1901 Boston Americans season

The 1901 Boston Americans season was the first season for the professional baseball franchise that later became known as the Boston Red Sox, and the first season of play for the American League (AL). It resulted in the Americans finishing second in the AL with a record of 79 wins and 57 losses, four games behind the Chicago White Stockings. The team was managed by Jimmy Collins and played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.

1901 Boston Americans
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Charles Somers
Manager(s)Jimmy Collins
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Team picture of the 1901 Boston Americans

Regular season

Prior to the regular season, the team held spring training in Charlottesville, Virginia.[1]

  • April 26: The franchise's first-ever American League contest ends as a 10–6 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park in Baltimore.[2] Boston's first run was scored by player-manager Jimmy Collins in the fifth inning.[3] In 1903, the Orioles relocated to New York City as the Highlanders, then in 1913 became known as the New York Yankees.
  • April 30: After losing their first three games, the team records its first win, an 8–6 victory in 10 innings over the Philadelphia Athletics at Columbia Park in Philadelphia.[2] Cy Young was the winning pitcher.[4]
  • May 2: In their highest-scoring game of the year, Boston defeats Philadelphia, 23–12 in a road victory.[2]
  • May 8: The team plays and wins its first-ever home game, 12–4 over the visiting Athletics.[2]
  • May 11: Buck Freeman receives the first ejection in franchise history, sent off by umpire Jack Haskell following a call at second base,[5] in a home loss to the Washington Senators.
  • May 17: The team's longest losing streak of the season, five games between May 11 and 16, comes to an end with a victory over the visiting Orioles.[2]
  • June 10: A 7–4 win over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers gives the team a winning record for the first time, as they reach 17–16.[2] In 1902, the Brewers moved and became the St. Louis Browns, then in 1954 moved again and became today's Baltimore Orioles.
  • June 24: The team's longest winning streak of the season, nine games between June 14 and 22, comes to an end with a loss to the visiting Cleveland Blues.[2]
  • August 27: The team's longest game of the season ends as a 2–1 win in 15 innings over the visiting Detroit Tigers.[2]
  • September 28: The season ends with a home doubleheader against the Brewers; Boston wins both games, 8–3, and 10–9 in seven innings.

Statistical leaders

The offense was led by Buck Freeman, who hit 12 home runs and had 114 RBIs while recording a .339 batting average. The pitching staff was led by Cy Young, who made 43 appearances (41 starts) and pitched 38 complete games with a 33–10 record and 1.62 ERA, while striking out 158 in ​371 1⁄3 innings.

Season standings
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Stockings 8353 0.610 — 49–21 34–32
Boston Americans 7957 0.581 4 49–20 30–37
Detroit Tigers 7461 0.548 8½ 42–27 32–34
Philadelphia Athletics 7462 0.544 9 42–24 32–38
Baltimore Orioles 6865 0.511 13½ 40–25 28–40
Washington Senators 6172 0.459 20½ 31–35 30–37
Cleveland Bluebirds 5482 0.397 29 28–39 26–43
Milwaukee Brewers 4889 0.350 35½ 32–37 16–52

The team had two games end in a tie; August 31 at Detroit Tigers and September 12 at Washington Senators.[2] Tie games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tie games are counted.[6]

Record vs. opponents
1901 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET MIL PHI WSH
Baltimore —9–94–14–111–99–1012–7–112–811–8
Boston 9–9—12–812–69–11–115–510–1012–8–1
Chicago 14–4–18–12—13–710–1016–412–810–8
Cleveland 9–116–127–13—6–1411–96–149–9–2
Detroit 10–911–9–110–1014–6—13–77–99–11
Milwaukee 7–12–15–154–169–117–13—6–1410–8–1
Philadelphia 8–1210–108–1214–69–714–6—11–9–1
Washington 8–118–12–18–109–9–211–98–10–19–11–1—

Opening Day lineup
Tommy DowdLF
Charlie HemphillRF
Chick StahlCF
Jimmy Collins3B
Buck Freeman1B
Freddy ParentSS
Hobe Ferris2B
Lou CrigerC
Win KellumP

Source: [7]

Roster
1901 Boston Americans
Roster
Pitchers
  • Ted Lewis
 Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

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
COssee Schreckengost8628085.304038
1BBuck Freeman129490166.33912114
2BHobe Ferris138523131.250263
SSFreddy Parent138517158.306459
3BJimmy Collins138564187.332694
OFCharlie Hemphill136545142.261362
OFChick Stahl131515156.303672
OFTommy Dowd138594159.268352

Other batters
Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Lou Criger7626862.231024
Charlie Jones10416.14606
Larry McLean9194.21102
Jack Slattery131.33301
Harry Gleason1111.00000
all pitchers 50695.188145

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 Young43​371 1⁄333101.62158
Ted Lewis39​316 1⁄316173.53103
George Winter2824116122.8063
Fred Mitchell17​108 2⁄3663.8134
Nig Cuppy13​93 1⁄3464.1522

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO
Win Kellum648236.388
George Prentiss210101.800
Ben Beville29024.001
Frank Foreman18019.001
Jake Volz17109.005
Frank Morrissey1​4 1⁄3002.081

References
  1. "Collins' Men Take It Easy". The Boston Globe. April 11, 1901. p. 7. Retrieved November 4, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  2. "The 1901 Boston Americans Regular Season Game Log". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  3. "Takes the Crowd: American League Opens With Boom in Baltimore". The Boston Globe. April 27, 1901. p. 5. Retrieved November 3, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  4. "Cy Young Wins for Boston". Pittsburgh Daily Post. May 1, 1901. p. 6. Retrieved November 3, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  5. "The Ejections for the 1901 Boston Americans". Retrosheet. November 4, 2018.
  6. "Tie". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  7. Murnane, T. H. (April 27, 1901). "Box score". The Boston Globe. p. 8. Retrieved November 13, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
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