Subway Series

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Lore & Background

The first actual New York–Brooklyn 'World Championship Series' occurred in 1889, a full nine years before Brooklyn was incorporated into the City of New York by the Greater New York Act of 1898. At the time, the series would not have been called a 'Subway Series', since New York's subway did not open until 1904, but it was the first recorded series involving the teams who would later earn the phrase. The New York Giants squared off against (and defeated) the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, also called the 'Trolley Dodgers', of the American Association. The following season, Brooklyn withdrew from the Association and joined the League, setting the stage for many future intra-city competitions. By the 1920s, the subway had become an important form of public transport in the city and provided a convenient form of travel between the three city ballparks: the Polo Grounds, in upper Manhattan; Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx; and Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. The 155th Street elevated and subway stations, the 161st Street station, and the Prospect Park station respectively, served the ballparks. The date of the first usage of the term 'Subway Series' is uncertain. The term 'Nickel Series' (a nickel was the old subway fare) appeared in newspapers by 1927, and 'Subway Series' appeared by 1928. 'Subway Series' was clearly already a familiar concept by 1934. The 1921 and 1922 match-ups were played in a single ballpark, as both the Giants and Yankees then played at the Polo Grounds. The Giants won both of these World Series against the Yankees, the first two Subway Series played. The Yankees were issued an eviction notice in mid-1920, ending their lease after the 1922 season. The Yankees opened their new ballpark in 1923. Fortunes changed immediately for the Yankees as they defeated the Giants this time in the third straight year of World Series competition between the two teams. Their new home would host the Yankees' first of 11 Subway World Series victories that year and first of an unprecedented 37 World Series until the stadium closed in 2008. The venues for the 1923, 1936, 1937, and 1951 World Series—the Polo Grounds and the old Yankee Stadium—were a short walk apart across the Macombs Dam Bridge over the Harlem River. The term was used again in 1941 when the Dodgers made their first World Series appearance since 1920. Multiple Hall of Famers took part in these contests between th

In Their Own Story

The train rattled over the elevated tracks, shaking the loose change in my pocket. I clutched my pinstriped cap tight as we approached 161st Street. Across the aisle, a kid wore orange and blue. We didn't speak, just exchanged the silent nod of rivals sharing the same commute. Stepping onto the platform, the smell of hot dogs mixed with exhaust. The city was divided by ten miles of track, but tonight, it felt like inches.

Reader's Guide

All-New York match-ups in World Series play: Yankees vs. Giants (1921, 1922, 1923, 1936, 1937, 1951) and Yankees vs. Dodgers (1941, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956) and Yankees vs. Mets (2000).

Did You Know?

• The first recorded series involving New York and Brooklyn teams was in 1889, before the subway existed.
• The term 'Subway Series' first appeared in newspapers by 1928.
• The 1944 Tri-Cornered Baseball Game was a World War II fundraiser featuring the Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees in a round-robin format.
• The Mayor's Trophy Game was an annual exhibition between the Yankees and either the Giants or Dodgers from 1946 to 1957.