1912 Boston Red Sox season

1912 Boston Red Sox
1912 World Series Champion 1912 American League Champion Tris Speaker named American League MVP
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Results
Record	105–47 (.691)
League place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	John I. Taylor Jimmy McAleer
Manager(s)	Jake Stahl
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The 1912 Boston Red Sox season was the 12th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. This was the first year that the team played its home games at Fenway Park. The Red Sox finished first in the American League (AL) with a record of 105 wins and 47 losses. The team set the franchise record for highest winning percentage (.691) in a season, which still stands; tied the franchise record for fewest losses in a season, originally set by the 1903 team; and set a franchise record for most wins, which was not surpassed until the 2018 club.^[1]

The team then faced the National League (NL) champion New York Giants in the 1912 World Series, which the Red Sox won in eight games to capture the franchise's second World Series. One of the deciding plays in the World Series was a muffed fly ball by Giants outfielder Fred Snodgrass, which became known as the "$30,000 muff" in reference to the prize money for the winning team.^[2]

Behind center fielder Tris Speaker and pitcher Smoky Joe Wood, the Red Sox led the league in runs scored and fewest runs allowed. Speaker was third in batting and was voted league Most Valuable Player. Wood won 34 games, including a record 16 in a row. Although the pitching staff was satisfactory, the only star pitcher was Wood, while the only star in the starting lineup was Speaker. Little-known third baseman Larry Gardner was the next best hitter, while future Hall of Famer Harry Hooper had a poor offensive season.

Offseason[]

The Red Sox made several transactions during the 1912 offseason.^[3] In February 1912, Rip Williams was sold to the New York Highlanders, although the exact date of the transaction is currently unknown.^[3] The Red Sox sold two players to the Chicago White Sox during the offseason: Jack Fournier on February 6 and Eddie Cicotte on July 9.^[3] Later in the year, on November 25, Hugh Bradley was sold to the Jersey City Giants minor league baseball team of the International League.^[3] The only purchase made by the Red Sox that offseason was their purchase of Neal Ball from the Cleveland Naps on June 25 for $2500.^[3]

Regular season[]

The new Red Sox home stadium, Fenway Park opened on April 20, the same day as Navin Field in Detroit opened.^[4] It was supposed to be opened on April 18 (like Navin Field) but it rained in both cities on that day.^[5]

On April 26, Hugh Bradley became the first player to hit a home run over the Green Monster at Fenway Park.^[6] It was his only home run of the 1912 season, and one of only two he hit in his career, which spanned five seasons.^[7]

Season standings[]

v t American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	105	47	0.691	—	57–20	48–27
Washington Senators	91	61	0.599	14	45–32	46–29
Philadelphia Athletics	90	62	0.592	15	45–31	45–31
Chicago White Sox	78	76	0.506	28	34–43	44–33
Cleveland Naps	75	78	0.490	30½	41–35	34–43
Detroit Tigers	69	84	0.451	36½	37–39	32–45
St. Louis Browns	53	101	0.344	53	27–50	26–51
New York Highlanders	50	102	0.329	55	31–44	19–58

Record vs. opponents[]

1912 American League Records v t Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	16–6–1	11–11–1	15–6	19–2	15–7	17–5	12–10
Chicago	6–16–1	—	11–11	14–8–1	13–9	12–10	13–9–2	9–13
Cleveland	11–11–1	11–11	—	13–9	13–8–1	8–14	15–7	4–18
Detroit	6–15	8–14–1	9–13	—	16–6	9–13	13–9	8–14
New York	2–19	9–13	8–13–1	6–16	—	5–17	13–9	7–15
Philadelphia	7–15	10–12	14–8	13–9	17–5	—	16–6	13–7–1
St. Louis	5–17	9–13–2	7–15	9–13	9–13	6–16	—	8–14–1
Washington	10–12	13–9	18–4	14–8	15–7	7–13–1	14–8–1	—

Opening Day lineup[]

On April 11, 1912, the Red Sox defeated the New York Highlanders 5–3 in an away game.^[8]

Harry Hooper	RF
Steve Yerkes	2B
Tris Speaker	CF
Jake Stahl	1B
Larry Gardner	3B
Duffy Lewis	LF
Heinie Wagner	SS
Les Nunamaker	C
Buck O'Brien	P

Roster[]

1912 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Hugh Bedient Jack Bushelman Eddie Cicotte Ray Collins Casey Hageman Charley Hall Buck O'Brien Larry Pape Doug Smith Ben Van Dyke Smoky Joe Wood		Catchers Hick Cady Bill Carrigan Les Nunamaker Pinch Thomas Infielders Neal Ball Hugh Bradley Clyde Engle Larry Gardner Marty Krug Jake Stahl Heinie Wagner Steve Yerkes		Outfielders Olaf Henriksen Harry Hooper Duffy Lewis Tris Speaker		Manager Jake Stahl

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	Bill Carrigan	87	266	70	.263	0	24
1B	Jake Stahl	95	326	98	.301	3	60
2B	Steve Yerkes	131	523	132	.252	0	42
SS	Heinie Wagner	144	504	138	.274	2	68
3B	Larry Gardner	143	517	163	.315	3	86
OF	Duffy Lewis	154	581	165	.284	6	109
OF	Tris Speaker	153	580	222	.383	10	90
OF	Harry Hooper	147	590	143	.242	2	53

Other batters[]

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Clyde Engle	58	171	40	.234	0	18
Hugh Bradley	40	137	26	.190	1	19
Hick Cady	47	135	35	.259	0	9
Les Nunamaker	35	103	26	.252	0	6
Olaf Henriksen	44	56	18	.321	0	8
Neal Ball	18	45	9	.200	0	6
Marty Krug	20	39	12	.308	0	7
Pinch Thomas	13	30	6	.200	0	5
all pitchers		468	101	.216	2	44

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
Smoky Joe Wood	43	344	34	5	1.91	258
Buck O'Brien	37	275+2⁄3	20	13	2.58	115
Hugh Bedient	41	231	20	9	2.92	122
Ray Collins	27	199+1⁄3	13	8	2.53	82
Charley Hall	34	191	15	8	3.02	83

Relief pitchers[]

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Larry Pape	13	48+2⁄3	1	1	4.99	17

Other pitchers[]

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Eddie Cicotte	9	46	1	3	5.67	20
Ben Van Dyke	3	14+1⁄3	0	0	3.14	8
Jack Bushelman	3	7+2⁄3	1	0	4.70	5
Doug Smith	1	3	0	0	3.00	1
Casey Hageman	2	1+1⁄3	0	0	27.00	1

Awards and honors[]

League top five finishers[]

Duffy Lewis

• #2 in AL in RBI (109)^[9]

Tris Speaker

• MLB leader in on-base percentage (.464)^[10]
• AL leader in home runs (10)^[10]
• #2 in AL in runs scored (136)^[10]
• #3 in AL in batting average (.383)^[10]
• #3 in AL in slugging percentage (.567)^[10]
• #4 in AL in stolen bases (52)^[10]

Smoky Joe Wood

• MLB leader in wins (34)^[11]
• MLB leader in shutouts (10)^[11]
• #2 in AL in ERA (1.91)^[11]
• #2 in AL in strikeouts (258)^[11]

World Series[]

The 1912 World Series was played between the New York Giants of the NL and the Red Sox of the AL. The Red Sox won in eight games, 4–3, having played the Giants to a tie in Game 2.

AL Boston Red Sox (4) vs. NL New York Giants (3)^[12]

Game	Score	Date	Location	Att.	Ref.
1	Red Sox – 4, Giants – 3	October 8	Polo Grounds	35,730	[13]
2	Giants – 6, Red Sox – 6 (11)	October 9	Fenway Park	30,148	[14]
3	Giants – 2, Red Sox – 1	October 10	Fenway Park	34,624	[15]
4	Red Sox – 3, Giants – 1	October 11	Polo Grounds	36,502	[16]
5	Giants – 1, Red Sox – 2	October 12	Fenway Park	34,683	[17]
6	Red Sox – 2, Giants – 5	October 14	Polo Grounds	30,622	[18]
7	Giants – 11, Red Sox – 4	October 15	Fenway Park	32,694	[19]
8	Giants – 2, Red Sox – 3 (10)	October 16	Fenway Park	17,034	[20]

See also[]

• List of Boston Red Sox team records

References[]

Further reading[]

• Mahoney, Andrew (September 24, 2018). "Here's how the Globe covered the 1912 Red Sox team". Boston.com. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
• Nowlin, Bill (2012). Opening Fenway Park with Style: The 1912 World Champion Red Sox. Society for American Baseball Research. ISBN 978-1933599359.
• Stout, Glenn (2011). Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway's Remarkable First Year. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0547195629.
• Whalen, Thomas J. (2011). When the Red Sox Ruled: Baseball's First Dynasty, 1912–1918. Ivan R. Dee. ISBN 978-1566637459.

External links[]

• 1912 Boston Red Sox at Baseball Reference
• 1912 Boston Red Sox season at Baseball Almanac