1921 Season Summary
Code:
NATIONAL W L PCT GB
Cincinnati 93 61 .604 --
Philadelphia 88 66 .571 5
New York 83 71 .539 10
Brooklyn 80 74 .519 13
Milwaukee 80 74 .519 13
St. Louis 79 75 .513 14
Chicago 77 77 .500 16
Pittsburgh 57 97 .370 36
AMERICAN W L PCT GB
Baltimore 97 57 .630 --
Cleveland 80 74 .519 17
Kansas City 78 76 .506 19
Detroit 74 80 .481 23
New York 73 81 .474 24
Chicago 66 88 .429 31
Washington 65 89 .422 32
Boston 65 89 .422 32
PACIFIC W L PCT GB
San Francisco 93 61 .604 --
Los Angeles 85 69 .552 8
San Diego 80 74 .519 13
Sacramento 75 79 .487 18
Portland 73 81 .474 20
Oakland 73 81 .474 20
Seattle 72 82 .468 21
Hollywood 62 92 .403 31
The
Baltimore Orioles, kings of the American Division, were clearly the best team in major league baseball over the course of the 1921 regular season. However, anything can happen in a playoff series, and the wild card
Philadelphia Phillies proved that, eliminating the O's from the playoffs in a thrilling seven-game set.
The Pacific Coast Division champion
San Francisco Seals swept the
Cincinnati Reds in the other semi-final, setting up a World Series matchup with the Phillies. The Seals took care of their second straight National Division foe, beating the Phillies, 4 games to 1, and carrying the World Series trophy back to the West for the second straight season.
The Seals were a balanced team, second best in the league at scoring runs and at preventing them. CF
Parker Johnson (.340-8-93, 197 hits, .410 OBP) and SS
Jose Carlos (.338-4-85, 206 hits, 45 SB) led the Seals' balanced offense. Johnson won the
Outstanding Hitter Award over batting champion SS
Antonio Rodriguez of the Giants (.352-3-75) and 1B
Joe Boyd of the Phillies (.350-2-108, 46 2B, 202 H, .887 OPS).
Five Seals pitchers won 15 games or more, led by
Roger Skinner (18-8, 3.11) and
Colton Blanton (18-14, 3.50).
Alex Carey won 10 games and saved 12 more from the bullpen.
The Orioles were led by the league's
Outstanding Pitcher, brilliant 24-year-old righthander
Mike Crawford. The husky Hoosier went 25-5 with a 1.82 ERA and spun seven shutouts, all league highs. Offensively, Baltimore relied most heavily on its hard-hitting outfield, manned by CF
Rick Mar (.305-8-82, 81 3B, 100 R, 52 SB), RF
Dave McBride (.313-7-93, 16 3B), and LF
Joseph Townsend (.301-10-82).
1B
Mike Dickey of Brooklyn (.347-3-97, 219 H) and CF
Robert Wallace of Portland (.334-2-64, 100 BB, .437 OBP) had productive years. Three players shared the home run championship, each slamming 13 homers: Cardinals SS
Travis Crawford, Red Sox 3B
Paul James, and White Sox LF
Tanner Webster. Cleveland infielder
Riggs Stephenson (.343-5-87) won the Rookie of the Year Award.
Veteran
Troy Edwards, 36, went 24-6 with a 2.17 ERA for the Reds, and teammate
Hector Orozoco added 23 more wins and a 2.45 ERA.
Mario Garcia of Kansas City (23-9, 2.45),
Bernardo Piniella of the Phils (22-9, 2.95) also enjoyed great mound success, as did Kansas City relief ace
Johnny Sanders (10-6, 18 saves, 2.12 ERA).
Constantin L'Archibudelli toiled manfully for a poor White Sox team, going 15-14 with a 3.56 ERA. His control was superb, walking only 42 hitters in 265 innings.
In June, the Chicago Cubs chose RHP
Syl Johnson with the first overall pick in the rookie draft. Johnson split the remainder of the season between the Cubs and their Nashville affiliate, with mixed results. Cleveland took the first position player off the board, C
Gabby Hartnett, at #3, while the Senators used the #6 pick to take 1B
Jim Bottomley.
The June draftee who made the biggest impact at the major league level was 1B
Joe Hauser, whom the Cubs took in the second round. Joe produced a .299-8-44 line in 76 big league contests, and established himself as a young slugger to watch.
Another 1921 freshman of note was IF
Judy Johnson, who hit a solid .308-1-65 for the Los Angeles Angels (Johnson became the first Negro League star to make a significant impact on this dynasty.)