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1909 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1909 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1909 in baseball.
1909 MLB season
LeagueAmerican League (AL)
National League (NL)
SportBaseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 12 – October 3, 1909 (AL)
  • April 12 – October 7, 1909 (NL)
World Series:
  • October 8–16, 1909
Number of games154
Number of teams16 (8 per league)
Pennant winners
NL championsPittsburgh Pirates
  NL runners-upChicago Cubs
AL championsDetroit Tigers
  AL runners-upPhiladelphia Athletics
World Series
ChampionsPittsburgh Pirates
  Runners-upDetroit Tigers
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1909 American League season
American League
Locations of teams for the 1909–1910 National League seasons
National League

The 1909 major league baseball season began on April 12, 1909. The regular season ended on October 7, with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers as regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the sixth modern World Series on October 8 and ended with Game 7 on October 16. The Pirates defeated the Tigers, four games to three, capturing their first championship in franchise history.

In the National League, the Chicago Cubs had a record of 104–49 but finished 6+1⁄2 games behind the Pirates, setting a record for the most wins in an MLB regular season without reaching the postseason, which has only been equaled once, by the 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers, who had a record of 104–50.[1]

Schedule

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See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1909 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place for the 1904 season. This format would last until 1919.

Opening Day took place on April 14 with all but the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals playing. The American League would see its final day of the regular season on October 3, while the National League would see its final day of the regular season was on October 7. The World Series took place between October 8 and October 16.

Rule changes

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The 1909 season saw the creation of a rule that a pitcher must face a minimum of one batter, due to a time-wasting trick to enable a team's intended pitcher to warmup for longer. This had previously occurred when one pitcher initially threw warmup pitches on the mound, before being taken out of the game (before facing a batter) to make way for a relief pitcher who now had extra warmup time.[2]

Teams

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An asterisk (*) denotes the departure from a ballpark mid-season.

League Team City Stadium Capacity Manager
American League Boston Red Sox Boston, Massachusetts Huntington Avenue Grounds 11,500 Fred Lake
Chicago White Sox Chicago, Illinois South Side Park 15,000 Billy Sullivan
Cleveland Naps Cleveland, Ohio League Park (Cleveland) 9,000 Nap Lajoie,
Deacon McGuire
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Bennett Park 8,500 Hughie Jennings
New York Highlanders New York, New York Hilltop Park 16,000 George Stallings
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 23,000 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 18,000 Jimmy McAleer
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. National Park 9,000 Joe Cantillon
National League Boston Doves Boston, Massachusetts South End Grounds 9,800 Harry Smith,
Frank Bowerman
Brooklyn Superbas New York, New York Washington Park (baseball) 14,000 Harry Lumley
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois West Side Park 16,000 Frank Chance
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Palace of the Fans 12,000 Clark Griffith
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 16,000 John McGraw
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania National League Park 18,000 Billy Murray
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forbes Field
Exposition Park* 		23,000
16,000* 		Fred Clarke
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri League Park (St. Louis) 21,000 Roger Bresnahan

Standings

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American League

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Detroit Tigers 98 54 .645 — 57‍–‍19 41‍–‍35
Philadelphia Athletics 95 58 .621 3½ 49‍–‍27 46‍–‍31
Boston Red Sox 88 63 .583 9½ 47‍–‍28 41‍–‍35
Chicago White Sox 78 74 .513 20 42‍–‍34 36‍–‍40
New York Highlanders 74 77 .490 23½ 41‍–‍35 33‍–‍42
Cleveland Naps 71 82 .464 27½ 39‍–‍37 32‍–‍45
St. Louis Browns 61 89 .407 36 40‍–‍37 21‍–‍52
Washington Senators 42 110 .276 56 27‍–‍48 15‍–‍62

National League

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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 6½ 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

Postseason

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Bracket

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World Series
         
AL Detroit Tigers 1 7 6 5 4 5 0
NL Pittsburgh Pirates 4 2 8 0 8 4 8

Managerial changes

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Off-season

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Team Former Manager New Manager
Boston Doves Joe Kelley Harry Smith
Brooklyn Superbas Patsy Donovan Harry Lumley
Chicago White Sox Fielder Jones Billy Sullivan
Cincinnati Reds John Ganzel Clark Griffith
New York Highlanders Kid Elberfeld George Stallings
St. Louis Cardinals John McCloskey Roger Bresnahan

In-season

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Team Former Manager New Manager
Boston Doves Harry Smith Frank Bowerman
Cleveland Naps Nap Lajoie Deacon McGuire

League leaders

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American League

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Hitting leaders
Stat Player Total
AVG Ty Cobb1 (DET) .377
OPS Ty Cobb (DET) .947
HR Ty Cobb1 (DET) 9
RBI Ty Cobb1 (DET) 107
R Donie Bush (DET)
Ty Cobb (DET) 		115
H Ty Cobb (DET) 216
SB Ty Cobb (DET) 76

1 American League Triple Crown batting winner

Pitching leaders
Stat Player Total
W George Mullin (DET) 29
L Bob Groom (WSH) 26
ERA Harry Krause (PHA) 1.39
K Frank Smith (CWS) 177
IP Frank Smith (CWS) 365.0
SV Frank Arellanes (BRS) 6
WHIP Ed Walsh (CWS) 0.938

National League

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Hitting leaders
Stat Player Total
AVG Honus Wagner (PIT) .339
OPS Honus Wagner (PIT) .909
HR Red Murray (NYG) 7
RBI Honus Wagner (PIT) 100
R Tommy Leach (PIT) 126
H Larry Doyle (NYG) 172
SB Bob Bescher (CIN) 54
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Total
W Mordecai Brown (CHC) 27
L Cecil Ferguson (BSD) 23
ERA Christy Mathewson (NYG) 1.14
K Orval Overall (CHC) 205
IP Mordecai Brown (CHC) 342.2
SV Mordecai Brown (CHC) 7
WHIP Christy Mathewson (NYG) 0.828

Home field attendance

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Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
New York Giants[3] 92 -6.1% 783,700 -13.9% 10,178
Philadelphia Athletics[4] 95 39.7% 674,915 48.3% 8,880
Boston Red Sox[5] 88 17.3% 668,965 41.4% 8,920
Chicago Cubs[6] 104 5.1% 633,480 -4.8% 8,227
Pittsburgh Pirates[7] 110 12.2% 534,950 39.9% 6,772
New York Highlanders[8] 74 45.1% 501,000 64.0% 6,506
Detroit Tigers[9] 98 8.9% 490,490 12.4% 6,288
Chicago White Sox[10] 78 -11.4% 478,400 -24.8% 5,906
Cincinnati Reds[11] 77 5.5% 424,643 6.4% 5,308
St. Louis Browns[12] 61 -26.5% 366,274 -40.8% 4,636
Cleveland Naps[13] 71 -21.1% 354,627 -16.0% 4,606
Brooklyn Superbas[14] 55 3.8% 321,300 16.6% 4,067
Philadelphia Phillies[15] 74 -10.8% 303,177 -27.9% 3,937
St. Louis Cardinals[16] 54 10.2% 299,982 46.2% 3,947
Washington Senators[17] 42 -37.3% 205,199 -22.3% 2,665
Boston Doves[18] 45 -28.6% 195,188 -23.1% 2,568

Events

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References

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  1. ^ Adler, David (September 30, 2019). "Best MLB teams to miss the postseason". MLB.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "A guide to rules changes in MLB (and sports) history". MLB.com. February 1, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  3. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  4. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  5. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  7. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  8. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  9. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  10. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  11. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  12. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  13. ^ "Cleveland Guardians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  14. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  18. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  19. ^ Pellowski, Michael J (2007). The Little Giant Book of Baseball Facts. United States: Sterling Publishing Co. pp. 352. ISBN 9781402742736.
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