| 1909 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 154 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Pennant winners | |
| NL champions | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| NL runners-up | Chicago Cubs |
| AL champions | Detroit Tigers |
| AL runners-up | Philadelphia Athletics |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Runners-up | Detroit Tigers |
| MLB seasons | |
The1909 major league baseball season began on April 12, 1909. The regular season ended on October 7, with thePittsburgh Pirates andDetroit Tigers as regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of thesixth 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. Going into the season, the defendingWorld Series champions were theChicago Cubs from the1908 season.
In the National League, theChicago Cubs had a record of 104–49 but finished6+1⁄2games 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 the1942 Brooklyn Dodgers, who had a record of 104–50.[1]
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 the1904 season. This format would last until1919.
Opening Day took place on April 14 with all but thePittsburgh Pirates andSt. 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. TheWorld Series took place between October 8 and October 16.
The 1909 season saw the following rule changes:
An asterisk (*) denotes the departure from a ballpark mid-season.
| 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 |
| 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 |
The postseason began on October 8 and ended on October 16 with thePittsburgh Pirates defeating theDetroit Tigers in the1909 World Series in seven games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Detroit Tigers | 3 | ||
| NL | Pittsburgh Pirates | 4 | ||
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Doves | Harry Smith | Frank Bowerman |
| Cleveland Naps | Nap Lajoie | Deacon McGuire |
| 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 LeagueTriple Crown batting winner
| 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 (BOS) | 6 |
| WHIP | Ed Walsh (CWS) | 0.938 |
| 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 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Mordecai Brown (CHC) | 27 |
| L | Cecil Ferguson (BSN) | 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 |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants[9] | 92 | -6.1% | 783,700 | -13.9% | 10,178 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[10] | 95 | 39.7% | 674,915 | 48.3% | 8,880 |
| Boston Red Sox[11] | 88 | 17.3% | 668,965 | 41.4% | 8,920 |
| Chicago Cubs[12] | 104 | 5.1% | 633,480 | -4.8% | 8,227 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[13] | 110 | 12.2% | 534,950 | 39.9% | 6,772 |
| New York Highlanders[14] | 74 | 45.1% | 501,000 | 64.0% | 6,506 |
| Detroit Tigers[15] | 98 | 8.9% | 490,490 | 12.4% | 6,288 |
| Chicago White Sox[16] | 78 | -11.4% | 478,400 | -24.8% | 5,906 |
| Cincinnati Reds[17] | 77 | 5.5% | 424,643 | 6.4% | 5,308 |
| St. Louis Browns[18] | 61 | -26.5% | 366,274 | -40.8% | 4,636 |
| Cleveland Naps[19] | 71 | -21.1% | 354,627 | -16.0% | 4,606 |
| Brooklyn Superbas[20] | 55 | 3.8% | 321,300 | 16.6% | 4,067 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[21] | 74 | -10.8% | 303,177 | -27.9% | 3,937 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[22] | 54 | 10.2% | 299,982 | 46.2% | 3,947 |
| Washington Senators[23] | 42 | -37.3% | 205,199 | -22.3% | 2,665 |
| Boston Doves[24] | 45 | -28.6% | 195,188 | -23.1% | 2,568 |
