1922 World Series

The defending American League champion Yankees entered the 1922 season still recovering from a devastating loss to the Giants and without two of their star players. Both Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel had been suspended for an unauthorized barnstorming tour after the 1921 Series. To make matters worse, Commissioner Landis handed Ruth additional suspensions after several run-ins with umpires and other indiscretions off the field. In fact, the Babe did not play until May 20th and had only made one-hundred ten appearances out of one-hundred fifty-four games at the end of the pennant race. His stats plummeted as a result, dropping him to third in homers (with thirty-five) and out of the top five for RBI's (with ninety-nine). Still, the Yankees managed to hold onto their American League crown and prepared for a rematch against the defending World Champion New York Giants.

The Yankees had continued to pillage the Boston Red Sox acquiring Everett Scott and Joe Dugan as well as Whitey Witt from the Philadelphia Athletics. The Giants had made some great deals too in trading for third baseman Heinie Groh and pitcher Jack Scott. Once again, New York was host to its second consecutive Subway Series which had finally reverted back to a best-of-seven format.

Game 1 found the Giants in familiar territory as they rebounded from a 2-0 deficit in the eighth on their way to a 3-2 victory. Newly acquired Heinie Groh performed exceptionally well going three-for-three despite the best efforts of Joe Bush who had shut out his hometown rivals through seven innings. Things started differently in Game 2 as the Giants quickly set the pace with a three run homer off of Yankee veteran Bob Shawkey in the top of the first. Not to be outdone, the Yankees managed to tie it up with runs in the first, fourth and eighth innings. Both sides dug in for what promised to be a dramatic finish, but umpire George Hildebrand insisted on calling the game due to "darkness" after the tenth inning. With at least a ½ hour of sunlight left, the fans were outraged and demanded the official's resignation. In an effort to make the best of a bad public relations situation, the league decided that the gate receipts would be donated to various New York charities.

Babe Ruth's difficulties had continued to plague him well into the post-season and it wasn't looking any better for Game 3. At this point in the Series, the Sultan of Swat had gone two-for-eight with one measly RBI and his teammates weren't looking any better. Giant's pitcher Jack Scott, who had compiled an impressive 8-2 record in only seventeen games, blanked the Yankees with a four hit, 3-0 triumph and set a momentum that would last for the rest of the Series. Hugh McQuillan took the mound for the Nationals in Game 4 and notched a complete 4-3 win backed up by the slugging of Dave Bancroft. Art Nehf returned for Game 5 and the clincher (as he had in the previous year) in a 5-3 triumph that netted the Giants their second consecutive title. Not only had the Giants pitching staff dominated the last three games for a back-to-back championship, they had done so while holding baseball greatest slugger to a miserable zero-for-nine record. The Bambino wound up with two hits in seventeen at-bats for a .118 average and his teammates hit only .203 as a team.