Well, it has been a few weeks since I have posted a blog entry, but here is my next season review. And by far, my favorite one - 1899. Love those Spiders!
Season Comments:
This is the season that started it all for me. The season that the hapless Cleveland Spiders went 20-134. But 1899 had much more to offer than just the Spiders, it had
1. Syndication (Brooklyn-Baltimore, Cleveland-St. Louis) – the combined ownership of these two pairings made for a farce in the pennant race.
2. John McGraw’s best season as a player that also included heartbreaking tragedy - McGraw hit .391 in 117 games w/ 124 walks and 73 stolen bases, all while missing a 30 or so games, after his new bride, Minny passed away. His .547 On-base pct. set a new standard that wasn’t broken until Ted Williams’s .553 in 1941. His .391 was only 3rd best in the league as Ed Delahanty, .410 w/ 55 doubles & 9 homers and Jesse Burkett, .396 finished ahead of him.
3. His Orioles team stole (modern rule interpretation) 364 stolen bases – led by rookie Jimmy Sheckard (77), McGraw (73), Ducky Holmes (50), Bill Keister (33), and Candy LaChance (31). This stands as the team “modern stolen base” record. Not too coincidentally, McGraw’s NY Giant teams hold the #2, #4, #7, #8, #10, #11 spots on that same list.
4. Rookie Jimmy Williams had 28 triples for the Pirates. Incidentally, a fellow Pirate, Harry Davis (later part of the pennant winning Philly A’s), hit 28 triples just 2 years earlier. Williams hit .355 in addition to his triples. His teammate and fellow rookie, Ginger Beaumont hit .352, including a 6 for 6 game in which all 6 hits were bunt hits.
5. Buck Freeman blasted 25 homers for the Washington Senators in their last season in the National League (at least for a LONG time). In addition, he hit 25 triples, and had 21 stolen bases. Incidentally, he struck out only 26 times.
Total Pct Completed: 91.8%
Hardest to Strike Out (BK+):
Team:
Brooklyn - 263 k’s
Individual:
- Willie Keeler, Brook - 2 k’s in 570 at-bats (1,483 BK+)
- era best, nearly 15 times harder to strike out than the league average! - Lave Cross, Clev/St.L – 3 k’s in 602 ab’s (991)
- Tommy Dowd, Clev - 8 k’s in 605 ab’s (411)
- Joe Quinn, Clev – 8 k’s in 615 ab’s (404)
- Chick Stahl, Bos – 10 k’s in 576 ab’s (314)
Keeler's 2 k's:
- April 17 (vs. Bos, Vic Willis, 1st)
- May 6 (at Bos, Kid Nichols, 3rd)
Cross’s 3 k's:
- Sept 13, game 2 (vs Bos, Harvey Bailey)
- September 17 (at NY, Bill Carrick or Willie Garoni)
- October 4 (vs Pitt, Bill Hoffer)
Most Strikeouts:
Team:
Baltimore – 380 k’s
Individual:
- Ducky Holmes, Balt – 57
- Jimmy Sheckard, Balt – 51
- Monte Cross, Phil – 50
- Danny Green, Chi – 50
- Jimmy Williams, Pit - 49
Most Strikeouts by a Pitcher:
Season:
Noodles Hahn - 145
Game:
October 2 – Rube Waddell, Lou, 13 (vs. Chi – Callahan(3), Green(2), Lange(2), Everitt(2), Bradley(2), Magoon, T.Donahue)
4 or more Strikeouts by Batter:
August 15 – Bill Dowling, Lou (5) vs. NY (Ed Doheny)
September 14, game 1 – Jimmy Williams, Pit (4) vs. Brook (Doc McJames)
Resources:
Brooklyn and New York home & away - New York Evening Telegram (play-by-play)
Boston home - Boston Globe
Baltimore home -Baltimore Sun
Cleveland home - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Cleveland home - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Philadelphia home – Philadelphia Inquirer
Washington home – Washington Post
Pittsburgh home – Pittsburgh Press & Post
Chicago home & away – Chicago Tribune
St. Louis home & away – St. Louis Globe Democrat
Help Wanted Section:
Cincinnati and Louisville are this year’s weak areas – As before, I have gleaned some scattered k’s from the Louisville Courier- Journal (LCJ). I will be hopefully getting a few more from the Cincinnati Enquirer and Louisville Times.
Other Individual Player Comments:
- In an interesting twist, the Spiders hitters were amongst the hardest to strike out – L Cross (2), Dowd (3), Quinn(4) in the top 5. As a result, Cleveland actually set the era high by having their pitchers record 36.4% of their team’s strikeouts.
- Pitcher Bill Carrick of the Giants finished 6th in total strikeouts with 47, in 45 games.
- Rookie Roy Thomas of the Phillies, a player who would become for his ability to reach base via the walk in his career (and not hit too many EBH’s) finished 7th in k’s with 45.
- Former K leaders
o Tommy McCreery, Pit – 37 (in 117 games)
o Billy Clingman, Lou – 34 (110 g)
o Jake Gettman, Wash – 4 (18 g)
- Other “Future” Hall of Famers:
o Honus Wagner, Lou – 38
o Elmer Flick, Phil – 31
o Bid McPhee, Cin – 31 (last season)
o Jesse Burkett, StL – 23
o Joe Kelley, Brook – 23
o Jake Beckley, Cin – 22
o Ed Delahanty, Phil – 22
o Wilbert Robinson, Balt – 22
o John McGraw, Balt – 21
o Bobby Wallace, StL – 20
o Joe McGinnity, Balt – 19 (rookie season)
o Jimmy Collins, Bos – 18
o Fred Clarke, Lou – 17
o Billy Hamilton, Bos – 16
o George Davis, NY – 15
o Cy Young, StL – 12
o Sam Crawford, Cin – 11 (rookie year, 31g)
o Hugh Duffy, Bos – 11
o Clark Griffith, Chi – 9
o Hughie Jennings, Balt/Brook – 10
o Kid Nichols, Bos – 9
o Vic Willis, Bos – 9 (27 wins, 2.50 ERA in 40g)
o Jack Chesbro, Pit – 7 (rookie season – 6-9, 19g)
o Nap Lajoie, Phil – 7 (only 77 games due to injury)
o Rube Waddell, Lou – 6 (10 g)
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