1903, The Dawning of a
Legacy...
Immediately prior
to the 1903 season, the National League pondered its future. With the
upstart American League's success in attendance and player poaching,
there was talk of a merger between the two leagues which would have
resulted in one twelve team league. Instead, a truce was declared,
and the two leagues worked together, but still maintained their own
identities.
As a
way to smooth ruffled feathers, both leagues decided to participate
in a Championship Series between the champion of each league. The
best-of-nine series featured the Boston Americans faced the
Pittsburgh Pirates in the first “World Series”. The Pirates, who
lost Ed Doheny late in the season due to a 'mental breakdown'
combined with an injury to pitcher Sam Leever, left their pitching
thin, as they lost the inaugural series to Boston.
Boston
starter Bill Dineen won three games, and Cy Young the other two.
Pirated hurler Deacon Phillipe pitched a record five complete games
during the series.
Off
the field, one of the oddest tragedies befell Washington Senator
outfielder Ed Delahanty.
On July 2nd, he was ejected from a train due to drunkenness. Some reports have him brandishing a straight razor and threatening other passengers after 'consuming five whiskeys'.
On July 2nd, he was ejected from a train due to drunkenness. Some reports have him brandishing a straight razor and threatening other passengers after 'consuming five whiskeys'.
He
attempted to cross the International Bridge, when he either fell,
jumped or was pushed off the bridge. It is not known whether he
perished due to the fall, or if he drowned. His body was found two
weeks after his disappearance.
One of
the best hitter of his generation, and one of five Delahanty brothers
who played major league baseball, he finished with a career batting
average of .346, and just under 2,600 career base hits. At the time
of his passing, he was second on the all-time hits list.
He
was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1945 by the Veteran's Committee.
On the
field, several standout performances took place.
The
Baltimore Orioles team folded, and the franchise was sold and moved
to New York, where they began play as the New York Highlanders. Major
League baseball would return to Baltimore in 1954. During that lapse,
the Baltimore team in the International League flourished, and is
said to have had some of the best minor league teams of that era.
Remember, babe Ruth got his start playing for his hometown team in
1914.
In
May, the White Sox committed twelve errors in a game against the
Tigers, while the Tigers themselves committed six themselves, in what
is referred to as the “18-E Debacle”, which still stands as the
most errors in a single game.
Speaking
of the Tigers, Outfielder “Wahoo” Sam Crawford led the league in
triples with 25, which establishing a record that would stand until
1912. It was his first of a record five triples championships.
The
Cleveland Bluebirds (shortened to Blues) changed their name to the
Cleveland Napoleons (shortened to Naps) in honor of their star
player, Napoleon Lajoie, who was purchased from the Philadelphia
Athletics. Lajoie was originally a Philadelphia Phillie, but jumped
to the Athletics for more money during the formation of the American
League. Lawsuits and injunctions made it not possible for the
Athletics to play Lajoie in Philadelphia, so owner Connie Mack sold
Lajoie to Cleveland for a reported $25,000. Lajoie continued to sit
out games played in Philadelphia.
In
September, Cleveland Naps pitcher Jesse Stovall made his first career
start, and pitched an eleven-inning shutout against the Tigers, which
remains the longest shutout by a pitcher starting his first game.
Also
for the Naps, Bill Bradley established a still record for third
baseman for hitting 22 triples in a season.
For
the Philadelphia Athletics, pitcher Rube Waddell became the first to
strike out 300 batters in a season. He would become the first to do
so in consecutive seasons, when he established a long standing record
of 349 strikeouts in 1904.
In
Chicago, the Orphans became the Cubs. Catcher Johnny Kling set a
record for triples hit by a catcher, with 13. Tim McCarver would tie
that record in 1966.
Frank
Chance established a still standing record of 67 stolen bases by a
first baseman,
Henry
Schmidt of the Brooklyn Superbas was the other rookie to win twenty
games. It was his only season in the majors, and he is the only
player to win twenty games in his only season in the majors.
Jimmy
Sheckard of Brooklyn hit nine homers to lead the league. His homers
accounted for 60% of the team's total. He also established the
record for most stolen bases by the home run champ with 67. At the
time, Sheckard and Frank Chance established a new record for stolen
bases, bested by Bob Bescher in 1910.
For
the Cardinals, Homer Smoot hit four home runs. This was exactly half
of the Cardinals' eight homers for the season.
Pitcher
Sam Leever became the first National League pitcher to lead the
league in ERA with twenty-five or more wins.
Honus
Wagner won his second (of eight) batting titles, and was the first to
lead in batting while striking out less than twenty times during the
season. He struck out just seventeen times, and in a true case of
baseball irony, Wagner struck out to end the World Series.
Wagner
and Cleveland's Nap Lajoie led their leagues in batting, marking the
first time that two right handed batters led each league in that
category.
For
the Boston Americans (soon to be Red Sox) Buck Freeman was the first
in franchise history to hit for the cycle, and to lead the league in
home runs.
The
New York Giants pitching was top notch. They had two thirty-game
winners, yet still failed to win the pennant. In fact, Joe McGinnity
and Christy Mathewson combined for sixty-one wins, which was 72.6% of
the team's eighty-four victories.
The
Giants bettered their 1902 season by winning thirty-six more games.
Christy
Mathewson began a streak of twelve straight years of winning
twenty-two or more games, and established a strikeout record of 267,
that lasted until 1961 when Sandy Koufax recorded 269 strikeouts.
But
you can't really talk about the Giants pitching without talking (or
raving) about Joe McGinnity.
First,
in 1903, he pitched a whopping four hundred and thirty four innings,
completing forty-four of his forty eight starts. He is the only
pitcher to win thirty games while losing twenty in the same season.
He remains the only pitcher to collect complete game wins in both
games of a double-header three times in
a season. Oh, and he did that within a month. He pitched one hundred
innings during the month of August
He
was also the second pitcher to steal home plate in a game.
Joe
McGinnity pitched just ten years in the major Leagues, where he
averaged twenty-five wins, forty-seven starts, thirty-four complete
games, and three hundred forty-four innings per year.
Because
of his durability, his endurance, work ethic, combined with the fact that he
worked in an iron foundry, he earned the nickname “Iron Man”.
Joe
played for the aforementioned Baltimore Orioles, when it was a
National League team in 1899, only to have that team contracted, and
Joe was assigned to Brooklyn, where he pitched in 1900.
In
1901, after contract disputes and player raids from the upstart
American League almost led to Joe's retirement, he signed with
Baltimore, where he was teammates (again) with John McGraw.
The
style of baseball played by McGraw was very aggressive, and led to
many altercations during (and often after) games. During one such
spat, McGinnity spat on an umpire in a game in Detroit, and was
arrested and immediately suspended by AL President Ban Johnson. That
suspension would last twelve days, after McGinnity publicly
apologized for his actions. John McGraw would soon resign from the
Orioles, and sign on to manage the New York Giants.
The
Orioles franchise were facing serious financial difficulties, and
were actually running the ball-club with a serious debt. As such,
they were forced to release several of their players because they
were unable to pay their salaries. Joe was released, and signed with
the Giants immediately.
Joe
owned, played, and managed a few minor and semi-pro teams after his
big league career ended. Pitching for the Dubuque Climbers in the
Mississippi Valley League at the age of fifty-two, he won fifteen
games. One of those was a shutout that lasted one hour and seven
minutes.
Because
of his nickname, and with John McGraw understanding general
showmanship, McGinnity was selected to start in an exhibition game in
Birmingham, Alabama, against the Birmingham Iron Men in March of
1904. The game was scheduled to help raise funds to build a Vulcan
statue for the Louisiana Purchase Centennial exhibition, which was at
the World's fair in St. Louis.
At
his behest, Joe was allowed to visit the foundry in downtown
Birmingham, and to personally pour some of the iron into the molds
for the statue.
That
statue is the largest cast-iron statue in the world, and is still standing
in Birmingham.
He
was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946 by the Veteran's
Committee.
So,
on to the season.
The
Boston Americans won their pennant handily, beating the second place
Philadelphia Athletics by fourteen and a half games. The Pirates won
their pennant by six and a half over the Giants.
The
Americans won the first World Championship, five games to three.
Jimmy Sebring of the Pirates became the first to homer in the World
Series, hitting one off of Cy Young.
First,
we'll take a look at the American League pitching, which was the most
dominant of the four categories that I use for my reference points.
They outperformed their National League counterparts by 21.6%.
Again,
as with this era, I will use the Runs Allowed factor rather than the
Earned Runs Allowed to calculate my statistical rankings, but I will
include both numbers in the rankings for your perusal.
First,
the initial numbers:
- PitcherTeamW-LRunsERACy YoungBoston28-93.032.08Earl MooreCleveland20-83.201.74Bill BernhardCleveland14-53.372.12Bill DineenBoston21-132.952.26Willie SudhoffBrowns21-153.062.27Rube WaddellAthletics21-163.032.44Addie JossCleveland18-133.332.19Ted HughesBoston20-73.492.57Bill DonovanDetroit17-163.052.29Eddie PlankAthletics23-163.432.38
And
as compared to their team's average performances, we get:
- Earl MooreAboveBill BernhardAboveWatty LeeWashington8-124.643.08Willie SudhoffAboveDoc WhiteWhite Sox17-163.572.13Bill DonovanAboveAddie JossAboveRoy PattersonWhite Sox15-153.662.70Cy YoungAboveRube WaddellAbove
That
brings our overall rankings to this:
Earl
Moore
Bill
Bernhard
Cy
Young
Willie
Sudhoff
Addie
Joss
Bill
Donovan
Rube
Waddell
Bill
Dineen
Doc
White
Eddie
Plank
And
now to look at the National League:
- PitcherTeamW-LRunsERASam LeeverPirates25-73.102.06Deacon PhillipePirates25-93.612.43Christy MathewsonGiants30-133.342.26Joe McGinnityGiants31-203.362.43Noodles HahnReds22-123.802.52Jake WeimerCubs20-83.542.30Jack TaylorCubs21-143.952.45Bob WickerCardinals/Cubs20-94.152.96Jack SutthoffReds16-94.172.80Ed DohenyPirates16-84.933.19
And against their teams, we get:
- Tully SparksPhillies11-153.962.72Mordecai BrownCardinals9-134.702.60Noodles HahnAboveChappie McFarlandCardinals9-195.233.07Vic WillisBoston Beaneaters12-183.922.98Sam LeeverAboveDeacon PhillipeAboveChristy MathewsonAboveJake SutthoffAboveOscar JonesBrooklyn19-144.412.94
And that brings us our top National
League pitchers as:
Sam Leever
Noodles Hahn
Deacon Phillipe
Tully Sparks
Christy Mathewson
Joe McGinnity
Jake Weimer
Mordecai Brown
Jack Taylor
Bob Wicker
Now we'll look at the
National League offense, where they had a 15.1% statistical advantage
over their American League counterparts. Our initial numbers flesh
out this way:
- HitterTeamHRRBIAVGSBHonus WagnerPirates5101.35546Fred ClarkePirates570.35121Mike DonlinReds767.35126Ginger BeaumontPirates768.38123Sam MertesGiants7104.28045Jake BeckleyReds281.32723Tommy LeachPirates787.29822Frank ChanceCubs281.32767Roger BresnahanGiants455.35034Harry SteinfeldtReds683.31213
Then as compared to their
teams performance, we get:
- Patsy DonovanCardinals039.32725Fred TenneyBoston341.31321Duff CooleyBoston170.28927Sam MertesAboveHomer SmootCardinals449.29617Frank ChanceAboveJimmy SheckardBrooklyn975.33267Honus WagnerAboveFred ClarkeAboveBill KeisterPhillies363.32011
That brings us this list of top
National League batters:
Honus Wagner
Fred Clarke
Sam Mertes
Mike Donlin
Frank Chance
Roger Bresnahan
Jimmy Sheckard
Ginger Beaumont
Jake Beckley
Tommy Leach
And the American League
offensive leaders begin with :
- HitterTeamHRRBIAVGSBNapoleon LajoieCleveland793.34421Jimmy CollinsBoston572.29623Sam CrawfordDetroit489.33518Bill BradleyCleveland668.31321Buck FreemanBoston13104.2875Charlie HickmanCleveland1297.29514Freddie ParentBoston480.30424Kid ElberfeldNew York/Detroit064.30122Danny GreenChicago662.30929Jimmy WilliamsNew York382.2679
And as matched to their team
performances, we get:
- Sam CrawfordAboveNapoleon LajoieAboveJohn AndersonBrowns278.28416Danny GreenAboveKip SelbachWashington349.25120Harry DavisAthletics655.29824Bill BradleyAboveKid ElberfeldAboveSocks SeyboldAthletics884.2995Jimmy CollinsAbove
So our top American League batters
are:
Napoleon Lajoie
Sam Crawford
Jimmy Collins
Bill Bradley
Harry Davis
Socks Seybold
Kid Elberfeld
Danny Green
John Anderson
Charlie Hickman
Which brings our top five
player rankings in each league to:
American League
Sam
Crawford
Bill
Bernhard
Cy
Young
National League
Fred
Clarke
Sam
Mertes
Mike
Donlin
Since
there was no post season awards distributed during this era, I will
pretend there was. And since I am pretending, the above would have
been my vote.