1903 Boston Americans season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1903 Boston Americans
1903 World Series Champions
1903 American League Champions
1903 World Series - Boston Americans.jpg
Boston Americans (sitting) and Pittsburgh Pirates (standing) at the 1903 World Series
Major League affiliations
  • American League (since 1901)
Location
Results
Record91–47 (.659)
League place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Henry Killilea
Manager(s)Jimmy Collins
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
< Previous season     Next season >

The 1903 Boston Americans season was the third season for the professional baseball franchise that later became known as the Boston Red Sox. The Americans finished first in the American League (AL) with a record of 91 wins and 47 losses, 14+1⁄2 games ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics. Boston went on to participate in the first World Series held between the AL and National League (NL) champions. The Americans won the 1903 World Series in eight games over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team was managed by Jimmy Collins and played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.

Regular season[]

Prior to the regular season, the team held spring training in Macon, Georgia.[1][2] Cy Young was a coach for the Mercer University baseball team, also based in Macon.[3][4]

  • April 20: The season opens with a home doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, with Boston winning the first game, 9–4, and Philadelphia the second, 10–7.[5]
  • May 12: After a slow start to the season, the team has a winning record for the first time, at 10–9, with a 10–5 win over the Cleveland Naps at League Park in Cleveland.
  • June 1: With a 20–15 record, Boston moves into first place in the AL, a half-game ahead of the St. Louis Browns.[6]
  • June 9: The team's longest winning streak of the season, 11 games between May 28 and June 8, comes to an end with a loss to the visiting Detroit Tigers.[5]
  • June 16: With a 28–18 record, Boston falls a game behind Philadelphia in the AL standings.[7]
  • June 21: Buck Freeman is the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle, in a road win at Cleveland.[8]
  • June 23: With a 33–20 record, Boston regains the AL lead,[9] which they will not relinquish through the end of the season.
  • June 30: Nick Altrock starts and pitches eight innings in a 10–3 road loss to the Chicago White Sox;[5] these are the only innings in the entire season not pitched by members of the five-man rotation, led by Cy Young.
  • July 2: Altrock is sold to the White Sox;[10] he starts against Boston on July 8, a 6–1 win by the Americans.[5]
  • July 29: Patsy Dougherty hits for the cycle against the visiting New York Highlanders.[8] It is also Boston's highest scoring game of the year, a 15–14 loss.[5]
  • September 28: The season ends with a home doubleheader against the Browns, with Boston winning both games; 8–7 and 6–0.[5]

The team's longest losing streak was three games, which occurred twice; April 20–23 and September 22–23. The team's longest game was 12 innings, which occurred three times.

Statistical leaders[]

The offense was led by Buck Freeman, who hit 13 home runs and had 104 RBIs, and Patsy Dougherty with a .331 batting average. It was Freeman's third consecutive season with at least 100 RBIs. The pitching staff was led by Cy Young, who made 40 appearances (35 starts) and pitched 34 complete games with a 28–9 record and 2.08 ERA, while striking out 176 in 341+2⁄3 innings. The team had two other 20-game winners; Bill Dinneen (21–13) and Tom Hughes (20–7).

Season standings[]

  • v
  • t
American League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Americans 91 47 0.659 — 49–20 42–27
Philadelphia Athletics 75 60 0.556 14½ 44–21 31–39
Cleveland Naps 77 63 0.550 15 49–25 28–38
New York Highlanders 72 62 0.537 17 41–26 31–36
Detroit Tigers 65 71 0.478 25 37–28 28–43
St. Louis Browns 65 74 0.468 26½ 38–32 27–42
Chicago White Stockings 60 77 0.438 30½ 41–28 19–49
Washington Senators 43 94 0.314 47½ 29–40 14–54

The team had three games end in a tie; July 31 at Washington, August 29 at Washington, and September 25 vs. Detroit.[5] Tie games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tie games are counted.[11]

Record vs. opponents[]

1903 American League Records
  • v
  • t

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NY PHI STL WSH
Boston — 14–6 12–8 10–9–1 13–7 13–6 14–6 15–5–2
Chicago 6–14 — 10–10 10–9 7–11–1 6–14 9–11 12–8
Cleveland 8–12 10–10 — 9–11 14–6 9–11 11–9 16–4
Detroit 9–10–1 9–10 11–9 — 10–9 11–9 6–14 9–10
New York 7–13 11–7–1 6–14 9–10 — 10–8–1 15–5 14–5
Philadelphia 6–13 14–6 11–9 9–11 8–10–1 — 11–8 16–3–1
St. Louis 6–14 11–9 9–11 14–6 5–15 8–11 — 12–8
Washington 5–15–2 8–12 4–16 10–9 5–14 3–16–1 8–12 —

Opening Day lineup[]

Patsy Dougherty LF
Jimmy Collins 3B
Chick Stahl CF
Buck Freeman RF
Freddy Parent SS
Candy LaChance 1B
Hobe Ferris 2B
Duke Farrell C
George Winter P

Source: [12][13]

Roster[]

1903 Boston Americans
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager
  • Jimmy Collins

Player stats[]

Batting[]

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Starters by position[]

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Lou Criger 96 317 61 .192 3 31
1B Candy LaChance 141 522 134 .257 1 53
2B Hobe Ferris 141 525 132 .251 9 66
SS Freddy Parent 139 560 170 .304 4 80
3B Jimmy Collins 130 540 160 .296 5 72
OF Buck Freeman 141 567 163 .287 13 104
OF Patsy Dougherty 139 590 195 .331 4 59
OF Chick Stahl 77 299 82 .274 2 44

Other batters[]

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Jack O'Brien 96 338 71 .210 3 38
Jake Stahl 40 92 22 .239 2 8
Duke Farrell 17 52 21 .404 0 8
Aleck Smith 11 33 10 .303 0 4
Harry Gleason 6 13 2 .154 0 2
George Stone 2 2 0 .000 0 0

Pitching[]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Starting pitchers[]

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Cy Young 40 341+2⁄3 28 9 2.08 176
Bill Dinneen 37 299 21 13 2.26 148
Tom Hughes 33 244+2⁄3 20 7 2.57 112
Norwood Gibson 24 183+1⁄3 13 9 3.19 76
George Winter 24 178+1⁄3 9 8 3.08 64

Other pitchers[]

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Nick Altrock 1 8 0 1 9.00 3

World Series[]

Boston had an 11-game winning streak from May 28 through June 8,[5] to put themselves in the AL lead. While they briefly fell into second place in mid-June, behind Philadelphia,[14] Boston then won 9-of-10 to recapture the lead, which they held through the end of the season. The Americans met the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first modern World Series, an agreement between the AL and the NL as a post-season tournament. The "Amerks" won the best-of-nine series in eight games; after falling behind, 3–1, they won four games in a row, clinching the championship at their home field, the Huntington Avenue Grounds, in Boston.

The first championship of what is now 9 for the long-running club, the series would immortalized in the 2004 remake of the team's fight song Tessie by The Dropkick Murphys, honoring the victory over the Pirates in Game 5, helped in part by that song which was adopted as an anthem by the a group of team supporters, the Royal Rooters, under saloon owner Michael T. McGreevy.

Summary[]

Main article: 1903 World Series

Boston won the series, 5–3.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 1 Pittsburgh Pirates – 7, Boston Americans – 3 Huntington Avenue Grounds 1:55 16,242[15] 
2 October 2 Pittsburgh Pirates – 0, Boston Americans – 3 Huntington Avenue Grounds 1:47 9,415[16] 
3 October 3 Pittsburgh Pirates – 4, Boston Americans – 2 Huntington Avenue Grounds 1:50 18,801[17] 
4 October 6 Boston Americans – 4, Pittsburgh Pirates – 5 Exposition Park 1:30 7,600[18] 
5 October 7 Boston Americans – 11, Pittsburgh Pirates – 2 Exposition Park 2:00 12,322[19] 
6 October 8 Boston Americans – 6, Pittsburgh Pirates – 3 Exposition Park 2:02 11,556[20] 
7 October 10 Boston Americans – 7, Pittsburgh Pirates – 3 Exposition Park 1:45 17,038[21] 
8 October 13 Pittsburgh Pirates – 0, Boston Americans – 3 Huntington Avenue Grounds 1:35 7,455[22]
Huntington Avenue Grounds before the first modern World Series game, Pittsburgh at Boston

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Americans at Macon". The Boston Globe. March 16, 1903. p. 5. Retrieved November 4, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Boston Americans Secure New Practice Grounds". The Boston Globe. March 18, 1903. p. 5. Retrieved November 4, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Cy Young Biography". ESPN. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  4. ^ "Kept Capt. Collins Busy". The Boston Globe. March 17, 1903. p. 5. Retrieved November 4, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "The 1903 Boston Americans Regular Season Game Log". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  6. ^ "Standings At Close of Play of June 1, 1903". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  7. ^ "Standings At Close of Play of June 16, 1903". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Smith, Christopher (June 17, 2015). "List of the 20 Boston Red Sox players who have hit for the cycle starting with Brock Holt". masslive.com. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  9. ^ "Standings At Close of Play of June 23, 1903". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  10. ^ "Nick Altrock". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  11. ^ "Tie". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  12. ^ Murnane, T. H. (April 21, 1903). "Same Fortune. Even Break for Each Home Nine Yesterday". The Boston Globe. p. 4. Retrieved November 13, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Murnane, T. H. (April 21, 1903). "Box Score". The Boston Globe. p. 4. Retrieved November 13, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Standings At Close of Play of June 18, 1903". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  15. ^ "1903 World Series Game 1 – Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Boston Americans". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  16. ^ "1903 World Series Game 2 – Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Boston Americans". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  17. ^ "1903 World Series Game 3 – Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Boston Americans". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  18. ^ "1903 World Series Game 4 – Boston Americans vs. Pittsburgh Pirates". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  19. ^ "1903 World Series Game 5 – Boston Americans vs. Pittsburgh Pirates". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  20. ^ "1903 World Series Game 6 – Boston Americans vs. Pittsburgh Pirates". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  21. ^ "1903 World Series Game 7 – Boston Americans vs. Pittsburgh Pirates". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  22. ^ "1903 World Series Game 8 – Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Boston Americans". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""