1903 Pittsburg Pirates season

1903 Pittsburgh Pirates
1903 National League Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Barney Dreyfuss
Manager(s) Fred Clarke
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The 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 22nd year the Pittsburgh Pirates[1] played in Major League Baseball. The club finish their season as National League champions, beating the second-place New York Giants by 6½ games. They went on to participate in the 1903 World Series, the first to be played between the champions of the National League and American League. The Pirates started off well, winning 3 of the first four games, but the Boston Americans won the last four straight to win the series five games to three. The Pirates set a record of 52 consecutive innings without scoring a run, a record that still stands today.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Pittsburg Pirates 91 49 0.650 — 46–24 45–25
New York Giants 84 55 0.604 6½ 41–27 43–28
Chicago Cubs 82 56 0.594 8 45–28 37–28
Cincinnati Reds 74 65 0.532 16½ 41–35 33–30
Brooklyn Superbas 70 66 0.515 19 40–33 30–33
Boston Beaneaters 58 80 0.420 32 31–35 27–45
Philadelphia Phillies 49 86 0.363 39½ 25–33 24–53
St. Louis Cardinals 43 94 0.314 46½ 22–45 21–49

Record vs. opponents

1903 National League Records

Sources:

Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston — 9–11 7–13–1 7–13 8–12 10–8–1 5–15 12–8
Brooklyn 11–9 — 8–12 10–10 7–12–2 11–8–1 9–11 14–4–1
Chicago 13–7–1 12–8 — 9–11 8–12 12–6 12–8 16–4
Cincinnati 13–7 10–10 11–9 — 12–10 12–8–2 4–16 12–7
New York 12–8 12–7–2 12–8 8–12 — 15–5 10–10 15–5–1
Philadelphia 8–10–1 8–11–1 6–12 8–12–2 5–15 — 4–16–1 10–10
Pittsburg 15–5 11–9 8–12 16–4 10–10 16–4–1 — 15–5
St. Louis 8–12 4–14–1 4–16 7–12 5–15–1 10–10 5–15 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1903 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

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

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Sebring, JimmyJimmy Sebring 124 506 140 .277 4 64

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
Smith, HarryHarry Smith 61 212 37 .175 0 19
Merritt, GeorgeGeorge Merritt 9 27 4 .148 0 3
Grey, ReddyReddy Grey 1 3 1 .333 0 1

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
Phillippe, DeaconDeacon Phillippe 36 289.1 25 9 2.43 123
Leever, SamSam Leever 36 284.1 25 7 2.06 90
Doheny, EdEd Doheny 27 222.2 16 8 3.19 75
Kennedy, BrickyardBrickyard Kennedy 18 125.1 9 6 3.45 39
Pfiester, JackJack Pfiester 3 19 0 3 6.16 15
Moren, LewLew Moren 1 6 0 1 9.00 2

Other 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
Falkenberg, CyCy Falkenberg 10 56 1 5 3.86 24

Relief pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Merritt, GeorgeGeorge Merritt 1 0 0 0 2.25 2

1903 World Series

Main article: 1903 World Series

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Boston Americans

Game 1

October 1, 1903 at Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, Massachusetts

The Pirates started Game 1 strong, scoring six runs in the first four innings. They extended their lead to 7–0 on a solo home run by Jimmy Sebring in the 7th, the first home run in World Series history. Boston tried to mount a comeback in the last three innings, but it was too little, too late, as they ended up losing by a score of 7–3 in the first ever World Series game. Both starting pitchers, Deacon Phillippe of the Pirates and Cy Young of Boston, threw complete games, with Phillippe striking out 10 and Young fanning 5, but Young also gave up twice as many hits and allowed 3 earned runs to Phillippe's 2.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh 401 100 100 7122
Boston 000 000 201 364
W: Deacon Phillippe (1–0)   L: Cy Young (0–1)  
HR: PIT – Jimmy Sebring (1)

Game 2

October 2, 1903 at Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, Massachusetts

After starting out strong in Game 1, the Pirates simply shut down offensively, managing to get a meager 3 hits, all of which were singles. Pirates starter Sam Leever went only one inning and gave up 3 hits and 2 runs before being replaced by Bucky Veil in the second inning due to injury, who finished the game for Pittsburgh. Bill Dinneen struck out 11 and pitched a complete game for the Americans, while Patsy Dougherty hit home runs in the first and sixth innings to produce 2 of the Boston's 3 runs.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh 000 000 000 032
Boston 200 001 00X 380
W: Bill Dinneen (1–0)   L: Sam Leever (0–1)  
HR: BOS – Patsy Dougherty 2 (2)

Game 3

A crowd overflows the playing field prior to Game 3 of the 1903 World Series

October 3, 1903 at Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, Massachusetts

Deacon Phillippe, pitching on only one day rest, started Game 3 for the Pirates, and did not let them down as he pitched his second complete game victory of the series to put the Pirates up two games to one.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh 012 000 010 470
Boston 000 100 010 242
W: Deacon Phillippe (2–0)   L: Tom Hughes (0–1)  

Game 4

October 6, 1903 at Exposition Park in Allegheny, Pennsylvania

After two days of rest, Deacon Phillippe was ready to pitch his second straight game. He threw his third complete game victory of the series against Bill Dinneen, who was pitching in his second start of the series. However, Phillippe's second straight victory was almost not to be, as the Americans, down 5–1 in the top of the ninth, staged a rally to bring the game within one. The comeback attempt failed, though, as Phillippe managed to put an end to it and give the Pirates a commanding 3–1 series lead.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 000 010 003 491
Pittsburgh 100 010 30X 5121
W: Deacon Phillippe (3–0)   L: Bill Dinneen (1–1)  

Game 5

October 7, 1903 at Exposition Park in Allegheny, Pennsylvania

Game 5 was a pitcher's duel for the first five innings, with Boston's Cy Young and Pittsburgh's Brickyard Kennedy giving up no runs. That changed at the top of the sixth, however, when the Americans scored a then-record 6 runs that inning. Young, on the other hand, managed to keep his shutout intact before finally giving up a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. He went the distance and struck out four for his first World Series win.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 000 006 410 11132
Pittsburgh 000 000 020 264
W: Cy Young (1–1)   L: Brickyard Kennedy (0–1)  

Game 6

October 8, 1903 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game 6 featured a rematch between the starters of Game 2, Bill Dinneen (Boston) and Sam Leever (Pittsburgh). This time, Leever would pitch the entire game, but despite throwing a complete game he was outmatched by Dinneen, who ended up with his second complete game victory of the series. After losing three of the first four games of the World Series, the underdog Boston Americans had tied the series at three games apiece.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 003 020 100 6101
Pittsburg 000 000 300 3103
W: Bill Dinneen (2–1)  L: Sam Leever (0–2)

Game 7

October 10, 1903 at Exposition Park in Allegheny, Pennsylvania

The fourth and final game in Allegheny City saw Deacon Phillippe start his fourth game of the series for Pittsburgh. This time, however, he wouldn't fare as well as he did in his first three starts. Cy Young, pitching in his third start of the series, would face a much more favorable fate, holding the Pirates to only three runs.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 200 202 010 7114
Pittsburgh 000 101 001 3103
WP: Cy Young (2–1)  LP: Deacon Phillippe (3–1)

Game 8

October 13, 1903 at Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, Massachusetts

The final game of the inaugural World Series started out as an intense pitcher's duel, with no runs being scored until the fourth inning – when a Hobe Ferris single scored two runners. Deacon Phillippe started his fifth and final game of the series, while Bill Dinneen started his fourth game of the series. As he did in Game 2, Dinneen threw a complete game shutout while striking out seven, leading the Boston Americans to victory, while Phillippe, who also threw a respectable game, just couldn't pitch at Dinneen's level due to wearing out his arm in the series (as a result of playing so many games in such a short time span) and gave up three runs in the defeat. Honus Wagner struck out to end the Series.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh 000 000 000 043
Boston 000 201 00X 380
W: Bill Dinneen (3–1)  L: Deacon Phillippe (3–2)

Notes

  1. ↑ In 1891 the United States Board on Geographic Names forced the city of Pittsburgh to undergo a controversial name change by having them drop the "h" at the end of the name, making the team's official name the "Pittsburgh Pirates" from the adoption of the Pirates nickname until Pittsburgh was able to get the "h" restored to its name in 1911.
  2. ↑ Jack O'Connor page at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Reddy Grey page at Baseball Reference

References

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