1922 World Series

In the 1922 World Series, the New York Giants beat the New York Yankees in five games (four games to none with one tie; starting this year the World Series was again best-of-seven). By now, the term "World Series" was being used frequently, as opposed to "World's Series".
As with the 1921 World Series, every game was played at the Polo Grounds since it housed both teams, with the home team alternating.
The Giants pitched around Babe Ruth and scored just enough runs to win each of the games outside of the controversial Game 2 tie. That game was called on account of darkness, but many thought there was sufficient light to have played some more innings (the sun was still in the sky), and there were some suspicions that one or both teams might have "allowed" the tie to happen to increase the overall gate receipts. Commissioner Landis was among those who was dissatisfied with the result. One story is that Landis asked Umpire Hildebrand, "Why the Sam Hill did you call the game?" The umpire answered, "There was a temporary haze on the field." The game decision was in the hands of the umpires, but the Commissioner's Office controlled the gate receipts. Landis ordered the money, more than $120,000, turned over to World War I charities, thus nullifying any impropriety. The tied game would turn out to be the third (and final) tied game in the history of the World Series. The other two tied games occurred in 1907 and 1912. No ties are possible under the modern rules, which allow for suspension of a tied game and resumption of it at a later date, as with Game 5 of the 2008 World Series.
This would prove to be Giants' manager John McGraw's third and final World Series win.

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.