In the American League, the Boston Americans bolted to a 4 1/2-game lead by the beginning of August then the defending champion Athletics made their move. Philadelphia overtook Boston by the beginning of September then bolted and galloped home, clinching their second straight AL pennant with 5 games to go. Harry Davis (.289-9-80) and Socks Seybold (.287-2-71) were the hitting stars while the pitching staff led the way with three 20-game winners Chief Bender (24-11, 1.97 ERA), Rube Waddell (20-17, 2.40 ERA) and the AL's Outstanding Pitcher, Eddie Plank (25-6, 1.69 ERA). Boston finished in second place, 7 games behind, led by an offensive attack which was led by George Stone (.323-2-65) and Myron Grimshaw (.261-4-52). On the other side of the diamond, the pitching staff featured three 20-game winners George Winter (20-16, 2.40 ERA), Joe Harris (20-17, 1.92 ERA) and Cy Young (23-15, 2.29 ERA). The St.Louis Browns finished in third place, 9 games behind the front running Philadelphia, behind the bats of Jiggs Donahue (.292-1-52) and Bobby Wallace (.266-3-73) and the arms of Barney Pelty (23-16, 2.32 ERA) and Jack Powell (21-14, 2.05 ERA)
In the National League, it seemed like business as usual as the Pittsburgh Pirates went wire-to-wire to win their third NL title in six years. Leading the way for the Bucs was an line up which featured Ginger Beaumont (.282-6-90), Fred Clarke (.298-1-85) and the NL's Outstanding Hitter, Honus Wagner (.369-3-84). Their mound staff was led by a pair of 20-game winners, Deacon Phillippe (26-9, 1.97 ERA), and the senior circuit's Outstanding Pitcher, Jack Pfiester (26-8, 1.56 ERA), who won the pitcher's triple crown. The New York Giants, the only other team to win the NL title in the last 5 years more than once, finished in second place, 5 games behind, were led by the bats of Roger Bresnahan (.321-4-79) and George Davis (.299-3-61) and the arms of four 20-game winners Harry Howell (23-14, 1.71 ERA), Joe McGinnity (21-12, 2.16 ERA), Hooks Wiltse (20-14, 2.51 ERA) and Christy Mathewson (23-11, 1.98 ERA). Finishing a distant third place, 18 games behind the front running Pirates, were the St.Louis Cardinals. Leading the way on offense were Jake Beckley (.295-2-63) and Johnny Kling (.289-2-64). The pitching staff was led by Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown (23-11, 2.06 ERA).
During the World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates continued their record setting year and totally dominated the Athletics, winning the series, 4-games-to-1, for their first world's championship. The star was pitcher Cy Falkenberg, who won three of the Pirates' games.
Code:
American League W L PCT GB National League W L PCT GB
Philadelphia 94 60 .610 -- Pittsburgh 103 51 .669 --
Boston 87 67 .565 7 New York 98 56 .636 5
St.Louis 85 69 .552 9 St.Louis 85 69 .552 18
Detroit 81 73 .526 13 Philadelphia 83 71 .539 20
Chicago 79 75 .513 15 Cincinnati 75 79 .487 28
Cleveland 73 81 .474 21 Chicago 69 85 .448 34
Washington 66 88 .429 28 Brooklyn 58 96 .377 45
New York 51 103 .331 43 Boston 45 109 .292 58
Batting AVG AVG Batting AVG AVG
N.Lajoie,CLE+DET .332 H.Wagner, PIT .369
T.Cobb, DET .328 F.Chance, CHI .330
G.Stone, BOS .323 R.Bresnahan, NY .321
Homeruns HR Homeruns HR
H.Davis, PHI 9 G.Beaumont, PIT 6
T.Jordan, CHI 9 R.Murray, STL 5
S.Crawford, DET 6 R.Bresnahan, NY 4
Runs Batted In RBI Runs Batted In RBI
S.Crawford, DET 101 G.Beaumont, PIT 90
T.Jordan, CHI 81 M.McCormick, NY 86
H.Davis, PHI 80 F.Clarke, PIT 85
Stolen Bases SB Stolen Bases SB
D.Hoffman, PHI 49 T.Leach, PIT 54
S.Crawford, DET 44 G.Browne, NY 49
G.Stone, BOS 43 S.Mertes, NY 45
Earned Run Average ERA Earned Run Average ERA
E.Smith, STL 1.64 J.Pfiester, PIT 1.56
E.Plank, PHI 1.69 C.Falkenberg, PIT 1.62
J.Harris, BOS 1.92 H.Howell, NY 1.71
Wins W Wins W
E.Plank, PHI 25 J.Pfiester, PIT 26
C.Bender, PHI 24 D.Phillippe, PIT 26
B.Pelty, STL 23 M.Brown, STL 23
Saves SV Saves SV
J.Eubank, DET 7 R.Vickers, BRO 15
M.Cunningham, PHI 6 C.Griffith, CHI 8
B.Edmondson, WAS 5 B.Adams, STL 7
Strikeouts SO Strikeouts SO
R.Waddell, PHI 234 J.Pfiester, PIT 204
O.Hess, CLE 188 B.Ewing, CIN 196
C.Bender, PHI 185 M.Brown, STL 181
Postseason
Code:
1906 World Series
Game #1
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 - 2 7 0
Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 x - 3 8 1
WP - C.Falkenberg (1-0)
LP - R.Waddell (0-1)
HR - none
Game #2
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 - 5 10 2
Pittsburgh 0 0 0 3 0 1 2 0 x - 6 5 4
WP - J.Pfiester (1-0)
LP - C.Bender (0-1)
HR: PIT: G.Beaumont (1)
Game #3
Pittsburgh 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 - 4 6 0
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 2 12 3
WP - C.Falkenberg (2-0)
LP - R.Waddell (0-2)
HR - none
Game #4
Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 1
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 x - 2 8 1
WP - C.Bender (1-1)
LP - J.Pfiester (1-1)
HR - none
Game #5
Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 - 6 8 2
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 3 12 3
WP - C.Falkenberg (3-0)
LP - M.Cunningham (0-1)
HR - none