Fresh off their winning the American League pennant for the second straight time and winning the World Series, the St.Louis Browns headed into 1919 with probably the best offensive and pitching team in the league and possibly the best in baseball. During 1919, the Browns totally dominated the junior circuit and ran away with their third straight title as they clinched the title before Labor Day and eventually finished 25 games ahead of the nearest team, the Detroit Tigers. The St.Louis attack was lead by hitters Billy Southworth and Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby won the AL's Outstanding Hitter Award by batting .332 with 10 homers, 92 RBI and swiping 12 bases. The pitching staff was led by Hippo Vaughn and Leon Cadore, the only two hurlers in the league to win 20 or more games. Vaughn was also awarded the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award as he also had a 1.89 ERA and struck out a league-leading 129 batters.
In the senior circuit, the Chicago Cubs took control of the league in July and held an 8 game lead over the second place Cardinals heading into Labor Day. With almost two full weeks to go in the abreviated regular season, Chicago clinched it's second NL pennant in franchise history (1901+) and finished with a 6 game cushion. The Cubbies were led by their one-two punch at the plate, Vin Campbell and Ken Williams. All Campbell did was lead the league in average by hitting .348 and finished third in stolen bases with 27, but the talk around baseball focused on the mighty outfielder of the Philadelphia Phillies, Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth broke the major league (1901+) single season home run record by swatting 24, almost matching the two runners-up in the NL race, Tilly Walker (15) and Braggo Roth (11), combined. Ruth, now known as the "Sultan of Swat" by the media, also had a batting average of .325 and drove in 78 runs, plus stole 13 bases, and was the receiver of the league's Outstanding Hitter Award.
The St.Louis Browns, coming off of their league's domination, were heavily favored to defeat the Cubs for the world's championship, which would be their second straight, however something happened on their way to the anticipated world title. Chicago split the first two games in St.Louis, then took 2 out of 3 at home, winning games 4 and 5 late by the scores of 3-2 and 4-3. In game 6, an error by the Browns' Rogers Hornsby opened the flood gates in the 3rd inning as the Cubs went on to win 9-3 to take a 4 games to 2 lead. Despite errors by Vaughn and O'Neil, St.Louis took the 7th game as Vaughn allowed only 4 hits and 1 run in winning 6-1, his first win in three tries during the series as both teams decided to go to a 3-man rotation at the beginning of the series. In game eight, the Browns took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the sixth but Chicago came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning then held on to win the game and the series.
Code:
American League W L PCT GB National League W L PCT GB
St.Louis 98 42 .700 -- Chicago 85 55 .607 --
Detroit 73 67 .521 25 St.Louis 79 61 .564 6
New York 73 67 .521 25 Cincinnati 69 71 .493 16
Chicago 70 70 .500 28 New York 69 71 .493 16
Boston 67 73 .479 31 Philadelphia 69 71 .493 16
Cleveland 62 78 .443 36 Brooklyn 64 76 .457 21
Washington 60 80 .429 38 Boston 63 77 .450 22
Philadelphia 57 83 .407 41 Pittsburgh 62 78 .443 23
Batting AVG AVG Batting AVG AVG
B.Weaver, DET .338 V.Campbell, CHI .348
G.Sisler, CLE .336 K.Williams, CHI .333
B.Southworth, STL .332 B.Veach, STL .330
Homeruns HR Homeruns HR
G.Sisler, CLE 14 B.Ruth, PHI 24
E.Smith, CHI 12 T.Walker, BRO 15
R.Hornsby, STL 10 B.Roth, NY 11
Runs Batted In RBI Runs Batted In RBI
B.Southworth, STL 100 B.Veach, STL 93
R.Hornsby, STL 92 B.Roth, NY 92
I.Flagstead, CHI 88 K.Williams, CHI 82
Runs Scored RS Runs Scored RS
E.Collins, CHI 93 B.Ruth, PHI 96
R.Hornsby, STL 89 J.Daubert, CHI 93
C.Stengel, DET 88 R.Chapman, CHI 83
Stolen Bases SB Stolen Bases SB
G.Sisler, CLE 34 M.Berghammer, PIT 34
E.Collins, CHI 29 F.Maisel, NY 32
J.Devore, WAS 26 V.Campbell, CHI 27
Earned Run Average ERA Earned Run Average ERA
W.Cooper, STL 1.69 L.Williams, CHI 2.15
H.Vaughn, STL 1.89 H.Keupper, STL 2.43
S.Coveleski, DET 2.34 R.Benton, CHI 2.49
Wins W Wins W
H.Vaughn, STL 22 H.Keupper, STL 21
L.Cadore, STL 20 P.Alexander, PIT 19
S.Coveleski, DET 16 C.Johnson, CHI 19
Saves SV Saves SV
F.Anderson, DET 12 L.Williams, CHI 11
W.Ancker, CLE 4 J.Baker, CHI 9
C.Blackburn, DET 4 G.LeClair, NY 7
Strikeouts SO Strikeouts SO
H.Vaughn, STL 129 A.Malloy, BRO 125
A.Mamaux, CLE 97 H.Eller, BOS 123
S.Coveleski, DET 95 P.Alexander, PIT 114
1919 World Series
Game #1
Chicago (N) 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 2 0 - 6 14 0
St.Louis (A) 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 4 10 3
C.Johnson, L.Williams (8) and M.Ruel, I.Wingo (9).
H.Vaughn and M.O'Neil.
WP - C.Johnson (1-0)
LP - H.Vaughn (0-1)
SV - L.Williams (1)
HR - none
Game #2
Chicago (N) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 7 2
St.Louis (A) 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 x - 3 5 1
V.Aldridge, L.Williams (7) and I.Wingo.
L.Cadore and M.O'Neil.
WP - L.Cadore (1-0)
LP - V.Aldridge (0-1)
HR - none
Game #3
St.Louis (A) 0 5 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 - 9 19 1
Chicago (N) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 - 3 10 0
W.Cooper and M.O'Neil.
R.Benton, L.Williams (6) and M.Ruel.
WP - W.Cooper (1-0)
LP - R.Benton (0-1)
HR - none
Game #4
St.Louis (A) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 - 2 12 1
Chicago (N) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 - 3 7 0
H.Vaughn and M.O'Neil.
C.Johnson and M.Ruel.
WP - C.Johnson (2-0)
LP - H.Vaughn (0-2)
HR - STL: R.Youngs (1)
Game #5
St.Louis (A) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 - 3 8 0
Chicago (N) 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 x - 4 10 0
L.Cadore and M.O'Neil.
V.Aldridge, L.Williams (8) and I.Wingo.
WP - L.Williams (1-0)
LP - L.Cadore (1-1)
HR - CHI: C.Williams (1)
Game #6
Chicago (N) 0 1 4 0 0 0 3 0 1 - 9 17 0
St.Louis (A) 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 3 10 1
R.Benton and M.Ruel.
W.Cooper, P.Standridge (8) and M.O'Neil
WP - R.Benton (1-1)
LP - W.Cooper (1-1)
HR - STL: R.Hornsby (1)
Game #7
Chicago (N) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 4 0
St.Louis (A) 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 x - 6 13 2
C.Johnson, L.Williams (8) and M.Ruel.
H.Vaughn and M.O'Neil.
WP - H.Vaughn (1-2)
LP - C.Johnson (2-1)
HR - none
Game #8
St.Louis (A) 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 5 10 3
Chicago (N) 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 x - 6 8 3
L.Cadore and S.O'Neill.
V.Aldridge, L.Williams (6) and I.Wingo.
WP - L.Williams (2-0)
LP - L.Cadore (1-2)
HR - CHI: K.Williams (1)