1909 Pittsburgh Pirates season
| 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates | ||
|---|---|---|
| World Series Champions National League Champions | ||
| League | National League | |
| Ballpark | Exposition Park (since 1891) Forbes Field | |
| City | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[a] | |
| Owners | Barney Dreyfuss | |
| Managers | Fred Clarke | |
| ||
The 1909 Pittsburgh[b] Pirates season was the 28th season for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, during which they won the National League pennant with a record of 110–42 and their first World Series over the Detroit Tigers. Led by shortstop Honus Wagner and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke, the Pirates scored the most runs in the majors. Wagner led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and runs batted in. Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss opened the Pirates' new ballpark, named Forbes Field, on June 30, 1909.[1]
The Pirates' 110 wins remain a team record, a record they set in the last game of the season by beating the Cincinnati Reds 7–4 in muddy conditions on October 5. It is in fact the best regular season win percentage by any World Series winning team.
Regular season
[edit]
Season standings
[edit]| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 110 | 42 | .724 | — | 56–21 | 54–21 |
| Chicago Cubs | 104 | 49 | .680 | 6½ | 47–29 | 57–20 |
| New York Giants | 92 | 61 | .601 | 18½ | 44–33 | 48–28 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 77 | 76 | .503 | 33½ | 39–38 | 38–38 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 74 | 79 | .484 | 36½ | 40–37 | 34–42 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 55 | 98 | .359 | 55½ | 34–45 | 21–53 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 54 | 98 | .355 | 56 | 26–48 | 28–50 |
| Boston Doves | 45 | 108 | .294 | 65½ | 27–47 | 18–61 |
Record vs. opponents
[edit]Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 11–11 | 1–21 | 5–17 | 8–14–2 | 10–12 | 1–20 | 9–13 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 11–11 | — | 5–16 | 5–17–1 | 7–15 | 11–11 | 4–18 | 12–10–1 | |||||
| Chicago | 21–1 | 16–5 | — | 16–6 | 11–11–1 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 15–7–1 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 17–5 | 17–5–1 | 6–16 | — | 9–13–1 | 9–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 14–8–2 | 15–7 | 11–11–1 | 13–9–1 | — | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 16–5 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 12–10 | 11–11 | 6–16 | 12–9–1 | 10–12 | — | 7–15 | 16–6 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 20–1 | 18–4 | 13–9 | 15–7–1 | 11–11–1 | 15–7 | — | 18–3 | |||||
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 10–12 | 5–16 | 6–16 | 3–18 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
[edit]- May 28, 1909: Ward Miller and cash were traded by the Pirates to the Cincinnati Reds for Blaine Durbin.[2]
Roster
[edit]| 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager | ||||||
Player stats
[edit]| = Indicates team leader |
Batting
[edit]Starters by position
[edit]Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | George Gibson | 150 | 510 | 135 | .265 | 2 | 52 |
| 1B | Bill Abstein | 137 | 512 | 133 | .260 | 1 | 70 |
| 2B | Dots Miller | 151 | 560 | 156 | .279 | 3 | 87 |
| 3B | Jap Barbeau | 91 | 350 | 77 | .220 | 0 | 25 |
| SS | Honus Wagner | 137 | 495 | 168 | .339 | 5 | 100 |
| OF | Tommy Leach | 151 | 587 | 153 | .261 | 6 | 43 |
| OF | Fred Clarke | 152 | 550 | 158 | .287 | 3 | 68 |
| OF | Chief Wilson | 154 | 569 | 155 | .272 | 4 | 59 |
Other batters
[edit]Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3B | Bobby Byrne | 46 | 168 | 43 | .256 | 0 | 7 |
| 1B, 3B | Alan Storke | 37 | 118 | 30 | .254 | 0 | 12 |
| 2B, SS | Ed Abbaticchio | 36 | 87 | 20 | .230 | 1 | 16 |
| 1B | Ham Hyatt | 49 | 67 | 20 | .299 | 0 | 7 |
| OF | Ward Miller | 15 | 56 | 8 | .143 | 0 | 4 |
| C | Mike Simon | 12 | 18 | 3 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| C | Paddy O'Connor | 9 | 16 | 5 | .313 | 0 | 3 |
| PR | Blaine Durbin | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
[edit]Starting pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vic Willis | 39 | 289.2 | 22 | 11 | 2.24 | 95 |
| Howie Camnitz | 41 | 283.0 | 25 | 6 | 1.62 | 133 |
| Nick Maddox | 31 | 203.1 | 13 | 8 | 2.21 | 56 |
| Lefty Leifield | 32 | 201.2 | 19 | 8 | 2.37 | 43 |
Other pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deacon Phillippe | 22 | 131.2 | 8 | 3 | 2.32 | 38 |
| Babe Adams | 25 | 130.0 | 12 | 3 | 1.11 | 65 |
| Sam Leever | 19 | 70.0 | 8 | 1 | 2.83 | 23 |
| Chick Brandom | 13 | 40.2 | 1 | 0 | 1.11 | 21 |
| Sam Frock | 8 | 36.1 | 2 | 1 | 2.48 | 11 |
| Bill Powell | 3 | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 3.68 | 2 |
Relief pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Camnitz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
| Charlie Wacker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Gene Moore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 2 |
Awards and honors
[edit]League top five finishers
[edit]- #2 in NL in wins (25)
- #4 in NL in ERA (1.62)
- #2 in NL in runs scored (97)
- #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.384)
- MLB leader in runs scored (126)
- #3 in NL in RBI (87)
- NL leader in batting average (.339)
- NL leader in RBI (100)
- NL leader in on-base percentage (.420)
- NL leader in slugging percentage (.489)
- #3 in NL in runs scored (92)
- #4 in NL in wins (22)
1909 World Series
[edit]
In the World Series, Pittsburgh faced the American League champion Detroit Tigers, led by triple crown winner Ty Cobb. The matchup was largely billed as one between the major leagues' two superstars. Wagner thoroughly outplayed Cobb, and rookie Babe Adams won all three of his starts, as the Pirates won in seven games.
Game 1
[edit]October 8, 1909, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit (AL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| W: Babe Adams (1–0) L: George Mullin (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: PIT – Fred Clarke (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 2
[edit]October 9, 1909, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| W: Bill Donovan (1–0) L: Howie Camnitz (0–1) | ||||||||||||
Game 3
[edit]October 11, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 |
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 5 |
| W: Nick Maddox (1–0) L: Ed Summers (0–1) | ||||||||||||
Game 4
[edit]October 12, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| W: George Mullin (1–1) L: Lefty Leifield (0–1) | ||||||||||||
Game 5
[edit]October 13, 1909, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit (AL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | X | 8 | 10 | 2 |
| W: Babe Adams (2–0) L: Ed Summers (0–2) | ||||||||||||
| HR: DET – Davy Jones (1), Sam Crawford (1) PIT – Fred Clarke (2) | ||||||||||||
Game 6
[edit]October 14, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Detroit (AL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 10 | 2 |
| W: George Mullin (2–1) L: Vic Willis (0–1) | ||||||||||||
Game 7
[edit]October 16, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| W: Babe Adams (3–0) L: Bill Donovan (1–1) | ||||||||||||
Notes
[edit]- ^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
- ^ In the early 20th century and earlier, the name of Pittsburgh was spelled both with and without the final 'h'.
References
[edit]- ^ Crazy '08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 105, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
- ^ Ward Miller page at Baseball Reference