Baseball...numbers, stories and analysis

1906, Chicago...

1906 was a fun year to examine.

Major League Baseball was played by sixteen teams in just ten cities. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and St. Louis each had two teams, one in each league. New York had three teams, including Brooklyn.

The team nicknames changed a little as well. The Browns were in St. Louis, the Highlanders were in New York, the Superbas were in Brooklyn. The Americans and the Beaneaters were in Boston, and Cleveland was home to the Naps, named after their manager, Napoleon Lajoie.

If you wanted to watch championship baseball, Chicago was the place to be.

The Cubs won an incredible 116 games that year and lost just 36 times. Their .763 winning percentage will not be seen again. In today's 162 game season, a team would have to win 124 games to beat that mark. But they were upset by the White Sox, who had only won 93 games.

The Cubs infield is fondly recalled in the Franklin Adams ditty, which has had a few names, but the one that seems to have lasted the longest is “Baseball's Sad Lexicon”:

These are the saddest of possible words:

"Tinker to Evers to Chance."

Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,

Tinker and Evers and Chance.

Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,

Making a Giant hit into a double –

Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:

"Tinker to Evers to Chance “

The poem refers to the Cubs double play combination, with Joe Tinker at shortstop, Johnny Evers at second base, and Frank Chance at first. The gonfalon refers to the pennant, which would be the National League pennant. (I looked it up) And that trio was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. The three were enshrined together.

One of my favorite trivia questions used to be: In the Tinkers to Evers to Chance combination, who was the third baseman? The answer was Harry Steinfeldt, but his name will come up later.

The 1906 White Sox were known as “The Hitless Wonders”, relying on their pitching and 'small ball' to win games. The Sox had a team average of .230 in the regular season and hit .198 in their World Series victory. They relied heavily on walks, stolen bases and sacrifice hits to scratch out runs. They had 35 more sacrifice hits than the second team in the league, and they led the league in walks by 70 more than their nearest rival.

They were in fourth place at the end of July, but went on an incredible nineteen game winning streak to pull away in the pennant race. It would take over 100 years for an American League team to batter that winning streak.

In one of baseball's greatest games, on July 4^th of that year, Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown of the Cubs faced off against Albert “Lefty” Liefield of the Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader. The Cubs and Brown won 1-0. What makes this game interesting is the fact that both pitchers pitched a one-hitter, and Liefield was the one who got the hit against Brown. Liefield gave up his only hit in the ninth inning, which led to the winning run.

In what would be a theme of the pitching rich “dead-ball era' performances, where the pitching far outpaced the hitting, Tom Hughes of the Senators and Fred Glade of the Browns matched shutout innings until the tenth, when Hughes homered to score the only run in the 1-0 shutout. Hughes became the first pitcher to pitch a shutout and hit a homer that scored the only run of the game.

In September, Jack Coombs of the Athletics and Joe Harris of the Boston Americans both pitched a complete game, with the Athletics winning 4-1. It was not unusual for that era for a pitcher to take a complete game loss. What makes this game unusual was the fact that they both pitched a 24-inning complete game, which is still the American League record. (One that I am confident won't be broken)

There were no post season player awards during this time, so I have free reign over dispersing whatever mythical hardware that would have been bestowed. But first, we'll look at the mythical power numbers for that year. That ranking is:

1. Chicago Cubs          1^st in NL
2. Cleveland Naps       3^rd in AL
3. New York Giants     2^nd in NL
4. Pittsburgh Pirates     3^rd in NL
5. Chicago White Sox   1^st in AL, World Champs

We'll now look at the pitching in each league, starting with the American League. As I mentioned earlier, pitching dominated this era, and as such there are some incredible numbers. But, since fielding wasn't necessarily a strong point, some of these numbers may be misleading. As I did with my analysis of the 1919 season, I will rely on a runs allowed factor instead of a earned run average. I will post both the official ERA and my runs allowed for comparison sake. For this season, the Runs Allowed for each pitcher averaged 40% higher than the ERA, meaning that there were that much more unearned runs scored. This is partly due to the inferior equipment (as opposed to the contemporary game we see today) as well as the style of play, involving sacrifices, hitting behind the runner, rundowns and plays where you force the other team into making errors when you can.

So, the top overall raw numbers for the top pitchers in the AL are:

Name	Team	W-L	Runs Allowed	ERA
Doc White	White Sox	18-6	1.93	1.52
Addie Joss	Cleveland	21-9	2.59	1.72
Eddie Plank	Athletics	19-6	2.98	2.25
Bob Rhoads	Cleveland	22-10	2.71	1.8
Barney Pelty	Browns	16-11	2.66	1.59
Jack Powell	Browns	13-14	2.84	1.77
Otto Hess	Cleveland	20-17	2.81	1.83
Al Orth	NY Highlanders	23-17	3.06	2.34
Nick Altrock	White Sox	20-13	2.97	2.06
Ed Walsh	White Sox	17-13	2.68	1.88

And then against their individual team averages, the rankings are:

Name	Team	W-L	Runs Allowed	ERA
Casey Patten	Senators	19-16	3.38	2.17
Eddie Plank		ABOVE
Jesse Tannehill	Boston	13-11	4.17	3.16
Doc White		ABOVE
Addie Joss		ABOVE
George Mullin	Tigers	21-18	3.79	2.78
Barney Pelty		ABOVE
Cy Young	Boston	13-21	4.29	3.19
Bill Dineen	Boston	8-19	4.16	2.92
Cy Falkenberg	Senators	14-20	4.1	2.86

Before we look at the overall rankings, just for comparison sake I want to show the difference between the ERA and the Runs Allowed. So in each league, the top 10 of ERA were:

AL
Name	Team	ERA	Runs Allowed
Doc White	White Sox	1.52	1.93
Barney Pelty	Browns	1.59	2.66
Addie Joss	Cleveland	1.72	2.59
Jack Powell	Browns	1.77	2.84
Bob Rhoads	Cleveland	1.80	2.71
Otto Hess	Cleveland	1.83	2.81
Ed Walsh	White Sox	1.88	2.68
Nick Altrock	White Sox	2.06	2.97
Harry Howell	Browns	2.11	3.19
Casey Patten	Senators	2.17	3.38

And then the Runs Allowed leaders look like this:

Name	Team	Runs Allowed	ERA
Doc White	White Sox	1.93	1.52
Addie Joss	Cleveland	2.59	1.72
Barney Pelty	Browns	2.66	1.59
Ed Walsh	White Sox	2.68	1.88
Bod Rhoads	Cleveland	2.71	1.80
Otto Hess	Cleveland	2.81	1.83
Jack Powell	Cleveland	2.90	1.77
Rube Waddell	Athletics	2.94	2.21
Nick Altrock	White Sox	2.97	2.06
Eddie Plank	Athletics	2.98	2.25

With all that information, I now present the top pitchers in the American League:

Name	Team	W-L	RA	ERA
Doc White	White Sox	18-6	1.93	1.52
Addie Joss	Cleveland	21-9	2.59	1.72
Eddie Plank	Athletics	19-6	2.98	2.25
Bob Rhoads	Cleveland	22-10	2.71	1.80
Barney Pelty	Browns	16-11	2.66	1.59
Otto Hess	Cleveland	20-17	2.81	1.83
Jack Powell	Browns	13-14	2.90	1.77
Al Orth	NY Highlanders	27-17	3.06	2.34
Nick Altrock	White Sox	20-13	2.97	2.06
Ed Walsh	White Sox	17-13	2.68	1.88

There is not much change from the original raw numbers, which sometimes does happen. Doc White was clearly the ace of the White Sox staff that year.

Now, we'll take a look at the National League. Worth noting is a trade between the Cardinals and the Cubs that happened on July 1^st. The Cubs sent Fred Beebe and Pete Noonan along with some cash to St. Louis for Taylor, who was 8-9 with a 2.15 ERA at the time of the trade (his RA was 2.90) and went on to post a 12-3 mark with the Cubs, with a 1.83 ERA and an RA of 2.57. I have included his total NL averages on the following tables.

The Cubs also picked up pitcher Orval Overall (yes, that's his real name) on June 2^nd form the Reds for $2,000 cash, and pitcher Bob Wicker. Orvall went 4-5 with a 4.26 ERA and a 5.68 RA for the Reds. But the twenty five year old then went 12-3 with a 1.88 ERA and a 2.65 RA for the Cubs the rest of the year.

The Cubs' pitching staff was unbelievably dominating, finishing with a team ERA of 1.75 and had the top three in ERA, and five of the top six at seasons end. They had two twenty game winners, and another with nineteen wins. They allowed an average of 2.47 runs per game, a full run lower than any other team. They steamrolled over the rest of the National League in winning 116 games.

So we'll look at the raw numbers for the NL pitchers:

Name	Team	W-L	Runs Allowed	ERA
Mordecai Brown	Cubs	26-6	1.82	1.04
Jack Pfister	Cubs	20-8	2.26	1.51
Jack Taylor	NL total	20-12	2.74	1.99
Ed Reulbach	Cubs	19-4	2.11	1.65
Vic Willis	Pirates	23-13	2.35	1.73
Carl Lundgren	Cubs	17-6	2.73	2.21
Joe McGinnity	Giants	27-12	3.37	2.25
Sam Leever	Pirates	22-7	2.90	2.32
Lefty Leifield	Pirates	18-13	3.17	1.87
Luther Taylor	Giants	17-9	3.42	2.20

And against their team averages:

Name	Team	W-L	Runs Allowed	ERA
Jake Weimer	Reds	20-14	3.10	2.22
Fred Beebe	Cardinals	9-9	3.64	3.02
Irv Young	Braves	16-25	3.94	2.91
Tully Sparks	Phillies	19-16	2.81	2.16
Jack Taylor	NL total	20-12	2.74	1.99
Jeff Pfeffer	Braves	13-22	4.11	2.95
Mordecai brown	Cubs	26-6	1.82	1.04
Carl Druhot	NL total	8-9	4.17	2.90
Bob Ewing	Reds	13-14	3.07	2.38
Doc Scanlan	Brooklyn	18-13	4.00	3.19

And as above, the best in ERA and Runs Allowed:

Name	Team	ERA	Runs Allowed
Mordecai Brown	Cubs	1.04	1.82
Jack Pfister	Cubs	1.51	2.26
Ed Reulbach	Cubs	1.65	2.11
Vic Willis	Pirates	1.73	2.35
Lefty Liefield	Pirates	1.87	3.17
Jack Taylor	NL total	1.99	2.74
Tully Sparks	Phillies	2.16	2.81
Luther Taylor	Giants	2.20	3.42
Carl Lundgren	Cubs	2.21	2.73
Jake Weimer	Reds	2.22	3.10

Name	Team	RA	ERA
Mordecai Brown	Cubs	1.82	1.04
Ed Reulbach	Cubs	2.11	1.65
Jack Pfister	Cubs	2.26	1.51
Vic Willis	Pirates	2.35	1.73
Carl Lundgren	Cubs	2.73	2.21
Jack Taylor	NL Total	2.74	1.99
Tully Sparks	Phillies	2.81	2.16
Sam Leever	Pirates	2.90	2.32
Bill Duggleby	Phillies	2.99	2.25
Bob Ewing	Reds	3.07	2.38

And the final audited numbers, here are the top National League pitchers from 1906:

Name	Team
Mordecai Brown	Cubs
Jack Pfister	Cubs
Ed Reulbach	Cubs
Vic Willis	Pirates
Carl Lundgren	Cubs
Jack Taylor	NL Total
Sam Leever	Pirates
Joe McGinnity	Giants
Lefty Liefield	Pirates
Tully Sparks	Phillies

Again, not many changes in the ranking. Factoring in the Runs Allowed in lieu of the ERA still gives Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown an incredible season. His 1.04 ERA is still the National League record for the lowest in a season, and is one of those almost unattainable records. Amazingly, while he averaged allowing less than two runs per game, he still somehow lost six times.

Now, on to analyze the batters, beginning with the American League. The league as a whole batted just .235, which is again testament to the pitching of the day. Remember, this is before Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth and Tris Speaker, to name a few. 1906 marked the sophomore season of “The Georgia Peach”, Ty Cobb, who hit .316 in 98 games for the Tigers as a nineteen year old.

(As an aside, Cobb is one of just three men to have hit a home-run before their twentieth birthday, and after their fortieth. The other two are Rusty Staub and Alex Rodriguez)

Since homers were not a crucial part of the game during this era, I am going to highlight Runs Scored as a better indicator of worth. That being said, the overall numbers look like this:

Name	Team	Runs	RBI	AVG	SB
Harry Davis	Athletics	94	96	.292	23
Napoleon Lajoie	Cleveland	88	91	.355	20
George Stone	Browns	91	71	.358	35
Sam Crawford	Tigers	65	72	.295	24
Elmer Flick	Cleveland	98	62	.311	39
Hal Chase	NY Highlanders	84	76	.323	28
George Davis	White Sox	63	80	.277	27
Frank LaPorte	NY Highlanders	60	54	.264	10
Jimmy Williams	NY Highlanders	61	77	.277	8
Charlie Hemphill	Browns	90	62	.289	33

And against their teams:

Name	Team	Runs	RBI	AVG	SB
Sam Crawford
Harry Davis
George Stone
Moose Grimshaw	Boston	46	48	.290	5
George Davis
Napoleon Lajoie
Charlie Hemphill
Chick Stahl	Boston	63	51	.286	13
Bobby Wallace	Browns	64	67	.258	24
Frank Isbell	White Sox	71	57	.279	37

Before I get to the big reveal, I want to highlight the top ten in runs created, which in my formula, weighs very heavy in the calculations. As I mentioned before, runs are what each player strives for. Runs equals wins. So my formula highlights and rewards the setting up of the runs, as well as the actual runs themselves. So here are the top run creators in the AL for 1906:

Name	Team	Runs Created	RC/Game
Napoleon Lajoie	Cleveland	179	1.18
Harry Davis	Athletics	178	1.23*
Hal Chase	NY Highlanders	160	1.06
Elmer Flick	Cleveland	159	1.01
George Stone	Browns	156	1.01
Charlie Hemphill	Browns	148	0.96
Terry Turner	Cleveland	145	0.99
George Davis	White Sox	143	1.08
Sam Crawford	Detroit	135	0.93
Jimmy Williams	NY Highlanders	135	0.97

*led the league

And now, the best offensive players in the AL for 1906:

Name	Team
Harry Davis	Athletics
George Stone	Browns
Sam Crawford	Detroit
Napoleon Lajoie	Cleveland
George Davis	White Sox
Hal Chase	NY Highlanders
Moose Grimshaw	Boston
Elmer Flick	Cleveland
Charlie Hemphill	Browns
Frank LaPorte	NY Highlanders

Over in the National League, where the pitching rich Cubs dominated, the offense was a little more varied. Overall number:

Name	Team	Runs	RBI	AVG	SB
Frank Chance	Cubs	103	71	0.319	57
Honus Wagner	Pirates	103	71	0.339	53
Harry Steinfeldt	Cubs	81	83	0.327	29
Roger Bresnahan	Giants	69	43	0.281	25
Harry Lumley	Brooklyn	72	61	0.324	35
Tim Jordan	Brooklyn	67	78	0.262	16
Joe Nealon	Pirates	82	83	0.255	15
Art Devlin	Giants	76	65	0.299	54
Fred Clarke	Pirates	69	39	0.309	18
Cy Seymour	NL Total	70	80	0.286	29

And then against their team:

Name	Team	Runs	RBI	AVG	SB
Harry Lumley	Brooklyn
Tim Jordan	Brooklyn
Honus Wagner	Pirates
Johnny Bates	Braves	52	54	0.252	9
Del Howard	Braves	46	54	0.261	17
Fred Tenney	Braves	61	28	0.283	17
Frank Chance	Cubs
Sherry Magee	Phillies	77	67	0.282	55
Dave Brain	Braves	43	45	0.250	11
Cozy Dolan	Braves	54	39	0.248	17

Now we'll look at the top run producers in the NL:

Name	Team	Runs created	RC/game
Honus Wagner	Pirates	172	1.21
Frank Chance	Cubs	171	1.26*
Joe Nealon	Pirates	162	1.05
Harry Steinfeldt	Cubs	161	1.07
Cy Seymour	NL Total	142	0.94
Art Devlin	Giants	139	0.94
Joe Tinker	Cubs	138	0.93
Sherry Magee	Phillies	138	0.90
Jim Sheckard	Cubs	134	0.90
Tim Jordan	Brooklyn	133	1.03

So, the top 10 National League players offensively, with the audited numbers are as follows:

Honus Wagner	Pirates
Frank Chance	Cubs
Harry Lumley	Brooklyn
Tim Jordan	Brooklyn
Harry Steinfeldt	Cubs
Roger Bresnahan	Giants
Sherry Magee	Phillies
Joe Nealon	Pirates
Art Devlin	Giants
Cy Seymour	Reds/Giants

Historical notes here, the Reds sold Cy Seymour to the Giants for $12,000 on July 12^th of that year. And Giants catcher Roger Bresnahan became the first catcher to wear shin guards, in 1907. he also is said to have helped develop the first batting helmet. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.

So, now to the post season awards. For the pitchers, it is hard to 'award' a Cy Young Award for excellence in pitching in a season where Cy himself was still going strong. (The thirty-nine year old won thirteen games and lost twenty-one).

Plus, in a slight digression, of which I have many, I think that the annual award for pitching should be named for Walter Johnson. I believe Johnson was a much better pitcher than Young, and for over fifty years, he was the only pitcher to have struck out over three thousand batters. But, more on this at a much later date.

For right now, in both leagues, the pitchers would have swept both awards. Top 5 were:

American League	National League
Doc White	Mordecai Brown
Harry Davis	Jack Pfister
George Stone	Honus Wagner
Sam Crawford	Ed Reulbach
Addie Joss	Harry Steinfeldt

Guy Harris "Doc" White

Mordecai Peter Centennial "Three-Finger" Brown