After an up and down history so far in the modern era, the Cincinnati Reds started hot and by the beginning of June, the Reds held a 4.5 game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates, the then second place team. From June until the season's end, the team played championship ball. Orval Overall (18-9, 2.17 ERA) and the NL's Outstanding Pitcher, Bob Ewing (24-10, 2.00 ERA) formed the heart of a hill staff that was tops in the senior circuit. With the Cardinals right on their heels, the Reds clinched their first pennant with three games to go. Dick Hoblitzel (.284-4-82), Al Bridwell (.278-0-59) and Turkey Mike Donlin (.323-3-54) led the way at the plate. The St.Louis Cardinals ended the season in second place, 3 games behind, thanks to the 1-2 punch on the hill, Babe Adams (22-8, 1.74 ERA) and Three Finger Brown (19-13, 1.97 ERA). They were led at the plate by Red Murray (.275-9-61) and Ed Konetchy (.269-3-71). The New York Giants sneaked past the faltering Pirates and finished in third place, eight games behind the leaders. Cy Seymour (.293-3-45), Larry Doyle (.265-8-76) and Chief Meyers (.250-7-78) led the attack while the mound staff was led by the arm of Christy Mathewson (19-16, 2.28 ERA).
The NL didn't hold a monopoly on tight races, either. In the AL, the Philadelphia Athletics overcame a mid-season slump to chalk up their second straight crown, and fourth in 5 seasons, on the final day of the season. The Mackmen were led by the bats of Frank Baker (.299-5-84) and Danny Murphy (.290-3-92) and the arm of the AL's Outstanding Pitcher, Chief Bender (28-7, 1.61 ERA). The Detroit Tigers held the lead for most of the season before the champion Athletics came on at the end to tie them with ten games remaining then took the lead for good five games later. The Tigers, who were looking to repeat as AL champs, finished in second place, two games behind the White Elephants, thanks to their trio of batsmen, Nap Lajoie (.313-1-87), Sam Crawford (.313-7-84) and the junior circuit's Outstanding Hitter, Ty Cobb (.329-4-69). On the hill, the Bengals were led by 20-game winner Ed Summers (24-13, 1.86 ERA) and Bugs Raymond (19-12, 2.18 ERA). The Boston Red Sox finished a distant third place, 12 games behind the Athletics, thanks to the bats of Larry Gardner (.331-1-54), Bill Carrigan (.265-4-58) and Tris Speaker (.309-2-52). They were led on the mound by Frank Arellanes (19-13, 1.84 ERA) and Cy Young (17-16, 2.40 ERA).
The Series was anticipated as a match between the two hitting powers, but ended up being highlighted by great pitching by the Chief Bender-led Mackmen. Chief Bender won three games as the Athletics' staff held the Reds lineup to 14 runs in the six games. Led by the mound staff, the Athletics won the Series, 4 games to 2, for their second straight world's championship.
Code:
American League W L PCT GB National League W L PCT GB
Philadelphia 95 59 .617 -- Cincinnati 88 66 .571 --
Detroit 93 61 .604 2 St.Louis 85 69 .552 3
Boston 83 71 .539 12 New York 80 74 .519 8
Cleveland 75 79 .487 20 Pittsburgh 77 77 .500 11
St.Louis 74 80 .481 21 Chicago 75 79 .487 13
Chicago 69 85 .448 26 Philadelphia 75 79 .487 13
Washington 67 87 .435 28 Brooklyn 71 83 .461 17
New York 60 94 .390 35 Boston 65 89 .422 23
Batting AVG AVG Batting AVG AVG
L.Gardner, BOS .331 H.Wagner, PIT .334
T.Cobb, DET .329 V.Campbell, CHI .326
S.Crawford, DET .313 C.Seymour, NY .293
Homeruns HR Homeruns HR
T.Jordan, CHI 14 V.Campbell, CHI 10
S.Crawford, DET 7 S.Magee, PHI 9
F.Baker, PHI 5 R.Murray, STL 9
Runs Batted In RBI Runs Batted In RBI
D.Murphy, PHI 92 T.Leach, PIT 92
N.Lajoie, DET 87 D.Hoblitzel, CIN 82
F.Baker, PHI 84 V.Campbell, CHI 80
Stolen Bases SB Stolen Bases SB
T.Cobb, DET 60 R.Murray, STL 64
H.Lobert, CLE 57 S.Magee, PHI 48
E.Collins, PHI 55 E.Konetchy, STL 46
Earned Run Average ERA Earned Run Average ERA
H.Berger, CLE 1.58 R.Ames, NY 1.67
C.Bender, PHI 1.61 B.Adams, STL 1.74
J.Coombs, PHI 1.82 M.Brown, STL 1.93
Wins W Wins W
C.Bender, PHI 28 B.Ewing, CIN 24
E.Summers, DET 24 B.Adams, STL 22
F.Arellanes, BOS 19 T.Sparks, PHI 21
Saves SV Saves SV
E.Steele, BOS 27 P.Ragan, CIN 27
H.Ables, STL 20 F.Burchell, PHI 16
H.Suter, CHI 17 R.Hagerman, CHI 16
Strikeouts SO Strikeouts SO
E.Walsh, CHI 204 O.Overall, CIN 221
H.Berger, CLE 195 N.Rucker, BRO 185
W.Johnson, WAS 192 C.Mathewson, NY 169
Postseason
Code:
1909 World Series
Game #1
Cincinnai 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 2
Philadelphia (A) 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 x - 5 5 0
WP - C.Bender (1-0)
LP - O.Overall (0-1)
HR - none
Game #2
Cincinnati 0 2 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 - 6 10 1
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 - 5 5 2
WP - B.Ewing (1-0)
LP - E.Plank (0-1)
HR - none
Game #3
Philadelphia (A) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 6 0
Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 7 1
WP - C.Bender (2-0)
LP - O.Overall (0-2)
HR - none
Game #4
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 0
Cincinnati 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 x - 1 7 1
WP - B.Ewing (2-0)
LP - E.Plank (0-2)
HR - none
Game #5
Philadelphia (A) 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 - 3 4 0
Cincinnati 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 2 10 2
WP - C.Bender (3-0)
LP - O.Overall (0-3)
SV - H.Krause (1)
HR - none
Game #6
Cincinnati 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 4 8 1
Philadelphia (A) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 - 5 11 1
WP - J.Dygert (1-0)
LP - C.Hall (0-1)
HR - none