American League
The American League was a 3 team rate race, with Boston, St. Louis, and (until the very end of the season) Cleveland). On that Cleveland squad was a definition of the American League’s apparent superior offensive power (although it was probably just weaker pitching), as their entire infield, with the exception of shortstop, had the top OPS marks in the majors. The tops of them of all was by DW Award Winner
Charlie Hickman (.373, 16, 148), who led the league in Home Runs, Runs Batted In, and Total Bases (each by a fairly large margin). Although Ed Delahanty had a strong argument for the award to, as we will see:
In the end, it was the
St. Louis Browns who came up on top, clinching the pennant in the final few days of the season. The offensive star of the Browns was 34-year old CF Jesse Burkett, who whacked 181 hits, and walked 82 times on way to a .444 OBP. John Anderson (.347, 5, 88), and Emmet Hendrick (.330, 1, 103) supported. Pitching wise, the Browns featured 3 strong starters: Willie Sudhoff (25-11, 3.50), Red Donahue (24-15, 3.22), and Jack Powell (22-17, 3.22). Jack Harper (15-18, 4.43) was the one weak point, but the Browns hoped that the other three would make it unnecessary for him to make a postseason appearance.
The Boston Americans had a better lineup, and pitching staff, and this added up to a better Pythagorean W-L at 92-62 (compared to 85-69), but again, that doesn’t count towards anything. The
real Boston squad finished 1 game out at 90-64 and featured the best outfield seen since the mid-1890s Phillies; It consisted of Patsy Dougherty (.374, 3, 67, AL best 226 H, AL best 155 R), Chick Stahl (.363, 4, 84), and Sluggin’ Buck Freeman (.359, 12, 135). The Sox pitching had two real stars: Cy Young (22-14, 2.88), and George Winter (26-12, 3.43). The Broncos of Cleveland featured two 29-game winners, AL OHR AW
Bill Bernhard (29-13, 2.33), and AL ROTY
Addie Joss (29-14, 3.01). In addition to the for mentioned Hickman, their lineup featured Nap Lajoie (.353, 8, 73), and Bill Bradley (.353, 7, 107). The White Sox featured the best pitching in the American League (Ned Garvin went 27-11, with a 2.38 ERA), but the 6th best hitting. Lave Cross got more then 200 hits on a very average Athletics club, on which Rube Waddell struck out a lot of hitters (251), which Rube Waddell will do for you. Joe Kelley (.320), Cy Seymour (.338), and Joe McGinnity (24-17) played well on a 6th place Baltimore club that decided to scoot up to the big apple once the year was done. Detroit had Jimmy Barrett (.438 OBP, .403 SLG?!?), and Ed Siever, a good pitcher on a bad team.
The Senators were just bad. Their offense outwardly seems good, with a .273 Average, but this is in a good hitting league, and their run production is second worse in the American league. They have a 5.06 ERA, and average a much worse 6.38 runs given up a game. But they do have…Ed Delahanty (.375, 10, 93). Eddy boy led the league in…AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, 2B, Runs Created, and Extra Base Hits. Which isn’t a
ton on things, but sure isn’t bad on a team which loses more then 100 games.
Now stats and stuff:
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
American League
St. Louis (A) 91 63 .591 -- .286 3.60
Boston (A) 90 64 .584 1 .290 3.67
Cleveland 84 70 .545 7 .300 3.58
Chicago (A) 81 73 .526 10 .273 3.61
Philadelphia (A) 78 76 .506 13 .282 4.39
Baltimore 73 81 .474 18 .279 4.71
Detroit 69 85 .448 22 .258 3.73
Washington 50 104 .325 41 .273 5.06
These players were selected for the AL OOTP-Allstar Team :
P Bill Bernhard from Cleveland
P George Winter from Boston (A)
P Ned Garvin from Chicago (A)
P Rube Waddell from Philadelphia (A)
P Wiley Piatt from Chicago (A)
P Addie Joss from Cleveland
P Joe Mcginnity from Baltimore
P Roscoe Miller from Detroit
C Boileryard Clarke from Washington
C Harry Bemis from Cleveland
1B Charlie Hickman from Cleveland
2B Jimmy Williams from Baltimore
3B Bill Bradley from Cleveland
SS George Davis from Chicago (A)
LF Danny Green from Chicago (A)
CF Chick Stahl from Boston (A)
RF Buck Freeman from Boston (A)
1B John Anderson from St. Louis (A)
RF Ed Delahanty from Washington
RF Cy Seymour from Baltimore
RF Fielder Jones from Chicago (A)
3B Jimmy Collins from Boston (A)
3B Lave Cross from Philadelphia (A)
American League Leaders
BATTING LEADERS
TOP 10 in BATTING AVG :
.375 Ed Delahanty(,AL)
.374 Patsy Dougherty()
.373 Charlie Hickman(,AL)
.370 Fielder Jones(,AL)
.363 Chick Stahl(,AL)
.359 Buck Freeman(,AL)
.354 Jesse Burkett()
.353 Nap Lajoie()
.353 Bill Bradley(,AL)
.347 John Anderson(,AL)
TOP 10 in HOMERUNS :
16 Charlie Hickman(,AL)
12 Buck Freeman(,AL)
11 Boileryard Clarke(,AL)
10 Jimmy Collins(,AL)
10 Ed Delahanty(,AL)
10 Socks Seybold()
9 Jimmy Williams(,AL)
8 Nap Lajoie()
8 Jimmy Ryan()
8 Frank Isbell()
TOP 10 in RBI :
148 Charlie Hickman(,AL)
136 Jimmy Collins(,AL)
135 Buck Freeman(,AL)
111 Cy Seymour(,AL)
109 Frank Isbell()
107 Bill Bradley(,AL)
103 Emmet Heidrick()
103 Bill Keister()
98 Harry Davis()
96 Danny Green(,AL)
TOP 10 in Doubles :
54 Ed Delahanty(,AL)
51 Jack Mccarthy()
49 Harry Davis()
44 Dick Padden()
43 Bill Bradley(,AL)
43 Lave Cross(,AL)
43 Buck Freeman(,AL)
42 Bobby Wallace()
41 John Anderson(,AL)
39 Bill Keister()
TOP 10 in Triples :
15 Charlie Hickman(,AL)
14 Jimmy Williams(,AL)
14 Danny Green(,AL)
14 Jimmy Collins(,AL)
13 Buck Freeman(,AL)
13 Dan Mcgann()
13 Hobe Ferris()
12 Wilbert Robinson()
12 Bobby Wallace()
12 Charlie Hemphill()
TOP 10 in Runs :
155 Patsy Dougherty()
127 Elmer Flick()
126 Bobby Wallace()
121 John Anderson(,AL)
121 Ed Delahanty(,AL)
120 Buck Freeman(,AL)
115 George Davis(,AL)
113 Charlie Hickman(,AL)
111 Fielder Jones(,AL)
110 Chick Stahl(,AL)
TOP 10 in Stolen Bases :
56 Billy Gilbert()
45 Patsy Dougherty()
44 George Davis(,AL)
43 Elmer Flick()
42 Jesse Burkett()
41 Emmet Heidrick()
40 Frank Isbell()
39 John Anderson(,AL)
39 Barry Mccormick()
38 Joe Kelley()
TOP 10 in BB's :
131 Topsy Hartsel()
115 Sammy Strang()
109 George Davis(,AL)
98 Jimmy Barrett()
96 Ed Delahanty(,AL)
96 Danny Green(,AL)
92 Tom Daly()
89 Fielder Jones(,AL)
87 Charlie Hemphill()
86 Joe Kelley()
TOP 10 in Strikeouts :
107 Harry Arndt()
104 Scoops Carey()
93 John Gochnauer()
86 Fritz Buelow()
57 Bill Bernhard(,AL)
55 Ned Garvin(,AL)
51 Tully Sparks()
51 Wiley Piatt(,AL)
50 Jack Harper()
48 Tom Hughes()
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PITCHING LEADERS
TOP 10 in ERA :
2.33 Bill Bernhard (,AL)
2.38 Ned Garvin (,AL)
2.73 Rube Waddell (,AL)
2.87 Cy Young ()
2.92 Ed Siever ()
2.93 Joe Mcginnity (,AL)
3.01 Addie Joss (,AL)
3.22 Jack Powell ()
3.22 Red Donahue ()
3.43 George Winter (,AL)
TOP 10 in WINS :
29 Addie Joss (,AL)
29 Bill Bernhard (,AL)
27 Ned Garvin (,AL)
26 Rube Waddell (,AL)
26 George Winter (,AL)
25 Willie Sudhoff ()
24 Joe Mcginnity (,AL)
24 Eddie Plank ()
24 Red Donahue ()
22 Cy Young ()
TOP 10 in LOSSES :
30 Happy Townsend ()
29 Case Patten ()
24 Win Mercer ()
24 Earl Moore ()
23 Frank Foreman ()
23 Al Orth ()
22 Bill Carrick ()
22 Clark Griffith ()
20 George Mullin ()
19 Roy Patterson ()
TOP 10 in SAVES :
4 Bill Reidy ()
3 Tom Walker ()
2 Highball Wilson ()
2 Arch Mccarthy ()
2 Fred Mitchell ()
2 Oscar Streit ()
1 Ed Hughes ()
1 George Prentiss ()
1 Cal Vasbinder ()
1 Roscoe Miller (,AL)
TOP 10 in COMPLETE GAMES :
41 Al Orth ()
41 Bill Bernhard (,AL)
40 Addie Joss (,AL)
40 Rube Waddell (,AL)
39 Eddie Plank ()
39 Case Patten ()
38 Ned Garvin (,AL)
38 Earl Moore ()
38 Wiley Piatt (,AL)
38 Happy Townsend ()
TOP 10 in SHUTOUTS :
5 Joe Mcginnity (,AL)
4 Bill Bernhard (,AL)
4 Ed Siever ()
4 Addie Joss (,AL)
3 George Winter (,AL)
3 Wiley Piatt (,AL)
3 Bert Husting ()
3 Rube Waddell (,AL)
3 Cy Young ()
2 Ned Garvin (,AL)
TOP 10 in K's :
251 Rube Waddell (,AL)
129 Addie Joss (,AL)
128 Bill Dinneen ()
121 Eddie Plank ()
120 Wiley Piatt (,AL)
116 Jack Powell ()
114 Tom Hughes ()
108 Cy Young ()
95 George Winter (,AL)
92 Jack Harper ()
TOP 10 in BB's :
184 Happy Townsend ()
181 Earl Moore ()
154 Tom Hughes ()
153 Fred Mitchell ()
145 George Mullin ()
141 Bert Husting ()
137 Jack Harper ()
134 Addie Joss (,AL)
132 Case Patten ()
127 George Winter (,AL)
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Boileryard Clarke says:
"I may play for the worst team in the American League, but I will stick around for the next report!"
Which will feature the all-star game and league notes (no-hitters and those type of things). After that will be the World Series, both will be up tonight.