1923 World Series

Lore & Background

The Yankees opened their new stadium in April, and the first home run at Yankee Stadium was hit by Babe Ruth in the bottom of the first inning. Ruth set the tone for the season and this Series, hitting three home runs total (one in Game 1, one in Game 2, and one in Game 4) along with drawing eight walks. In Game 2, second baseman Aaron Ward hit a home run. The Giants' one bright spot was 'Old Casey' Stengel, who hit game-winning homers in each of the two Giants' victories.

In typically eccentric Stengel fashion, one of them was an inside-the-park home run at Yankee Stadium (Game 3), and his shoe came loose during his run around the bases. His Game 1 home run at the Polo Grounds was also inside-the-park. Stengel was traded after the season, leading him to quip later in life, 'It's a good thing I didn't hit three homers in three games, or McGraw would have traded me to the Three-I League!'. A quarter century later, Stengel would take on the role of Yankees manager, and would guide the Bronx Bombers through one of their most successful eras.

In Game 6, the Yankees overcame a 4–1 deficit by staging a five-run rally in the eighth inning to clinch the series. The three consecutive matchups between the Yankees and Giants (1921–1923) remain the only time three straight World Series featured the same two clubs. Brothers Bob and Irish Meusel played against each other in each of those three series, making them the first set of brothers who have competed against each other in multiple championship games.

Thanks to the large seating capacity of the new Yankee Stadium, coupled with expansion of the Polo Grounds the same year, the 1923 Series was the first to eclipse 300,000 in total attendance (301,430), averaging over 50,000 per game (50,238), with gate receipts over $1 million ($1,063,815.00). This was the third time that a team had inaugurated a new stadium with a World Series win, and would be the last until the St. Louis Cardinals victory in their new ballpark in 2006, and the New York Yankees again won the World Series in 2009 in their new Yankee Stadium. Babe Ruth had a great series, his first one as a Yankee, batting .368 and hitting three home runs.

Reader's Guide

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL New York Giants (2). Game 1: A ninth-inning inside-the-park homer by Casey Stengel beat the Yankees on their home field. Babe Ruth scored in the first inning on a Bob Meusel double. Yankee center fielder Whitey Witt's two-run single in the next inning made it 3-0.

The Giants fought back with a four-run third, knocking out Yankee starter Waite Hoyt from the game. It was tied at 4-4 in the ninth inning until Casey came to bat, legging out a long drive to the left-center gap. Game 2: After trading home runs by Aaron Ward and Irish Meusel, a pair of Babe Ruth blasts in the fourth and fifth innings turned out to be the difference. Game 3: A scoreless pitching duel lasted until the seventh inning, when Casey Stengel struck again, this time with a homer that left the park.

It gave Art Nehf the win over Sad Sam Jones, despite the Giants getting just four hits. Game 4: A six-run second inning chased Giant starter Jack Scott, the first four Yankee batters of that inning reaching safely. Bob Meusel added a two-run triple. A ninth-inning leadoff inside-the-park homer by Ross Youngs gave the home team a flicker of hope, but Herb Pennock mopped up in relief.

Game 5: It was over in a hurry. Bob Meusel's two-run triple and a Wally Pipp sacrifice fly made it 3-0. Then the Yankees got four more in the second, Joe Dugan's three-run inside-the-park homer the big blow. Bullet Joe Bush surrendered just three hits to the Giants, who now faced elimination.

Game 6: Right off the bat, the Yankees struck with a Babe Ruth two-out homer in the first. But then the Giants and their Polo Grounds crowd came to life. Three singles in the first tied the score. Center fielder Bill Cunningham knocked in a go-ahead run in the fourth, followed by catcher Frank Snyder's homer in the fifth inning.

Down 4-1, the Yankees took advantage of two singles followed by 3 consecutive walks. Ruth struck out with the score 4-3, and Bob Meusel hit a clutch two-out single scoring two runs, and a third scoring on an error, making it 6-4 Yankees. Sad Sam Jones would get the 6 out save to win the Yankees their first championship.