1923 World Series

Program covers for the Series.

The Yankees opened their new stadium in April on a home run by Babe Ruth, setting the tone for the season and this Series, in which Ruth hit three home runs 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 inside-the-park at the cavernous Yankee Stadium, and his shoe came loose during his run around the bases. 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) marked the only time (as of 2020), that 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 to play against each other on opposing teams in a World Series or any Big Four championship series.[1]

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 great one as a Yankee, batting .368 and hitting three home runs in the series.

Neither Lou Gehrig, Bill Terry nor Hack Wilson played in the Series. These future Hall of Famers were each in their first season and had played no more than thirteen games in the regular season. Gehrig had been called up from Hartford to play for the Yankees that year. In that time, however, a team had to have the permission of both the commissioner and the opposing team's manager to make a roster change so late in the season eligible for postseason play. The Yankees gained the permission of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis who then told them to get John McGraw's permission. McGraw and the Yankees had a long history of disdain after both teams had shared a stadium and the Giants had won both the 1921 and 1922 World Series from New York. Therefore, he declined permission and Gehrig would not be allowed to participate in the series which otherwise would have been his first World Series. As noted baseball historian John Thorn said, "As if the Yankees needed any more reason to hate John McGraw."[2]

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL New York Giants (2)

1923 World Series (4–2): New York Yankees (A.L.) over New York Giants (N.L.)

• 1921 World Series – First World Series match-up between the Giants and the Yankees
• 1922 World Series – Second World Series match-up between the Giants and the Yankees

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990). The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 97–101. ISBN 0-312-03960-3.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2131. ISBN 0-02-579010-2.

• 1923 World Series at WorldSeries.com via MLB.com
• 1923 World Series at Baseball Almanac
• 1923 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• The 1923 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1923 at The Sporting News. Archived from the original in May 2006.
• Audio – Casey Stengel talks a little Stengel-eese about the Series
• New York Yankees History – 1923 World Series