1914 Boston Braves season

The 1914 Boston Braves season was the 44th season of the franchise. The team finished first in the National League, winning the pennant by 10½ games over the New York Giants after being in last place in the NL at midseason. The team, which became known as the 1914 Miracle Braves, went on to sweep the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1914 World Series.

1914 Boston Braves
1914 National League Champions
1914 World Series Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record94–59 (.614)
League place1st
Other information
Owner(s)James Gaffney
Manager(s)George Stallings
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Offseason

Regular season

The Braves performed one of the most memorable reversals in major league history, going from last place to first place in two months, becoming the first team to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July.[2] After finishing in fifth place in 1913 with a record of 69 wins and 82 losses, the Braves were not expected to be contenders. They spent the first part of the season in last place, posting a record of 26 wins and 40 losses in early July.[3] Led by three pitchers, Dick Rudolph, Bill James, and Lefty Tyler, the team began to win games, taking over first place for good on September 8.[4] Their record over their final 87 games was 68–19 for a winning percentage of .782.[4] Infielders Johnny Evers and Rabbit Maranville led the league in double plays. The Braves went on to sweep Connie Mack's heavily favored Athletics in four games in the 1914 World Series.[5] The team became known as the "Miracle" Braves and remain one of the most storied comeback teams in baseball history. The franchise would not win another pennant until 1948.

Season standings
National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Braves 9459 0.614 — 51–25 43–34
New York Giants 8470 0.545 10½ 43–36 41–34
St. Louis Cardinals 8172 0.529 13 42–34 39–38
Chicago Cubs 7876 0.506 16½ 46–30 32–46
Brooklyn Robins 7579 0.487 19½ 45–34 30–45
Philadelphia Phillies 7480 0.481 20½ 48–30 26–50
Pittsburgh Pirates 6985 0.448 25½ 39–36 30–49
Cincinnati Reds 6094 0.390 34½ 34–42 26–52

Record vs. opponents
1914 National League Records

Sources:
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston —9–1316–614–8–211–11–112–1017–5–115–6–1
Brooklyn 13–9—10–1211–119–1311–1116–65–17
Chicago 6–1612–10—17–59–1312–1012–1010–12–2
Cincinnati 8–14–211–115–17—9–139–138–14–110–12
New York 11–11–113–913–913–9—12–1013–9–19–13
Philadelphia 10–1211–1110–1213–910–12—12–108–14
Pittsburgh 5–17–16–1610–1214–8–19–13–110–12—15–7–1
St. Louis 6–15–117–512–10–212–1013–914–87–15–1—

Roster
1914 Boston Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos. = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Pos. Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
CHank Gowdy1283664289.24334614
1BButch Schmidt14753767153.28517114
2BJohnny Evers13949181137.27914012
3BCharlie Deal792571754.2100234
SSRabbit Maranville15658674144.24647828
OFLarry Gilbert722243260.2685253
OFLes Mann1263894496.2474409
OFJoe Connolly12039964122.30696512

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Possum Whitted6621857.261231
Red Smith6020765.314337
Bert Whaling6017236.209012
Herbie Moran4115441.26604
Ted Cather5014543.297027
Josh Devore5112829.22715
Jim Murray3911226.232012
Oscar Dugey5810921.193110
Jack Martin338518.21205
Tommy Griffith16485.10401
Wilson Collins27359.25701
Fred Tyler6192.10502
Clarence Kraft331.33300
Billy Martin130.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dick Rudolph42336.126102.35138
Bill James46332.12671.90156
Lefty Tyler38271.116132.69140
Otto Hess1489563.0324
Tom Hughes217202.6511
Hub Perdue951255.8213
Ensign Cottrell11019.001

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dick Crutcher33158.2573.4658
George Davis955.2333.4026
Paul Strand1655.1622.4433
Gene Cocreham1544.2344.8415
Dolf Luque28.2014.151

[6]

1914 World Series
Main article: 1914 World Series

Boston Braves (4) vs Philadelphia Athletics (0)

GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1Boston Braves – 7, Philadelphia Athletics – 1October 9Shibe Park20,562
2Boston Braves – 1, Philadelphia Athletics – 0October 10Shibe Park20,562
3Philadelphia Athletics – 4, Boston Braves – 5 (12 innings)October 12Fenway Park35,520
4Philadelphia Athletics – 1, Boston Braves – 3October 13Fenway Park34,365

Notes
  1. Guy Zinn page at Baseball-Reference
  2. How Losing an Exhibition Sparked Miracle Braves, by Joseph M. Overfield, Baseball Digest, May 1961, Vol. 20, No. 4, ISSN 0005-609X
  3. The 1914 Boston Braves at www.thisgreatgame.com Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Down To The Wire; Six Greatest Stretch Runs For The Pennant by George Vass, Baseball Digest, Sep 2001, Vol. 60, No. 9, ISSN 0005-609X
  5. 1914 World Series at Baseball-Reference
  6. 1914 Boston Braves at Baseball Reference

References
  • 1914 Boston Braves season at Baseball Reference
  • "The 1914 Miracle Braves – 50 Years Later!", Baseball Digest, Oct 1964
  • Holway, John R.; Frank Ceresi (September 2012). Baseball's Biggest Miracle: The 1914 Boston Braves. Miniver Press. ISBN 9780985738952.
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