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
Location
Results
Record79–57 (.581)
League place2nd (4 GB)
Other information
Owner(s)Charles Somers
PresidentCharles Somers
Manager(s)Jimmy Collins
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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Off-Season

On February 11, Jimmy Collins, third baseman for the National League Boston Beaneaters became the first player under contract for the Boston Americans after being offered a contract of $4000 with the added ability to sign subsequent players to contracts.[1] Collins was joined on March 4 by the outfielder Chick Stahl, who was also from the Beaneaters.[2] Defecting with Stahl and Collins was the outfielder Buck Freeman.[3]

Yet perhaps the most important signing was that of the 34 year old St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Cy Young, who accepted a contract worth $3500 from the Boston Americans.[4] Vital to the signing of Cy Young from the Cardinals was the signing of Cy Young's catcher in St. Louis, Lou Criger; the value that Young gave to Criger and that Criger gave to Young was so strong, that it is unlikely that Young would have signed for the Americans if Criger had not done so.[5]

Regular season

Prior to the regular season, the team held spring training in Charlottesville, Virginia.[6]

  • 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.[7] Pitching for the Red Sox was Win Kellum, who became the first Red Sox player to pitch a complete game, but was also the first pitcher to earn a loss.[8] Boston's first run was scored by player-manager Jimmy Collins in the fifth inning.[9] 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.[7] Cy Young was the winning pitcher.[10]
  • May 2: In their highest-scoring game of the year, Boston defeats Philadelphia, 23–12 in a road victory.[7]
  • May 8: The team plays and wins its first-ever home game, 12–4 over the visiting Athletics.[7]
  • May 11: Buck Freeman receives the first ejection in franchise history, sent off by umpire Jack Haskell following a call at second base,[11] 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.[7]
  • 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.[7] 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.[7]
  • August 27: The team's longest game of the season ends as a 2–1 win in 15 innings over the visiting Detroit Tigers.[7]
  • September 28: The season ends with a home doubleheader against the Brewers; Boston wins both games, 8–3, and 10–9 in seven innings.

The total attendance for the Red Sox was 289,448, the second most in the American League (behind the White Sox' 354,350) and more than the crosstown Boston Beaneaters' 146,502.[12]

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.[7] Tied games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tied games are counted.[13]

Record vs. opponents
1901 American League Records

Sources:
Team BLA BOS CWS CLE DET MLA PHA 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: [14]

Roster
1901 Boston Americans
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Starters by position

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
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

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
Lou Criger7626862.231024
Charlie Jones10416.14606
Larry McLean9194.21102
Jack Slattery131.33301
Harry Gleason1111.00000
all pitchers 50695.188145

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
Cy Young43371+1⁄333101.62158
Ted Lewis39316+1⁄316173.53103
George Winter2824116122.8063
Fred Mitchell17108+2⁄3663.8134
George Cuppy1393+1⁄3464.1522
Win Kellum648236.388
Ben Beville29024.001
Frank Foreman18109.001
Jake Volz17109.005

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
George Prentiss210101.800

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Frank Morrissey10002.081

References
  1. Stout, Glenn; Johnson, Richard A. (2000). Red Sox Century: One Hundred Years of Red Sox Baseball. New York: Houghton Mifflin. p. 10. ISBN 0-395-88417-9.
  2. Dabilis, Andy; Tsiotos, Nick (2004). The 1903 World Series: The Boston Americans, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the "First Championship of the United States". Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-7864-1840-4.
  3. Dewey, Donald; Acocella, Nicholas (1995). The Biographical History of Baseball. New York, New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers. p. 88. ISBN 0-7867-0138-2.
  4. Macht, Norman L. (1992). Cy Young. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 31.
  5. Browning, Reed (2000). Cy Young: A Baseball Life. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 105. ISBN 1-55849-262-3.
  6. "Collins' Men Take It Easy". The Boston Globe. April 11, 1901. p. 7. Retrieved November 4, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  7. "The 1901 Boston Americans Regular Season Game Log". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  8. Nowlin, Bill (2023). Boston Red Sox Firsts: The Players, Moments, and Records that were First in Team History. Essex, Connecticut: Lyons Press. p. 30. ISBN 9781493073382.
  9. "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.
  10. "Cy Young Wins for Boston". Pittsburgh Daily Post. May 1, 1901. p. 6. Retrieved November 3, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  11. "The Ejections for the 1901 Boston Americans". Retrosheet. November 4, 2018.
  12. Cook, William A. (2008). August "Garry" Hermann: A Baseball Biography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-7864-3073-4.
  13. Hershberger, Richard (December 28, 2015). "Tie Games in Baseball". ordinary-times.com. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  14. Murnane, T. H. (April 27, 1901). "Box score". The Boston Globe. p. 8. Retrieved November 13, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
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