 www.thatsbaseball.org
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Major League Baseball
in
1901
Includes summary, standings, rosters,
chronology and leaderboards
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SUMMARY
Seeking his third consecutive pennant with Brooklyn in 1901, manager Ned Hanlon instead was overwhelmed by a Pittsburgh team that had not been similarly decimated by AL raiders. Hanlon, before 1901, suffered the defection of Fielder Jones, Lave Cross and Joe McGinnity. Unable to replace the three stars, Brooklyn sank to third place while the Phillies advanced a notch to the second spot. Neither club, though, could pose much of a challenge to the Pirates, who would soon emerge as the first dynasty of the new century.
In 1901, Pittsburgh lost only one player of consequence to the upstart AL -- third baseman Jimmy Williams -- and pilot Fred Clarke more than replaced him with Tommy Leach. Rookie Kitty Bransfield seized the first base job, and another newcomer, Lefty Davis, took over in right field alongside Ginger Beaumont in center and Clarke in left. This combination proved lethal, giving the Pirates an outfield with a combined average above .300. Honus Wagner, meanwhile, found a new niche at shortstop after incumbent Bones Ely was permitted to take his .208 batting average to the AL. With Deacon Phillippe winning 22 games, Jack Chesbro 21, and Jesse Tannehill chipping in with 18 victories and a league-leading 2.18 ERA, the Pirates hardly missed fractious Rube Waddell, the 1900 ERA champion, who was sold to the Chicago Cubs in May. Attaining first place on June 16, Pittsburgh remained there the rest of the way but had to subdue a late threat from Philadelphia before claiming the first NL pennant in the city's history.
The AL, in its fledgling season as a major league, also had a tight race into September. Led by 33-game winner Cy Young, slugging first sacker Buck Freeman, and third baseman-manager Jimmy Collins, its three prize thefts from the NL, Boston had the inside track on the first AL major-league pennant. But a late slump by pitchers Ted Lewis and George Winter opened the door for the Chicago White Sox to cop the honor under Clark Griffith, who had been swiped prior to the season from the crosstown Cubs by Sox owner Charlie Comiskey. Comiskey had also managed the Sox to the AL flag in 1900 when the loop was still a minor league. He later opted to give up the reins to focus on the front office because he believed the dual role would be too burdensome with the AL now endeavoring to achieve major-league status.
With the two leagues at loggerheads, a postseason clash to settle bragging rights for the 1901 season was still a pipe dream.
--David Nemec & Saul Wisnia
Baseball: More Than 150 Years
 The modern infield fly rule is adopted.
The Chicago White Stockings defeat Cleveland 8-2 in the first major-league AL game, played on April 24.
Jesse Burkett (STL) leads the NL in batting (.382), runs (139), and hits (228).
Nap Lajoie of the Philadelphia Athletics wins the Triple Crown by leading the AL in batting (.426), homers (14), RBI (125), hits (229), doubles (48), total bases (345), runs (145), slugging average (.635) and OBP (.451).
Cy Young of the AL Boston Americans leads both leagues with 33 wins and a 1.62 ERA.
Noodles Hahn sets a modern record for the most wins by a pitcher for a last-place team, with 22 victories for the Cincinnati Reds. His 41 games set a record for a lefty in the 20th century.
Sam Crawford leads the NL with 16 homers for the last-place Reds.
Deaf-mute Dummy Taylor leads the NL in losses with 27.
Detroit's Roscoe Miller pitches 35 complete games and 332 innings -- two rookie records.
Willie Keeler collects 200 hits for the eighth straight year, an NL record.
CHRONOLOGY
1.4--The AL's Baltimore Orioles club incorporates. John McGraw is manager and part owner.
1.22--Philadelphia Athletics' GM/Manager Connie Mack lays the financial groundwork for the construction of Columbia Park.
1.28--The American League is formally organized. It consists of the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Americans, the Cleveland Blues, the Chicago White Stockings, the Detroit Tigers, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Philadelphia Athletics, and the Washington Nationals. AL contracts concede to the Players Protective Association's demands for for a five-year limit on a player's services.
2.8--Phillies second baseman Nap Lajoie, along with pitchers Chick Fraser and Bill Bernhard, defect to the AL Athletics. (Over half of the AL's 185 players will be formerly of the NL.)
2.26--The National League agrees to grant the same contract concessions offered by the American League to all players who do not jump to the AL. In return, Players Protective Association president Chief Zimmer promises to suspend any PPA member who goes to the AL.
2.27--The NL Rules Committee decrees that a foul is to be counted as a strike unless it follows two strikes. (The AL will adopt this rule several years from now.) Also, a catcher must play within ten feet of the batter, and a ball will be called if a pitcher fails to deliver to a ready batter within 20 seconds.
3.2--Jimmy Collins leaves the Boston Beaneaters (NL) to manage the AL's Boston Americans. The Beaneaters also lose Hugh Duffy, who will manage the AL's Milwaukee Brewers.
3.11--Baltimore Orioles manager John McGraw tries to pass black second baseman Charles Grant off as an Indian, but the ruse fails.
3.28--Phillies owner John Rogers files for an injunction to prohibit Nap Lajoie, Chick Fraser and Bill Bernhard from playing for any other team save his own.
4.3--Connie Mack accuses pitcher Christy Mathewson of signing a contract with -- and accepting advance money from -- the Philadelphia Athletics before joining the New York Giants.
4.18--Aided by Jimmy Sheckard's three triples, Brooklyn beats Philadelphia 12-7.
4.24--The Chicago White Stockings host the first-ever AL game, in which they defeat the Cleveland Blues 8-2.
4.25--The Detroit Tigers record the greatest Opening Day rally ever with 10 runs in the bottom of the 9th to beat Milwaukee 14-13. Detroit first baseman Pop Dillon's four doubles is an Opening Day mark that will be unsurpassed until 1954. Meanwhile Cleveland's Erve Beck is credited with the first-ever AL home run in a game against Chicago.
4.28--For the fourth consecutive day Detroit defeats Milwaukee in its final at-bat.
--Shortstop Hughie Jennings, with a Cornell law degree under his belt, agrees to play with the Baltimore club (AL) after indicating he would play for the Philadelphia A's, starting an enduring feud between Connie Mack and John McGraw. (Jennings will end up with the NL Phillies.)
--Rookie pitcher Charles Baker gives up an AL-record 23 singles in Cleveland's 13-1 loss to the White Stockings. (The ML record -- 28 -- was set in 1894 by Jack Wadsworth.)
4.30--The AL's first extra-inning game: the Boston Americans defeat the Philadelphia Athletics 8-6 in ten innings.
5.1--The Detroit Tigers commit 12 errors in a single game -- an AL record. The White Stockings beat the Tigers 19-9 as Herm McFarland and Dummy Hoy hit grand slams. It's the first AL game with more than one homer.
5.2--The Americans score an ML-record 19 runs in two consecutive innings in a 23-12 victory over the Athletics. The two teams have 13 players who score two or more runs -- an ML record that won't be matched until 1950, by the same two clubs.
5.5--Chicago White Stockings pitcher Roy Patterson is stung for 25 hits and faces 57 Milwaukee batters, a ML record.
5.6--Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson notches his fourth straight game, and his first shutout.
5.9--Cleveland's Earl Moore pitches a no-hitter for nine innings only to lose 4-2 to the White Stockings in ten.
5.15--Christy Mathewson pitches his third straight shutout as New York defeats Chicago 4-0.
--Watty Lee is the winning pitcher in the AL's first shutout, as Washington beats Boston 4-0.
5.17--A Philadelphia court rejects the suit brought by Phillys owner John Rogers against Nap Lajoie and two other players. (See 3.28)
5.21--Christy Mathewson wins his seventh straight, but sees his streak of scoreless innings end at 39 as New York beats Pittsburgh 2-1.
5.22--Cincinnati's Noodles Hahn strikes out 22 Boston Beaneaters, a post-1893 record. It will be matched in 1963 by Jim Maloney.
5.23--Nap Lajoie becomes the first player to be intentionally walked with the bases loaded.
--The Cleveland Blues score a ML-record nine runs with two outs in the 9th to beat the Washington Nationals 14-13.
6.1--In a game between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, umpire Bert Cunningham is pursued by two thousand irate fans after he makes an unpopular call in the 9th inning.
6.9--The Giants have a record 31 hits during a game with the Reds in which the teams combine for a NL-record 36 singles. Final score: 25-13 Giants.
6.20--Pittsburgh's Honus Wagner becomes the first 20th-century player to steal home twice in a single game.
6.21--Cincinnati's Harley Parker gives up 21 runs in a game, an NL record.
6.26--The AL's Boston team arrives in Philadelphia to play the Athletics. Problem is, they were scheduled to be in Baltimore to play the Orioles.
7.1--The Pittsburgh Pirates are blanked for the one and only time this year --a 20th-century NL record for the fewest shutouts suffered in a single season.
7.8--After watching their Cardinals lose to Brooklyn 7-5, angry St. Louis fans assault umpire Hank O'Day, who is rescued by players and policemen.
7.10--The Boston Beaneaters set a record for the most hits without a run -- 15 in a 12-inning, 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh.
7.12--Cy Young records his 300th victory in a 5-3 win by the Boston Americans over the Philadelphia Athletics. On the 16th Young will win his 12th straight game.
7.15--Christy Mathewson, who will win 20 games for the Giants this year, pitches a no-hitter against St. Louis.
7.24--The Pittsburgh Pirates set a ML record by scoring in every inning of an 11-2 victory over the Reds.
7.30--Ban Johnson announces that the AL will put a team in St. Louis next year.
8.4--Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Ginger Beaumont is clocked running the 90 feet from home to first in three seconds flat.
8.5--Baltimore Orioles first baseman Burt Hart punches umpire John Haskell after being called out at third. Hart will be suspended by AL president Ban Johnson, and will never play again.
8.7--Milwaukee manager Hugh Duffy is suspended indefinitely after hitting umpire Al Mannassau.
8.10--Washington Nationals pitcher Win Mercer becomes the first AL hurler to steal home. Meanwhile, Chicago's Frank Isbell sets his own AL record by stranding 11 men on base.
8.21--White Stockings shortstop Frank Shugart punches umpire John Haskell after a disputed call, and will be expelled from the league.
--When Orioles pitcher Joe McGinnity spits in an umpire's face a fight erupts that involves ballplayers, fans, and the police. Several Baltimore players are released as a result.
8.24--Angry Boston Americans fans assault umpire Joe Cantillon, who is rescued by players.
8.27--Cy Young (Boston Americans) pitches 15 innings for a 2-1 victory, his 25th of the year.
9.2--In Game 2 of a Labor Day doubleheader, Detroit sets an AL record (that stands to this day) with 21 infield assists.
9.3--Baltimore Orioles pitcher Joe McGinnity pitches both games of a doubleheader, winning the first and losing the second while allowing 15 hits. (McGinnity will set a 20th century record for most hits allowed this year, with 401.)
9.3--The Giants lose to Chicago 10-4, and will go on to lose their next six games to the Pirates, who will score ten or more runs in each contest. (Not until 2000 will another team -- the Seattle Mariners -- allow 9+ runs in seven straight games.)
9.6--The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues is established, primarily to protect the interests of minor league clubs.
9.8--A record AL crowd of 20,000 are on hand at Chicago's South Side Park to watch the White Stockings defeat Cy Young and Boston, 4-3.
9.12--Baltimore's Joe McGinnity pitches two more complete games in a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Athletics.
9.14--Cy Young records his 30th win of the year.
9.15--The Chicago White Stockings hit a ML-record five triples in one inning of a game with Milwaukee. They hit a total of six in the contest, the second of a doubleheader (after collecting four in the first game).
--Detroit beats Cleveland 21-0 -- the most lopsided score in AL history (matched on Aug. 13, 1939). The Blues collect 24 hits at the expense of rookie pitcher Jack Bracken.
9.21--Chicago's Tom Hughes and Boston's Bill Dinneen pitch 16 scoreless innings. Chicago will score a run in the 17th to win the game.
--Cleveland and Washington combine for an AL-record 22 errors in a doubleheader -- a record that still stands.
9.27--The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Brooklyn Superbas 5-4 to clinch the NL pennant.
9.29--The AL season ends with the Chicago White Stockings leading the league by four games.
10.5--Brooklyn's Wild Bill Donovan wins his NL-leading 25th game in an 8-0 victory over the Giants.
10.28--The three top hitters of the St. Louis Cardinals -- Jesse Burkett, Emmet Heidrick and Bobby Wallace -- defect to the new AL St. Louis club.
11.5--Sportman's Park in St. Louis is leased for five years by the AL; in a few weeks the Milwaukee team will relocate and become the St. Louis Browns.
Burkett Is a Hit
Jesse Burkett is probably the least known great hitter. A member of the Cleveland Spiders in the 1890s, had 2,249 hits at the conclusion of the 1901 season, topping the National League with 226 hits that year. He would have finished with a .362 career batting average if he'd quit then and there instead of defecting to the American League, where he was but an average hitter during his remaining four years of play.
McGraw, 28, Washed Up
Although new manager John McGraw hit .349 with the Baltimore club in 1901, injuries and suspensions held him to only 73 games; just 28 years old at the time, he was, for all intents and purposes, finished as a productive player. Never again would he total more than 42 hits in a season. In 1902 he jumped from the Orioles to become the manager of the Giants. He would become the most famous skipper of all time.
Hahn Fans Over 200
From 1899 to 1904, the left arm of Noodles Hahn had no equal. He won 121 games and struck out 878 batters during that period for poor Cincinnati teams, 22 of those victories and a National League-best 239 of those Ks coming in 1901. Hahn was already on the wane by age 25, when he slipped to just 98 strikeouts.
Young Comes of Age
Cy Young was coming off his poorest season since his 1890 rookie year when he jumped to the fledgling American League in 1901. Despite his circuit-best 33 wins that season, most observers thought it was the last gasp of a once-great pitcher, 34 years of age at the time. It turned out, instead, to be a mid-point season in Young's career.
Wagner Makes Mark
If there had been a Most Valuable Player Award in 1901, Honus Wagner almost certainly would have swept up the honor in the National League, as he topped the circuit with 126 RBI and 49 swipes. Yet at age 27, he still didn't have a position, dividing his time between the outfield and shortstop and third base.
--The Baseball Chronicle
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* 13 other players pitched for the Giants in 1901 -- Bill Magee (0-4, 5.95), Al Maul (0-3, 11.37), Dummy Leitner (0-2, 4.50), Dummy Deegan (0-1, 6.35), Willie Mills (0-2, 8.44), Heinie Smith (0-1, 8.10), Ike Van Zandt (0-0, 7.11), Jake Livingston (0-0, 9.00), Larry Hesterfer (0-1, 7.50), George Van Haltren
(0-0, 3.00), Jim Jones (0-1, 10.80), Chauncey Fisher (0-0, 15.75) and Harry Felix (0-0, 0.00) -- without a win between them.
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