"...Yankees will have to build a park in Queens or some other out-of-the-way place. Let them go away and wither on the vine." - John McGraw, Manager of New York Giants 1902-1932.
Uh...no.
The Stadiums were close enough that a young rookie from Oklahoma asked for directions to the ballpark. He found himself at the Polo Grounds, which was a problem, because the rookie was a Yankee. He merely walked across the Macombs Dam bridge and reported to Yankee Stadium... embarrassed. But Mickey Charles Mantle stayed for 18 years. And in 1958, two years after the Mick won the Triple Crown (52 HR 130 RBI .353 BA), it was the New York Giants who went away and withered on the vine.
*Actually - according to Baseball Reference.com, the Mick won at least a Septuple Crown, since he also paced the American League in Runs (127), Slugging (.705), On Base-plus-Slugging (1.169), and Total Bases (376).
"Never shoulda happened." Muses a Giant centerfielder named Dutch Stengel. "You just tell the tenants that times are tough and you gotta collect a little more rent. Then every time that big son-of-a-battleship bombs another home run, you count your money while he counts his."
The big 'battleship' of course, with 41 HRs, 131 RBIs and a .393 batting average, was George H. Ruth. That also would have been good enough for a triple crown except for Hall of Famer Harry Heilmann dialing it up at .403 in 1923. However, the Babe, like the Mick, basically led the American League in 'baseball'... a 'Nonuple' Crown: Runs(151), HRs(41), RBIs(131), Walks (170) On Base Pct (.545), Slugging (.764), On Base-plus-Slugging Pct (1.309), Total Bases (399) and Strikeouts (93)! In leading the AL in On-Base, Slugging and OPS, Ruth was in the middle of an incredible seven year run (1918-1924) where he led in On Base Pct. five times and in the other two categories all seven years. Bear in mind also that during the first two years of this reign the Babe still managed to go 22-12 with a 2.55 as a starting left-hander for the Red Sox.
When the Yanks opened their new baseball palace in 1923 there was actually talk of calling it Ruth Field. Officially christened Yankee Stadium, nature did take its course, as the ballyard on 161st and River Avenue was soon and forever nicknamed 'The House That Ruth Built'. And sage Casey Stengel was right. I have often thought that had the Giants been willing to work things out with their tenants, the Giants would still be in New York. Eventually the Polo Grounds would have worn out, as it did, and the Giants could have moved over to Yankee Stadium while a new park was being built for Willie Mays and company in the late fifties. Instead the ghosts of Mathewson, McGinnity, Ott, and McGraw wander aimlessly, looking for home... or at least home plate.
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