[Matt from TN]

1921 National League

Team                        W   L   %  GB
New York Giants            96 58 .623 -
Boston Braves              89 65 .578 7
Pittsburgh Pirates         86 68 .558 10
Brooklyn Robins            73 81 .474 23
St. Louis Cardinals        71 83 .461 25
Cincinnati Reds            71 83 .461 25
Philadelphia Phillies      67 87 .435 29
Chicago Cubs               63 91 .409 33

League AVG: .284
League ERA: 4.08


The Giants found themselves in unfamiliar territory at the end of August - 2nd place. They began the month of September with 2 wins against 1st place Boston. After going 1-2 versus Brooklyn and then winning a makeup game in Philly 11-1, they swept a 3-game series in Boston by a combined 27-7. That began their upward climb, and by season's end they were a comfortable 7 games ahead.

New York's offense was by far the best in the league, scoring a half-run more per game than the Braves. Heinie Groh (.353, 87 RBI) won his first batting title. All together, seven regulars hit over .300. Josh Devore continues to sit against lefties in favor of Fred Snodgrass, but in 360 AB, Devore hit a robust .392.

Boston's offense was 2nd to New York. 1B Fred Beck was named Top Batter for hitting .344 with 10 HR and 102 RBI. 3B Frank O'Rourke hit .332 with 100 RBI. The team's pitching was tops in the league. They were headed by Art Nehf (23-14, 3.28) and Dolf Luque (20-16, 3.34).

Pittsburgh was the story of the season, completing a 21-game turnaround from last season's 65-89 disappointment. RF Joe Schultz set a new NL record with 17 homeruns. Pitching was the team's primary strength, led by Wilbur Cooper (24-14, 3.47), Sherry Smith (22-13, 3.57) and Claude Hendrix (20-14, 3.88).

Brooklyn's Johnny Miljus (14-16, 3.14) had the 2nd best ERA in the league and was named Top Rookie.



Batting AVG
.353 Heinie Groh, NYG
.346 Rogers Hornsby, STL
.344 Fred Beck, BSN
.343 George Burns, NYG
.340 Otto Miller, BRO

HOMERUNS
17 Joe Schultz, PIT
16 Larry Doyle, NYG
14 Vic Saier, CHC
11 Cy Williams, CHC
11 Russ Wrightstone, PHI
11 Rogers Hornsby, STL

RBI
105 Casey Stengel, BRO
103 Larry Doyle, NYG
102 Fred Beck, BSN
100 Frank O'Rourke, BSN
97 Ross Youngs, NYG

OPS
.907 Vic Saier, CHC
.892 Fred Beck, BSN
.892 Rogers Hornsby, STL
.887 Fred Merkle, NYG
.872 Heinie Groh, NYG

STEALS
33 Josh Devore, NYG
27 Armando Marsans, CIN
26 Fred Snodgrass, NYG
25 Max Carey, PIT
21 George Burns, NYG

ERA
2.77 Eppa Rixey, PHI
3.14 Johnny Miljus, BRO
3.28 Art Nehf, BSN
3.32 Hugh McQuillan, BSN
3.34 Ernie Shore, NYG
3.34 Dolf Luque, BSN

WINS
24 Wilbur Cooper, PIT
24 Jeff Tesreau, NYG
23 Art Nehf, BSN
23 Ernie Shore, NYG
22 Sherry Smith, PIT

STRIKEOUTS
216 Claude Hendrix, PIT
197 Pete Alexander, PHI
160 Nap Rucker, BRO
142 Pat Ragan, CIN
142 Eppa Rixey, PHI

POY: Ernie Shore, NYG, 30, 23-13, 3.34 ERA, 52 BB, 84 K, .295 OAVG, 1.35 WHIP
BOY: 1B Fred Beck, BSN, 34, .344, 10 HR, 102 RBI, .892 OPS
ROY: Johnny Miljus, BRO, 14-16, 3.14 ERA, 102 BB, 107 K, .291 OAVG, 1.46 WHIP

Gold Gloves:

Pitcher: Sherry Smith, PIT, 1
Catcher: Dick Cotter, PHI, 5
First Base: Fred Beck, BSN, 7
Second Base: Bruno Betzel, STL, 2
Third Base: Russ Wrightstone, PHI
Shortstop: Alex McCarthy, PIT, 7
Leftfield: Max Flack, CHC, 2
Centerfield: Johnny Bates, BSN, 2
Rightfield: Ross Youngs, NYG, 1




1921 American League

Team                        W   L   %  GB
Philadelphia Athletics     95 59 .617 -
Boston Red Sox             94 60 .610 1
Detroit Tigers             76 78 .494 19
Washington Senators        74 80 .481 21
New York Yankees           73 81 .474 22
St. Louis Browns           71 83 .461 24
Cleveland Indians          67 87 .435 28
Chicago White Sox          66 88 .429 29

League AVG: .282
League ERA: 4.34


For the second season in a row, the Athletics won the pennant by a single game. Last year it was Detroit who put a scare into the mighty A's. This season it was the resurgent Red Sox. With just two days remaining in the season, Boston held a half-game lead. On that day, the Red Sox dropped both games of a double header to Washington while Philly defeated the Yankees. That gave the A's their one-game lead. Both teams won on the final day, giving Philly their 7th consecutive pennant.

The A's finished 2nd in both offense and pitching to the Red Sox. Offensively, both teams were statistically very similar. The A's were led by Joe Jackson (.321, 11 HR, 86 RBI), Eddie Collins (.337, 108 RBI, 31 SB), Amos Strunk (.388, 12 HR, 106 RBI) and Stuffy McInnis (.315, 82 RBI). The Red Sox were led by Tris Speaker (.344, 99 RBI, 22 SB), Harry Hooper (.339, 12 HR, 108 RBI), Les Nunamaker (.317, 97 RBI) and the uncomparable Babe Ruth who hit .251 (I still can't figure out why his average remains so low) with 136 RBI and an astounding 45 homeruns - more than two entire major league clubs! Boston's pitching was superior, with Dutch Leonard (24-12, 2.73) and Hugh Bedient (27-6, 2.94), but Philadelphia's staff wasn't far behind, led by Herb Pennock (23-14, 2.99).

With a 19-17 season, Philadelphia's Chief Bender increased his career victories total to an amazing 434. The 37-year-old Bender is no longer the ace of the rotation and he didn't pitch a single inning in the World Series, but he is still talented and could return to the rotation next season. He is now 50 wins ahead of former all-time leader Bill Vinton and 124 wins ahead of the Cubs' Ed Reulbach, who is clearly at the end of his career after going 6-12, 6.35 at the age of 38. Boston's Joe Wood finished the season with 298 wins. Five other active pitchers have over 250 wins.

Ty Cobb set a new single season record with a .438 average. Last season, he became the first player to hit over .400 since Live Oak Taylor in 1889. Cobb's .359 career average is currently 2nd to Taylor's .377. But Taylor did it in under 3500 plate appearances, while Cobb has already had over 10,000 PA's. The career leaderboard requirement may be raised from 3,000 to 4,000 to reflect this.

Babe Ruth's 136 RBI is a new major league record. Detroit's George Burns also broke the previous record of 125 held by former Giant Moose McCormick.



Batting AVG
.438 Ty Cobb, DET
.388 Amos Strunk, PHA
.360 George Burns, DET
.344 Tris Speaker, BOS
.339 Harry Hooper, BOS

HOMERUNS
45 Babe Ruth, BOS
15 Jack Fournier, CHW
12 Elmer Smith, CLE
12 Amos Strunk, PHA
12 Harry Hooper, BOS

RBI
136 Babe Ruth, BOS
127 George Burns, DET
123 Harry Heilmann, DET
111 Ty Cobb, DET
108 Eddie Collins, PHA
108 Harry Hooper, BOS

OPS
1.108 Ty Cobb, DET
1.050 Amos Strunk, PHA
1.050 Babe Ruth, BOS
.952 Tris Speaker, BOS
.918 George Burns, DET

STEALS
35 Ty Cobb, DET
31 Eddie Collins, PHA
27 Ray Chapman, CLE
25 Clyde Milan, WSH
22 Tris Speaker, BOS

ERA
2.73 Dutch Leonard, BOS
2.94 Hugh Bedient, BOS
2.99 Herb Pennock, PHA
3.35 Allen Sothoron, SLB
3.66 Hooks Dauss, DET

WINS
27 Hugh Bedient, BOS
25 Joe Bush, PHA
24 Dutch Leonard, BOS
24 Hooks Dauss, DET
23 Herb Pennock, PHA

STRIKEOUTS
173 Walter Johnson, WSH
158 Gene Krapp, CLE
157 Dutch Leonard, BOS
154 Hippo Vaughn, NYY
153 Jim Scott, CHW

POY: Hugh Bedient, BOS, 31, 27-6, 2.94 ERA, 20 BB, 119 K, .263 OAVG, 1.10 WHIP
BOY: CF Ty Cobb, DET, 34, .438, 10 HR, 111 RBI, 35 SB, 1.108 OPS
ROY: Eddie Rommel, PHA, 17-4, 3.80 ERA, 59 BB, 43 K, .285 OAVG, 1.42 WHIP

Gold Gloves:
Pitcher: Hooks Dauss, DET, 1
Catcher: Les Nunamaker, BOS, 2
First Base: Hal Chase, NYY, 9
Second Base: Eddie Collins, PHA, 7
Third Base: Joe Sewell, CLE, 1
Shortstop: Ray Chapman, CLE, 3
Leftfield: Elmer Smith, CLE, 1
Centerfield: Happy Felsch, CHW, 4
Rightfield: Braggo Roth, CHW, 1