1901 Cleveland Bluebirds season

1901 Cleveland Bluebirds
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Charles Somers
Manager(s) Jimmy McAleer
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The 1901 Cleveland Bluebirds season was a season in American baseball. It was the franchise's first in the majors, being one of the original franchises of the American League. Unofficially known as the Blues, the team finished seventh out of eight teams.

Before the 1901 season

1899: Major League Baseball leaves Cleveland

Ban Johnson, founder of the American League

The Cleveland Spiders were dissolved after winning only 20 games and losing 134 in the 1899 season along with the Louisville Colonels, Baltimore Orioles, and the Washington Senators, leaving the National League with eight teams to begin the 1900 season. As a result, 1900 marked the first year since 1886 during which the city of Cleveland did not have a team affiliated with Major League Baseball.

1900: A new franchise

Ban Johnson, president of the Western League, changed the league's name to the American League in 1900, bringing aboard a new team in Cleveland, then known as the Cleveland Lake Shores, along with new Baltimore and Washington franchises, which would be created with or without the approval of the National League.[1] During this time, Cleveland had a minor league baseball team, known as the Bluebirds or Blues due to their all-blue uniforms, which finished their season with a 63–73 record and finished sixth.[1]

1901: Major league once more

The American League became a major league before the 1901 season. As the American League made the jump to major league status, many players jumped ship, including Cy Young and Nap Lajoie, which led the National League to call them an "outlaw league" in November 1900.[1] As the 1901 season came underway in April, and as the war between the two leagues erupted, the Cleveland franchise, now known as the Blues, began its first official season as a Major League Baseball team.

Regular season

Season summary

April

Bill Hallman, a second baseman, played five games at shortstop for the Blues in 1901

The Cleveland Blues played their first game of the season against the Chicago White Stockings on April 24, 1901. This was the first games in the history of the American League; three other games scheduled that day were rained out.[2] The starting lineup consisted of: Ollie Pickering (RF), Jack McCarthy (LF), Frank Genins (CF), Candy LaChance (1B), Bill Bradley (3B), Erve Beck (2B), Bill Hallman (SS), Bob Wood (C), and Bill Hoffer (P). Hoffer allowed seven runs in the first two innings and the Blues failed to recover,[2] as they lost the game 8–2, earning the first loss in American League history.[3] In the second game of the season, Beck hit the first home run in American League history off pitcher John Skopec, but the Blues lost again, 7–3.[2]

May

Blues' starting third baseman Bill Bradley

On May 9, 1901, Earl Moore threw the first no-hitter in the history of the franchise and the American League.[4] The Blues lost to Chicago by a score of 4–2 despite allowing no hits.

On May 23, Cleveland scored nine runs with the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Washington 14–13.

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Stockings 83 53 0.610 — 49–21 34–32
Boston Americans 79 57 0.581 4 49–20 30–37
Detroit Tigers 74 61 0.548 8½ 42–27 32–34
Philadelphia Athletics 74 62 0.544 9 42–24 32–38
Baltimore Orioles 68 65 0.511 13½ 40–25 28–40
Washington Senators 61 72 0.459 20½ 31–35 30–37
Cleveland Bluebirds 54 82 0.397 29 28–39 26–43
Milwaukee Brewers 48 89 0.350 35½ 32–37 16–52

Roster

1901 Cleveland Blues
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Key

Statistic† Indicates sole team leader in this category among batters (player must qualify by MLB rules to lead a category)
Statistic§ Indicates sole team leader in this category among pitchers (player must qualify by MLB rules to lead a category)
* Indicates that two or more players tied for the lead in the category

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg. HR RBI SB
C Wood, BobBob Wood 98 346 45 101 23 3 .292 1 49 6
1B LaChance, CandyCandy LaChance 133 548† 81 166 22 9 .303 1 75 11
2B Beck, ErveErve Beck 135 539 78 156 26 8 .289 6† 79† 7
3B Bradley, BillBill Bradley 133 516 95 151 28† 13† .293 1 55 15
SS Scheibeck, FrankFrank Scheibeck 93 329 33 70 11 3 .213 0 38 3
LF McCarthy, JackJack McCarthy 86 343 60 110 14 7 .321† 0 32 9
CF Pickering, OllieOllie Pickering 137† 547 102† 169† 25 6 .309 0 40 36†
RF O'Brien, JackJack O'Brien 92 375 54 106 14 5 .286 0 39 13

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg. HR RBI SB
Harvey, ZazaZaza Harvey 45 170 21 60 5 5 .353 1 24 15
Yeager, GeorgeGeorge Yeager 39 139 13 31 5 0 .223 0 14 2
Connor, JoeJoe Connor 37 121 13 17 3 1 .140 0 6 2
Genins, FrankFrank Genins 26 101 15 23 5 0 .228 0 9 3
Shay, DannyDanny Shay 19 75 4 17 2 2 .227 0 10 0
Donovan, TomTom Donovan 18 71 9 18 3 1 .254 0 5 1
McGuire, JimJim McGuire 18 69 4 16 2 0 .232 0 3 0
Hallman, BillBill Hallman 5 19 2 4 0 0 .211 0 3 0
Eagan, TruckTruck Eagan 5 18 2 3 0 1 .167 0 2 0
McAleer, JimmyJimmy McAleer 3 7 0 1 0 0 .143 0 0 0
Cross, FrankFrank Cross 1 5 0 3 0 0 .600 0 0 0
Cermak, EdEd Cermak 1 4 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Gallagher, ShortyShorty Gallagher 2 4 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Hall, RussRuss Hall 1 4 2 2 0 0 .500 0 0 0
Hogan, HarryHarry Hogan 1 4 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Livingston, PaddyPaddy Livingston 1 2 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks SO = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L ERA R ER BB K
Dowling, PetePete Dowling 33§ 30* 256.1§ 11 22 3.86 160§ 110§ 104 99*
Moore, EarlEarl Moore 31 30* 251.1 16§ 14 2.90 129 81 107§ 99*
Hart, BillBill Hart 20 19 157.2 7 11 3.77 109 66 57 48
Scott, EdEd Scott 17 16 124.2 6 6 4.40 82 61 38 23
Bracken, JackJack Bracken 12 12 100 4 8 6.21 94 69 31 18
McNeal, HarryHarry McNeal 12 10 85.1 5 5 4.43 68 42 30 15
Cristall, BillBill Cristall 6 6 48.1 1 5 4.84 42 26 30 12
Braggins, DickDick Braggins 4 3 32 1 2 4.78 28 17 15 1
Baker, BockBock Baker 1 1 8 0 1 5.63 13 5 6 0

Other pitchers

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks SO = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L SV ERA R ER BB K
Hoffer, BillBill Hoffer 16 10 99 3 8 3§ 4.55 78 50 35 19
Weyhing, GusGus Weyhing 2 1 11.1 0 0 0 7.94 11 10 5 0

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned Run Average; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA R ER BB K
Donovan, TomTom Donovan 1 7 0 0 0 5.14 11 4 3 0
Bradley, BillBill Bradley 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 3 0 0 0
McAleer, JimmyJimmy McAleer 1 0.1 0 0 0 0.00 3 0 3 0

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Ollie Pickering

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Schneider, 11
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Snyder, 28
  3. ↑ "Chicago, 8; Cleveland, 2". The New York Times. April 25, 1901. p. 10.
  4. ↑ Nemec, David; Scott Flatow (2008). Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures (2008 ed.). Signet Books. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0.

References