1904 Boston Americans season

1904  Boston Americans
League	American League
Ballpark	Huntington Avenue Grounds
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Record	95–59 (.617)
League place	1st
Owners	Henry Killilea
Managers	Jimmy Collins
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
←  1903 1905  →

Opening day ceremonies at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in celebration of the 1903 World Series championship by the Americans.

The 1904 Boston Americans season was the fourth season for the professional baseball franchise that later became known as the Boston Red Sox. The Americans finished first in the American League (AL) with a record of 95 wins and 59 losses, 1+1⁄2 games ahead of the New York Highlanders. The team was managed by Jimmy Collins and played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds. The Americans were set to play the National League (NL) champion New York Giants in the 1904 World Series; however, the Giants refused to play.

Offseason

Transactions

• December 7, 1903: It is reported that the Boston Americans will trade catcher Jake Stahl to the Washington Senators. ^[1]
• December 23, 1903: The Boston Americans trade pitcher Tom Hughes to the New York Highlanders for pitcher Jesse Tannehill. ^[2]

Prior to the regular season, the team held spring training in Macon, Georgia. ^[3]

Regular season

• April 14: The regular season opens with an 8–2 loss to the New York Highlanders at Hilltop Park in New York City. ^[4]
• April 18: In the home opener, the Americans defeat the visiting Washington Senators, 5–0. ^[4]
• May 5: Cy Young throws the first no-hitter in franchise history; it was also a perfect game. The Americans beat the Philadelphia Athletics by a score of 3–0 in Boston. ^[5]
• June 12: In their longest game of the season, the Americans defeat the St. Louis Browns, 2–1 in 16 innings, at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. ^[4]
• June 18: The team's highest scoring game of the season ends as a 13–10 win in 11 innings, on the road against the Chicago White Sox.
• August 17: Jesse Tannehill throws a no-hitter against the White Sox at South Side Park in Chicago. ^[6]
• October 10: The regular season ends with a doubleheader on the road against the Highlanders; Boston won the first game, 3–2, while New York won the second game, 1–0 in 10 innings. ^[4]

Statistical leaders

The offense was led by Buck Freeman, who hit 7 home runs and had 84 RBIs, and Freddy Parent with a .291 batting average. The pitching staff was led by Cy Young, who made 43 appearances (41 starts) and pitched 40 complete games with a 26–16 record and 1.97 ERA, while striking out 200 in 380 innings. The team had two other 20-game winners; Bill Dinneen (23–14) and Jesse Tannehill (21–11).

Season standings

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Americans	95	59	0.617	—	49–30	46–29
New York Highlanders	92	59	0.609	1½	46–29	46–30
Chicago White Sox	89	65	0.578	6	50–27	39–38
Cleveland Naps	86	65	0.570	7½	44–31	42–34
Philadelphia Athletics	81	70	0.536	12½	47–31	34–39
St. Louis Browns	65	87	0.428	29	32–43	33–44
Detroit Tigers	62	90	0.408	32	34–40	28–50
Washington Senators	38	113	0.252	55½	23–52	15–61

The team had three games end in a tie; September 13 at Philadelphia, September 14 vs. New York, and September 15 vs. New York. ^[4] Both ties against New York were the second games of doubleheaders. Tie games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tie games are counted. ^[7]

Record vs. opponents

1904 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYH	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	13–9	9–13	16–6	12–10–2	13–9–1	12–10	20–2
Chicago	9–13	—	14–8	14–8–1	12–10–1	8–14	14–8	18–4
Cleveland	13–9	8–14	—	14–8–2	9–11–1	11–10	13–9	18–4
Detroit	6–16	8–14–1	8–14–2	—	7–15	10–12–1	11–11–2	12–8–4
New York	10–12–2	10–12–1	11–9–1	15–7	—	12–9	16–6	18–4
Philadelphia	9–13–1	14–8	10–11	12–10–1	9–12	—	11–10–1	16–6–1
St. Louis	10–12	8–14	9–13	11–11–2	6–16	10–11–1	—	11–10–1
Washington	2–20	4–18	4–18	8–12–4	4–18	6–16–1	10–11–1	—

Opening Day lineup

Patsy Dougherty	LF
Jimmy Collins	3B
Chick Stahl	CF
Buck Freeman	RF
Freddy Parent	SS
Candy LaChance	1B
Hobe Ferris	2B
Lou Criger	C
Cy Young	P

Source: ^{[8] [9]}

Roster

1904 Boston Americans
Roster
Pitchers Bill Dinneen Norwood Gibson Jesse Tannehill George Winter Cy Young		Catchers Lou Criger Tom Doran Duke Farrell Infielders Jimmy Collins Hobe Ferris Candy LaChance Freddy Parent Bob Unglaub		Outfielders Patsy Dougherty Buck Freeman Bill O'Neill Kip Selbach Chick Stahl		Manager Jimmy Collins

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Lou Criger	98	299	63	.211	2	34
1B	Candy LaChance	157	573	130	.227	1	47
2B	Hobe Ferris	156	563	120	.213	3	63
SS	Freddy Parent	155	591	172	.291	6	77
3B	Jimmy Collins	156	631	171	.271	3	67
OF	Buck Freeman	157	597	167	.280	7	84
OF	Kip Selbach	98	376	97	.258	0	30
OF	Chick Stahl	157	587	170	.290	3	67

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Duke Farrell	68	198	42	.212	0	15
Patsy Dougherty	49	195	53	.272	0	4
Bill O'Neill	17	51	10	.196	0	5
Tom Doran	12	32	4	.125	0	0
Bob Unglaub	9	13	2	.154	0	2

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Cy Young	43	380	26	16	1.97	200
Bill Dinneen	37	335+2⁄3	23	14	2.20	153
Jesse Tannehill	33	281+2⁄3	21	11	2.04	116
Norwood Gibson	33	273	17	14	2.21	112
George Winter	20	135+2⁄3	8	4	2.32	31

References

1. "Baseball Notes". The Pittsburgh Press . December 7, 1903. p. 11. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
2. Nowlin, Bill; Prime, Jim (2005). Blood Feud: The Red Sox, The Yankees and the Struggle of Good vs. Evil. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Rounder Books. p. 218. ISBN   1-57940-111-2.
3. "Light Work". The Boston Globe . March 8, 1904. p. 8. Retrieved November 11, 2018– via newspapers.com.
4. "The 1904 Boston Americans Regular Season Game Log". Retrosheet . Retrieved November 2, 2018.
5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.144, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
6. "Tannehill Makes Record". St. Paul Globe. August 18, 1904. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
7. Hershberger, Richard (December 28, 2015). "Tie Games in Baseball". ordinary-times.com. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
8. O'Connell, Fred P. (April 15, 1904). "15,000 See New Yorks Defeat Collins' Boys". The Boston Post . p. 4. Retrieved November 14, 2018– via newspapers.com.
9. O'Connell, Fred P. (April 15, 1904). "Box Score". The Boston Post . p. 4. Retrieved November 14, 2018– via newspapers.com.

External links

• 1904 Boston Americans team page at Baseball Reference
• 1904 Boston Americans season at baseball-almanac.com