1901 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1901 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1901 in baseball.

1901 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 24 – September 28, 1901 (AL) April 18 – October 6, 1901 (NL)
Number of games	140
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Pennant winners
AL champions	Chicago White Stockings
AL runners-up	Boston Americans
NL champions	Pittsburgh Pirates
NL runners-up	Philadelphia Phillies
MLB seasons
← 1900 1902 →

Orioles

Americans   

White Stockings

Blues

Tigers

Brewers

Athletics

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1901 American League season
American League

Beaneaters

Superbas

Orphans

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1900–1901 National League seasons
National League

The 1901 major league baseball season was contested from April 18 through October 6, 1901. It was the inaugural major league season for the American League (AL) (having previously been the minor league Western League), with the Chicago White Stockings winning the AL pennant. In the National League (NL), in operation since 1876, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the NL pennant. There was no postseason. This was the first season of the modern era.

This would be the only season in which the Milwaukee Brewers played, as the team would relocate to St. Louis, Missouri for the following season as the St. Louis Browns (before that team relocated to Baltimore, Maryland as the modern Baltimore Orioles in 1954, where they remain to this day. The Baltimore Orioles of this season would fold following the 1902 season).

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1901 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This format had previously been used by the National League during their 1888–1891 seasons. This format would last until 1904, which saw an increase of games played.

National League Opening Day took place on April 18 with a game between the Brooklyn Superbas and the Philadelphia Phillies, while American League Opening Day did not take place until April 24, with a game between the Chicago White Stockings and the Cleveland Bluebirds. The American League would see its final day of the season on September 28, while the National League would see its final day of the season on October 6.

Rule changes

On February 27, 1901, the National League Rules Committee announced several rule changes, effective immediately. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

• All foul balls are to count as strike balls, except after two strikes. Previously, foul balls would not affect the count. To cut the cost of lost foul balls, the committee urges that batters who foul off good strikes are to be disciplined. The American League will not adopt this rule until the 1903 season.
• A one-ball penalty would be imposed if the pitcher throws a warm-up toss to anyone except the catcher.
• Catchers play within 10 feet of the batter.
• A ball will be called if the pitcher does not throw to a ready and waiting batter within 20 seconds, a predecessor to the modern-day pitch clock that was implemented 123 years later in 2023.
• Players using indecent or improper language will be banished by the umpire.
• A ball will be called when a batter is hit by a pitch.

Further changes were made in April:

• In a mail vote, the owners rescinded the new hit by pitch rule, restoring the rule that a HBP will earn a batter first base.

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager [4]
American League	Baltimore Orioles	Baltimore, Maryland	Oriole Park	Unknown	John McGraw
	Boston Americans	Boston, Massachusetts	Huntington Avenue Grounds	11,500	Jimmy Collins
	Chicago White Stockings	Chicago, Illinois	South Side Park	12,500	Clark Griffith
	Cleveland Blues	Cleveland, Ohio	League Park (Cleveland)	9,000	Jimmy McAleer
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Bennett Park	8,500	George Stallings
	Milwaukee Brewers	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Lloyd Street Grounds	10,000	Hugh Duffy
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Columbia Park	9,500	Connie Mack
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	American League Park	7,000	Jim Manning
National League	Boston Beaneaters	Boston, Massachusetts	South End Grounds	6,600	Frank Selee
	Brooklyn Superbas	New York, New York	Washington Park	12,000	Ned Hanlon
	Chicago Orphans	Chicago, Illinois	West Side Park	13,000	Tom Loftus
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	League Park (Cincinnati)	9,000	Bid McPhee
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	16,000	George Davis
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	National League Park	18,000	Bill Shettsline
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Allegheny, Pennsylvania	Exposition Park	16,000	Fred Clarke
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	League Park (St. Louis)	15,200	Patsy Donovan

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Stockings	83	53	.610	—	49‍–‍21	34‍–‍32
Boston Americans	79	57	.581	4	49‍–‍20	30‍–‍37
Detroit Tigers	74	61	.548	8½	42‍–‍27	32‍–‍34
Philadelphia Athletics	74	62	.544	9	42‍–‍24	32‍–‍38
Baltimore Orioles	68	65	.511	13½	40‍–‍25	28‍–‍40
Washington Senators	61	72	.459	20½	31‍–‍35	30‍–‍37
Cleveland Blues	54	82	.397	29	28‍–‍39	26‍–‍43
Milwaukee Brewers	48	89	.350	35½	32‍–‍37	16‍–‍52

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	90	49	.647	—	45‍–‍24	45‍–‍25
Philadelphia Phillies	83	57	.593	7½	46‍–‍23	37‍–‍34
Brooklyn Superbas	79	57	.581	9½	43‍–‍25	36‍–‍32
St. Louis Cardinals	76	64	.543	14½	40‍–‍31	36‍–‍33
Boston Beaneaters	69	69	.500	20½	41‍–‍29	28‍–‍40
Chicago Orphans	53	86	.381	37	30‍–‍39	23‍–‍47
New York Giants	52	85	.380	37	30‍–‍38	22‍–‍47
Cincinnati Reds	52	87	.374	38	27‍–‍43	25‍–‍44

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Baltimore Orioles	Team enfranchised	John McGraw
Boston Americans	Team enfranchised	Jimmy Collins
Chicago White Stockings	Charles Comiskey (minor league)	Clark Griffith
Cincinnati Reds	Bob Allen	Bid McPhee
Cleveland Blues	Jimmy McAleer (minor league)	Jimmy McAleer
Detroit Tigers	George Stallings (minor league)	George Stallings
Milwaukee Brewers	Connie Mack (minor league)	Hugh Duffy
Philadelphia Athletics	Team enfranchised	Connie Mack
St. Louis Cardinals	Louie Heilbroner	Patsy Donovan
Washington Senators	Jim Manning (Kansas City Blues, minor league)	Jim Manning

League leaders

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

American League

Hitting leaders ^[5]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Nap Lajoie 1 (PHA)	.426
OPS	Nap Lajoie (PHA)	1.106
HR	Nap Lajoie 1 (PHA)	14
RBI	Nap Lajoie 1 (PHA)	125
R	Nap Lajoie (PHA)	145
H	Nap Lajoie (PHA)	232
SB	Frank Isbell (CWS)	46

¹ American League Triple Crown batting winner

Pitching leaders ^[6]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Cy Young 2 (BSA)	33
L	Pete Dowling (CLE/ MIL )	25
ERA	Cy Young 2 (BSA)	1.62
K	Cy Young 2 (BSA)	158
IP	Joe McGinnity (BAL)	382.0
SV	Bill Hoffer (CLE)	3
WHIP	Cy Young (BSA)	0.972

² American League Triple Crown pitching winner

National League

Hitting leaders ^[7]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Jesse Burkett (STL)	.376
OPS	Ed Delahanty (PHP)	.955
HR	Sam Crawford (CIN)	16
RBI	Honus Wagner (PIT)	126
R	Jesse Burkett (STL)	142
H	Jesse Burkett (STL)	142
SB	Honus Wagner (PIT)	49

Pitching leaders ^[8]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Bill Donovan (BKN)	25
L	Luther Taylor (NY)	27
ERA	Jesse Tannehill (PIT)	2.18
K	Noodles Hahn (CIN)	239
IP	Noodles Hahn (CIN)	375.1
SV	Bill Donovan (BKN) Jack Powell (STL)	3
WHIP	Al Orth (PHP)	1.001

Milestones

Batters

• Nap Lajoie (PHA):
  • Became the fourth player in MLB history and the first in American League history to win the Triple Crown, an achievement of leading a league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) over the same season. ^[9]

Pitchers

• Cy Young (BSA):
  • Won the pitching triple crown.

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
St. Louis Cardinals [10]	76	16.9%	379,988	40.7%	5,278
Chicago White Stockings [11]	83		354,350		4,991
New York Giants [12]	52	−13.3%	297,650	56.7%	4,192
Boston Americans [13]	79		289,448		4,195
Detroit Tigers [14]	74		259,430		3,706
Pittsburgh Pirates [15]	90	13.9%	251,955	−4.6%	3,652
Philadelphia Phillies [16]	83	10.7%	234,937	−22.2%	3,405
Philadelphia Athletics [17]	74		206,329		3,126
Cincinnati Reds [18]	52	−16.1%	205,728	21.0%	2,857
Chicago Orphans [19]	53	−18.5%	205,071	−17.5%	2,930
Brooklyn Superbas [20]	79	−3.7%	198,200	8.3%	2,915
Washington Senators [21]	61		161,661		2,377
Boston Beaneaters [22]	69	4.5%	146,502	−27.5%	2,093
Baltimore Orioles [23]	68		141,952		2,151
Milwaukee Brewers [24]	48		139,034		1,986
Cleveland Blues [25]	54		131,380		1,904

References

1. "The National League Rules Committee decrees that all foul balls are to count as strikes, except after two strikes. - This Day In Baseball". February 27, 1901. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
2. "This Day in Sports: The National League Makes it Way Harder for Fans to Catch a Foul Ball". ESPN.com. February 27, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
3. admin. "1900 Winter Meetings: A Threat of Competition – Society for American Baseball Research" . Retrieved March 26, 2025.
4. "1901 Major League Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
5. "1901 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
6. "1901 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
7. "1901 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
8. "1901 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
9. "1901 American League Batting Leaders".
10. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
11. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
12. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
13. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
14. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
15. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
16. "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
17. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
18. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
19. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
20. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
21. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
22. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
23. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
24. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
25. "Cleveland Guardians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.

External links

• 1901 in baseball history from ThisGreatGame.com
• 1901 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference