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
Inaugural season
Team photo; Cy Young third from left in middle row, Jimmy Collins seated center of front row
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Huntington Avenue Grounds (since 1901) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Results
Record	79–57 (.581)
League place	2nd (4 GB)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles Somers
Manager(s)	Jimmy Collins
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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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	83	53	0.610	—	49–21	34–32
Boston Americans	79	57	0.581	4	49–20	30–37
Detroit Tigers	74	61	0.548	8½	42–27	32–34
Philadelphia Athletics	74	62	0.544	9	42–24	32–38
Baltimore Orioles	68	65	0.511	13½	40–25	28–40
Washington Senators	61	72	0.459	20½	31–35	30–37
Cleveland Bluebirds	54	82	0.397	29	28–39	26–43
Milwaukee Brewers	48	89	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	—	9–9	4–14–1	11–9	9–10	12–7–1	12–8	11–8
Boston	9–9	—	12–8	12–6	9–11–1	15–5	10–10	12–8–1
Chicago	14–4–1	8–12	—	13–7	10–10	16–4	12–8	10–8
Cleveland	9–11	6–12	7–13	—	6–14	11–9	6–14	9–9–2
Detroit	10–9	11–9–1	10–10	14–6	—	13–7	7–9	9–11
Milwaukee	7–12–1	5–15	4–16	9–11	7–13	—	6–14	10–8–1
Philadelphia	8–12	10–10	8–12	14–6	9–7	14–6	—	11–9–1
Washington	8–11	8–12–1	8–10	9–9–2	11–9	8–10–1	9–11–1	—

Opening Day lineup

Tommy Dowd	LF
Charlie Hemphill	RF
Chick Stahl	CF
Jimmy Collins	3B
Buck Freeman	1B
Freddy Parent	SS
Hobe Ferris	2B
Lou Criger	C
Win Kellum	P

Source: [7]

Roster

1901 Boston Americans
Roster
Pitchers Ben Beville Nig Cuppy Frank Foreman Win Kellum Ted Lewis Fred Mitchell Frank Morrissey George Prentiss Jake Volz George Winter Cy Young		Catchers Lou Criger Ossee Schreckengost Jack Slattery Infielders Jimmy Collins Hobe Ferris Buck Freeman Harry Gleason Larry McLean Freddy Parent		Outfielders Tommy Dowd Charlie Hemphill Charlie Jones Chick Stahl		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	Ossee Schreckengost	86	280	85	.304	0	38
1B	Buck Freeman	129	490	166	.339	12	114
2B	Hobe Ferris	138	523	131	.250	2	63
SS	Freddy Parent	138	517	158	.306	4	59
3B	Jimmy Collins	138	564	187	.332	6	94
OF	Charlie Hemphill	136	545	142	.261	3	62
OF	Chick Stahl	131	515	156	.303	6	72
OF	Tommy Dowd	138	594	159	.268	3	52

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Lou Criger	76	268	62	.231	0	24
Charlie Jones	10	41	6	.146	0	6
Larry McLean	9	19	4	.211	0	2
Jack Slattery	1	3	1	.333	0	1
Harry Gleason	1	1	1	1.000	0	0
all pitchers		506	95	.188	1	45

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	43	​371 ^1⁄3	33	10	1.62	158
Ted Lewis	39	​316 ^1⁄3	16	17	3.53	103
George Winter	28	241	16	12	2.80	63
Fred Mitchell	17	​108 ^2⁄3	6	6	3.81	34
Nig Cuppy	13	​93 ^1⁄3	4	6	4.15	22

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Win Kellum	6	48	2	3	6.38	8
George Prentiss	2	10	1	0	1.80	0
Ben Beville	2	9	0	2	4.00	1
Frank Foreman	1	8	0	1	9.00	1
Jake Volz	1	7	1	0	9.00	5
Frank Morrissey	1	​4 ^1⁄3	0	0	2.08	1

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.

External links

• 1901 Boston Americans team page at Baseball Reference
• 1901 Boston Americans season at baseball-almanac.com