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As modern-day Yankees fans, we revere the Yankees’ tradition of excellence and winning and take for granted their being the most storied franchise in all of sports. Twenty-seven championships. Forty pennants. In a world where teams still change uniform colors, the Yankees figured out their pinstriped branding long ago.
But that was not the case in 1923. That year, the Yankees were playing in newly-built Yankee Stadium, just a stone’s throw over the Harlem River from the New York Giants, their crosstown rivals. After sharing the Polo Grounds with the Giants, Yankee Stadium was a welcome new home. And the 1923 World Series was an opportunity for the Yankees to prove themselves on their new home turf in the Bronx.
On October 15, 1923, Game Six of the World Series unfolded at the Polo Grounds. The Yankees trailed the Giants by three runs for most of the game, and it even looked as if the Giants were going to force a deciding Game Seven. But the Yankees scored five runs in the eighth inning to clinch their first World Series Championship. It was the first of many more to come.
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While the 1923 World Series was the Yankees’ first championship win, there were several individual players on the Yankees—Babe Ruth and “Sad” Sam Jones among them—who had won World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox in the 1910s.
And they did it by relying on Babe Ruth’s home runs. The Yankees and their powerful bats had beat Giants manager John McGraw and his team’s “inside baseball” style of playing (what would be called “small ball” today). Who knew the debate between sacrifice bunts and dingers was alive and well in 1923? Some things don’t change!
Fun facts about the 1923 World Series:
- The home field alternated each game, a marked difference from the current 2-3-2 format. Of course, Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds were located less than a mile away from each other, and the proximity made it easier to alternate stadiums each day.
- The Yankees faced the Giants in the 1921, 1922 and 1923 World Series. The three straight matchups are the only time that three consecutive World Series have featured the same two opponents.
- Giants outfielder Casey Stengel hit game-winning home runs in each of his team’s two wins. In Stengel’s trademark idiosyncratic style, one of them was an inside-the-park homer, and according to baseball lore, Stengel’s shoe came loose while he was running around the bases. Stengel, of course, would eventually lead the Yankees to a number of World Series wins.
- The 1923 Series was the first to exceed 300,000 in total attendance (301,430) and to net over one million dollars ($1,063,815.00) in gate receipts. Adjusted for inflation, that’s equivalent to $16,175,905.08 in 2020.
- Lou Gehrig, who was a rookie in 1923, didn’t play or appear in any of the six games.
1923 New York Yankees roster
Player | Pos. | Bats | Throws ▾ | Birth Date | Height | Weight | Hometown |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Pos. | Bats | Throws ▾ | Birth Date | Height | Weight | Hometown |
Whitey Witt | CF | L | R | September 28, 1895 | 5'7" | 150 | Orange, MA USA |
Aaron Ward | 2B | R | R | August 28, 1896 | 5'10" | 160 | Booneville, AR USA |
Elmer Smith | RF | L | R | September 21, 1892 | 5'10" | 165 | Erie County, OH USA |
Bob Shawkey | P | R | R | December 4, 1890 | 5'11" | 168 | Sigel, PA USA |
Everett Scott | SS | R | R | November 19, 1892 | 5'8" | 148 | Bluffton, IN USA |
Wally Schang | C | B | R | August 22, 1889 | 5'10" | 180 | South Wales, NY USA |
Oscar Roettger | P | R | R | February 19, 1900 | 6'0" | 170 | St. Louis, MO USA |
George Pipgras | P | R | R | December 20, 1899 | 6'1" | 185 | Ida Grove, IA USA |
Bob Meusel | LF | R | R | July 19, 1896 | 6'3" | 190 | San Jose, CA USA |
Mike McNally | SS | R | R | September 13, 1893 | 5'11" | 150 | Minooka, PA USA |
Carl Mays | P | L | R | November 12, 1891 | 5'11" | 195 | Liberty, KY USA |
Sad Sam Jones | P | R | R | July 26, 1892 | 6'0" | 170 | Woodsfield, OH USA |
Ernie Johnson | SS | L | R | April 29, 1888 | 5'9" | 151 | Chicago, IL USA |
Waite Hoyt | P | R | R | September 9, 1899 | 6'0" | 180 | Brooklyn, NY USA |
Fred Hofmann | C | R | R | June 10, 1894 | 5'11" | 175 | St. Louis, MO USA |
Harvey Hendrick | LF | L | R | November 9, 1897 | 6'2" | 190 | Mason, TN USA |
Hinkey Haines | CF | R | R | December 23, 1898 | 5'10" | 170 | Red Lion, PA USA |
Mike Gazella | SS | R | R | October 13, 1895 | 5'7" | 165 | Olyphant, PA USA |
Joe Dugan | 3B | R | R | May 12, 1897 | 5'11" | 160 | Mahanoy City, PA USA |
Bullet Joe Bush | P | R | R | November 27, 1892 | 5'9" | 173 | Ehime, MN USA |
Benny Bengough | C | R | R | July 27, 1898 | 5'7" | 168 | Niagara Falls, NY USA |
Babe Ruth | OF | L | L | February 6, 1895 | 6'2" | 215 | Baltimore, MD USA |
Wally Pipp | 1B | L | L | February 17, 1893 | 6'1" | 180 | Chicago, IL USA |
Herb Pennock | P | B | L | February 10, 1894 | 6'0" | 160 | Kennett Square, PA USA |
Lou Gehrig | 1B | L | L | June 19, 1903 | 6'0" | 200 | New York, NY USA |
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We thank Baseball-Reference and Nationalpastime.com for providing background information for these posts.