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1909 Pittsburgh Pirates season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1909 Pittsburgh Pirates
World Series Champions
National League Champions
LeagueNational League
BallparkExposition Park (since 1891)
Forbes Field
CityPittsburgh, Pennsylvania[a]
OwnersBarney Dreyfuss
ManagersFred Clarke
← 1908 Seasons 1910 →

The 1909 Pittsburgh[b] Pirates season was the 28th season for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, during which they won the National League pennant with a record of 110–42 and their first World Series over the Detroit Tigers. Led by shortstop Honus Wagner and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke, the Pirates scored the most runs in the majors. Wagner led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and runs batted in. Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss opened the Pirates' new ballpark, named Forbes Field, on June 30, 1909.[1]

The Pirates' 110 wins remain a team record, a record they set in the last game of the season by beating the Cincinnati Reds 7–4 in muddy conditions on October 5. It is in fact the best regular season win percentage by any World Series winning team.

Regular season

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Season standings

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Pittsburgh Pirates 110 42 .724 56‍–‍21 54‍–‍21
Chicago Cubs 104 49 .680 47‍–‍29 57‍–‍20
New York Giants 92 61 .601 18½ 44‍–‍33 48‍–‍28
Cincinnati Reds 77 76 .503 33½ 39‍–‍38 38‍–‍38
Philadelphia Phillies 74 79 .484 36½ 40‍–‍37 34‍–‍42
Brooklyn Superbas 55 98 .359 55½ 34‍–‍45 21‍–‍53
St. Louis Cardinals 54 98 .355 56 26‍–‍48 28‍–‍50
Boston Doves 45 108 .294 65½ 27‍–‍47 18‍–‍61

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston 11–11 1–21 5–17 8–14–2 10–12 1–20 9–13
Brooklyn 11–11 5–16 5–17–1 7–15 11–11 4–18 12–10–1
Chicago 21–1 16–5 16–6 11–11–1 16–6 9–13 15–7–1
Cincinnati 17–5 17–5–1 6–16 9–13–1 9–12–1 7–15–1 12–10
New York 14–8–2 15–7 11–11–1 13–9–1 12–10 11–11–1 16–5
Philadelphia 12–10 11–11 6–16 12–9–1 10–12 7–15 16–6
Pittsburgh 20–1 18–4 13–9 15–7–1 11–11–1 15–7 18–3
St. Louis 13–9 10–12–1 7–15–1 10–12 5–16 6–16 3–18


Notable transactions

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Roster

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1909 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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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 George Gibson 150 510 135 .265 2 52
1B Bill Abstein 137 512 133 .260 1 70
2B Dots Miller 151 560 156 .279 3 87
3B Jap Barbeau 91 350 77 .220 0 25
SS Honus Wagner 137 495 168 .339 5 100
OF Tommy Leach 151 587 153 .261 6 43
OF Fred Clarke 152 550 158 .287 3 68
OF Chief Wilson 154 569 155 .272 4 59

Other batters

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Note: 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
3B Bobby Byrne 46 168 43 .256 0 7
1B, 3B Alan Storke 37 118 30 .254 0 12
2B, SS Ed Abbaticchio 36 87 20 .230 1 16
1B Ham Hyatt 49 67 20 .299 0 7
OF Ward Miller 15 56 8 .143 0 4
C Mike Simon 12 18 3 .167 0 2
C Paddy O'Connor 9 16 5 .313 0 3
PR Blaine Durbin 1 0 0 ---- 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Vic Willis 39 289.2 22 11 2.24 95
Howie Camnitz 41 283.0 25 6 1.62 133
Nick Maddox 31 203.1 13 8 2.21 56
Lefty Leifield 32 201.2 19 8 2.37 43

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Deacon Phillippe 22 131.2 8 3 2.32 38
Babe Adams 25 130.0 12 3 1.11 65
Sam Leever 19 70.0 8 1 2.83 23
Chick Brandom 13 40.2 1 0 1.11 21
Sam Frock 8 36.1 2 1 2.48 11
Bill Powell 3 7.1 0 1 3.68 2

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Harry Camnitz 1 0 0 0 4.50 1
Charlie Wacker 1 0 0 0 0.00 0
Gene Moore 1 0 0 0 18.00 2

Awards and honors

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League top five finishers

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Howie Camnitz

  • #2 in NL in wins (25)
  • #4 in NL in ERA (1.62)

Fred Clarke

  • #2 in NL in runs scored (97)
  • #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.384)

Tommy Leach

  • MLB leader in runs scored (126)

Dots Miller

  • #3 in NL in RBI (87)

Honus Wagner

  • NL leader in batting average (.339)
  • NL leader in RBI (100)
  • NL leader in on-base percentage (.420)
  • NL leader in slugging percentage (.489)
  • #3 in NL in runs scored (92)

Vic Willis

  • #4 in NL in wins (22)

1909 World Series

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The 1909 Pirates in a poster celebrating their National League pennant. Frank Chance of the Chicago Cubs and John McGraw of the New York Giants, two teams the Pirates beat for the pennant, are being made to walk the plank.

In the World Series, Pittsburgh faced the American League champion Detroit Tigers, led by triple crown winner Ty Cobb. The matchup was largely billed as one between the major leagues' two superstars. Wagner thoroughly outplayed Cobb, and rookie Babe Adams won all three of his starts, as the Pirates won in seven games.

Game 1

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October 8, 1909, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit (AL) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 4
Pittsburgh (NL) 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 X 4 5 0
W: Babe Adams (1–0)  L: George Mullin (0–1)
HR: PIT – Fred Clarke (1)

Game 2

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October 9, 1909, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit (AL) 0 2 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 9 2
Pittsburgh (NL) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 1
W: Bill Donovan (1–0)  L: Howie Camnitz (0–1)

Game 3

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October 11, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh (NL) 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 10 2
Detroit (AL) 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 6 11 5
W: Nick Maddox (1–0)  L: Ed Summers (0–1)

Game 4

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October 12, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh (NL) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 6
Detroit (AL) 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 X 5 8 0
W: George Mullin (1–1)  L: Lefty Leifield (0–1)

Game 5

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October 13, 1909, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit (AL) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 4 6 1
Pittsburgh (NL) 1 1 1 0 0 0 4 1 X 8 10 2
W: Babe Adams (2–0)  L: Ed Summers (0–2)
HR: DETDavy Jones (1), Sam Crawford (1)  PITFred Clarke (2)

Game 6

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October 14, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh (NL) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 8 1
Detroit (AL) 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 X 5 10 2
W: George Mullin (2–1)  L: Vic Willis (0–1)

Game 7

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October 16, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh (NL) 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 8 7 0
Detroit (AL) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3
W: Babe Adams (3–0)  L: Bill Donovan (1–1)

Notes

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  1. ^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
  2. ^ In the early 20th century and earlier, the name of Pittsburgh was spelled both with and without the final 'h'.

References

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  1. ^ Crazy '08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 105, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
  2. ^ Ward Miller page at Baseball Reference
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