When the American League opened it's first season, each team found itself loaded with talent from the NL. Probably the brightest star the first year was Nap Lajoie, second baseman for the Philadelphia Athletics, who finished in third place for the AL batting title after jumping from the rival Phillies. In addition to hitting .362, Lajoie also scored 117 times to lead the new league. Connie Mack managed his first Athletics' squad that also previewed one of his most prominent collegiate finds, 25-year old pitcher Eddie Plank, who won 16 games to lead the team to a disappointing fifth place finish. Jimmy Collins jumped from the Boston NL club to manage and star for the new AL team in Boston. His team also featured one of the best pitchers to jump to the junior league, Cy Young, who finished leading the league in strikeouts with 148.
The Brewers took the first American League title by five games over the Tigers, who had battled back in the early weeks of September from 13 games out to wind up in second place. Milwaukee was led on the mound by Frank Kitson, who they had acquired in May and was the winner of the AL's first Outstanding Pitcher Award.
Code:
American League W L PCT GB
Milwaukee 86 54 .614 --
Detroit 81 59 .579 5
Cleveland 69 71 .493 17
Baltimore 68 72 .487 18
Philadelphia 65 75 .464 21
Chicago 64 76 .457 22
Washington 64 76 .457 22
Boston 63 77 .450 23
Batting AVG AVG
O.Pickering, CLE .396
C.Stahl, BOS .363
N.Lajoie, PHA .362
Homeruns HR
J.Williams, BLA 12
M.Donlin, BLA 11
C.Stahl, BOS 10
Runs Batted In RBI
S.Seybold, PHA 119
S.Dungan, WS1 109
J.Anderson, MLA 100
Runs Scored RS
N.Lajoie, PHA 117
J.Williams, BLA 116
S.Seybold, PHA 111
Stolen Bases SB
C.Stahl, BOS 81
D.Casey, DET 80
S.Mertes, CHA 67
Earned Run Average ERA
F.Kitson, MLA 2.55
E.Siever, DET 2.58
N.Garvin, MLA 2.88
Wins W
J.Cronin, DET 20
W.Guese, CHA 20
B.Hoffer, CLE 20
Saves SV
P.Dowling, MLA 4
E.High, DET 4
J.McPherson, PHA 4
Strikeouts SO
C.Young, BOS 148
N.Garvin, MLA 134
G.Prentiss, BOS 121