn't even need Walter Johnson to pitch either game.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Redland Field in Cincinnati. It was renamed Crosley Field in 1934.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-6 at Navin Field in Detroit. The Browns scored 5 runs in the top of the 11th inning. The ballpark was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals were tied 4-4 after 9 innings at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, when the game was called due to darkness.

Also, actor James Whitmore was born on this day.