1898
Code:
Team W L % GB
Brooklyn Grooms 89 61 .593 -
Boston Beaneaters 82 68 .547 7
Pittsburgh Pirates 80 70 .533 9
Philadelphia Phillies 79 71 .527 10
Louisville Colonels 77 73 .513 12
Chicago Colts 75 75 .500 14
Cincinnati Reds 72 78 .480 17
Baltimore Orioles 69 81 .460 20
Cleveland Spiders 66 84 .440 23
New York Giants 61 89 .407 28
Brooklyn Bridegrooms
After never winning a pennant in the league's first 20 seasons, Brooklyn has now won two in the past three years. RF Michael Griffin finished 6th in the NL with a .366 average and added 96 RBI. In his 3rd season, CF Fielder Jones hit .338 with 62 RBI. In his first season as an everyday starter, 1B John Anderson hit .289 and led the NL with 12 HRs and 104 RBI. George Keefe recorded the 3rd most wins ever in a single season by going 28-11 with a 3.27 ERA. Charlie Sweeney went 25-16 with a 3.67 ERA.
Boston Beaneaters
After finishing in 6th place last season with a .500 record, Boston surged to the top of the league thanks to a top ranked offense. 1B Fred Tenney captured the batting title with a .371 average (but only 39 RBI) and 3B Billy Nash finished just behind at .370. LF Tommy McCarthy hit .345 with 91 RBI. RF Chich Stahl hit .329 with 81 RBI, and SS Herman Long hit .309. Vic Willis went 22-19 with a 3.81 ERA and was named Top Rookie. Kid Nichols went 21-12, 3.50 and Bill Daley went 19-17, 3.61.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Despite a middle-of-the-road offense and a pitching staff near the bottom of the league, the Pirates went 80-70 and finished 3rd. RF Elmer Smith hit .372 but did not qualify for the batting title with just 433 AB. SS Frank Shugart officially led the team with a .368 average along with 80 RBI. 2B Gene DeMontreville also had 80 RBI while hitting .300. 1B Jake Beckley hit .323 with 84 RBI. Tom Colcolough led the team with 24 wins despite a 4.35 ERA. Bill Phillips went 20-19, 3.59.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies had the second best offense and second best pitching, yet they managed to finish just 8 games above .500. CF Ed Delahanty hit .333 with 9 HR and 97 RBI. LF Billy Hamilton hit .324 with 69 steals at age 32. After playing out of position at SS, Cupid Childs still hit .321 with 59 RBI. Nap Lajoie took over Childs' spot at 2B, hitting .301 with 88 RBI, down from .356 and 113 RBI last season as a rookie. Mike Grady took Lajoie's spot at 1B and hit .311 with 84 RBI. Bill Vinton was the league's Top Pitcher, going 26-13 with a league best 2.57 ERA. Rookie Wiley Piatt won 20 games but also lost 20 with a 4.09 ERA. At age 39, Mickey Welch had just his 3rd season with over 20 starts or 200 innings. He went 16-12 with a 3.13 ERA.
Louisville Colonels
The Colonels posted their 2nd straight winning season, and pitching was a big key. Phil Knell went 27-10 with a 3.11 ERA. His .730 winning percentage led the league, and his ERA was 4th best. Doc McJames posted a 2.90 ERA that ranked 2nd in the NL, but he was rewarded with just a 19-22 record. RF Tom McCreery hit .367 with 91 RBI. Hughie Jennings played 101 games at SS (down from 135) and started the first 37 games in his career at 1B. He hit .350. Despite ranking in the middle of the league, the offense was otherwise weak. Honus Wagner hit .263 in 186 AB as a rookie.
Chicago Colts
3B Patsy Tebeau hit .337 with 91 RBI, leading one of the top offenses in the league. SS Bill Dahlen hit .309 with 10 HR and 73 RBI. LF Johnny Ryan hit 315. However, pitching was a big concern. Jocko Flynn went 20-16 with a 3.69 ERA, and Gus Krock had a 3.24 ERA in 222.1 IP. But Clark Griffith (15-13, 4.17) and Willard Mains (16-24, 4.40) were letdowns. Going 75-75, this was the first non-winning season in the franchise's 23-year history.
Cincinnati Reds
Pitching was this team's only strength. Amos Rusie had his best season since 1892, going 19-18 with a 3.24 ERA. Elton Chamberlain had a 3.77 ERA but went just 16-23. Billy Rhines's 3.87 ERA earned him just a 10-12 record. However, Jesse Tannehill won 21 games but struggled with a 4.71 ERA in his 2nd season. On the offensive side, there was little good news to write about. The Reds were dead last in the NL, scoring just 4.1 runs per game. The top batters were catcher Jocko Halligan (.315, 85 RBI) and rookie 3B Harry Steinfeldt (.307, 74 RBI).
Baltimore Orioles
Similar to Cincinnati, the Orioles were all about pitching. As a matter of fact, they had the top ranked pitching staff in the league. In his 2nd season, Joe Corbett went 19-15 with a team best 3.18 ERA. Pink Hawley went 10-11 with a 3.15 ERA (in just 137.1 IP) but he did not become a regular starter until late in the season. 3B John McGraw hit .309 with 10 HR and 61 RBI. CF Jack McGeachy hit .290 with 86 RBI, but otherwise the offense was weak.
Cleveland Spiders
How the once-mighty Spiders have fallen. RF Vince Dailey hit .334 and stole 68 bases. 3B Bobby Wallace hit .318 with 89 RBI. SS Ed McKean hit .309 with 67 RBI, and catcher Jack Doyle hit .302 with 69 RBI. The team had a respectable ERA but still finished near the bottom of the league in runs allowed. At age 39, Lady Baldwin won 20 games yet again along with a 3.69 ERA. Cy Young improved his ERA from 4.51 last season to 3.47 but went 16-22. Viewed by some as the future of the team, 24-year-old Jack Powell went 7-12 in his second season with a strong 3.47 ERA.
New York Giants
After winning the pennant in 1896, the Giants have finished 9th, 8th and 10th in the three seasons since. This year they scored the 2nd fewest runs per game and allowed the most runs per game. LF Jesse Burkett (.369, 10 HR, 72 RBI), RF Willie Keeler (.330, 93 RBI) and CF Mike Tiernan (.316, 68 RBI) all had excellent seasons but they had no other support. Other than 3B John Rainey's .317 average in 448 AB, no other batter on the team hit better than .266. However, SS Lew Whistler managed to tie for the league lead with 12 HR with that .266 average. Bill George's 3.58 ERA was a team high, and so were his 22 losses. At age 35, Joe Ewing posted a 5.42 ERA that ranked last in the league among regular starters.
Batting AVG
.371 Fred Tenney, BSN
.370 Billy Nash, BSN
.369 Jesse Burkett, NYG
.368 Fred Shugart, PIT
.367 Tom McCreery, LVC
HOMERUNS
12 John Anderson, BRO
12 Lew Whistler, NYG
10 Bill Dahlen, CHC
10 John McGraw, BLO
10 Jesse Burkett, NYG
RBI
104 John Anderson, BRO
100 Jimmy Collins, BSN
97 Ed Delahanty, PHI
96 Michael Griffin, BRO
93 Willie Keeler, NYG
OPS
.934 Michael Griffin, BRO
.913 Jesse Burkett, NYG
.909 Fred Shugart, PIT
.901 Tom McCreery, LVC
.885 Billy Nash, BSN
STEALS
74 John McGraw, BLO (74-39, 65.49%)
73 Bob Glenalvin, CHC (73-28, 72.28%)
70 Tom McCarthy, BSN (70-20, 77.78%)
69 Billy Hamilton, PHI (69-32, 68.32%)
68 Vince Dailey, CLS (68-16, 80.95%)
ERA
2.57 Bill Vinton, PHI (26-13)
2.90 Doc McJames, LVC (19-22)
3.10 Bill Stemmeyer, BSN (11-8)
3.11 Phil Knell, LVC (27-10)
3.13 Mickey Welch, PHI (16-12)
WINS
28 George Keefe, BRO (28-11, 3.27)
27 Phil Knell, LVC
26 Bill Vinton, PHI
25 Charlie Sweeney, BRO (25-16, 3.67)
24 Tom Colcolough, PIT (24-14, 4.35)
STRIKEOUTS
327 Bill Daley, BSN (19-17, 3.61)
298 Joe Corbett, BLO (19-15, 3.18)
249 Amos Rusie, CIN (19-18, 3.24)
240 Doc McJames, LVC
239 Bill Vinton, PHI
POY: Bill Vinton, PHI, 26-13, 2.57 ERA, 24 BB, 239 K, .248 OAVG, 1.02 WHIP
BOY: RF Michael Griffin, BRO, .366, 96 RBI, 59 SB, .934 OPS
ROY: Vic Willis, BOS, 22-19, 3.81 ERA, 106 BB, 233 K, .276 OAVG, 1.39 WHIP