| 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Series champions National League champions | ||||
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| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | Exposition Park (since 1891) Forbes Field | |||
| City | Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania[a] | |||
| Owners | Barney Dreyfuss | |||
| Managers | Fred Clarke | |||
| ||||
The1909 Pittsburgh[b] Pirates season was the 28th season for thePittsburgh Pirates franchise, during which they won theNational Leaguepennant with a record of 110–42 and their firstWorld Series over theDetroit Tigers. Led by shortstopHonus Wagner and outfielder-managerFred Clarke, the Pirates scored the most runs in the majors. Wagner led the league inbatting average,on-base percentage,slugging percentage, andruns batted in. Pirates ownerBarney Dreyfuss opened the Pirates' new ballpark, namedForbes 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 theCincinnati 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.
| 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 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BSN | BRO | 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 | — | |||||
| 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders Other batters | Manager | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |

In the World Series, Pittsburgh faced theAmerican League championDetroit Tigers, led by triple crown winnerTy Cobb. The matchup was largely billed as one between the major leagues' two superstars. Wagner thoroughly outplayed Cobb, and rookieBabe Adams won all three of his starts, as the Pirates won in seven games.
October 8, 1909, atForbes Field inPittsburgh, 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) | ||||||||||||
October 9, 1909, atForbes Field inPittsburgh, 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) | ||||||||||||
October 11, 1909, atBennett Park inDetroit,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) | ||||||||||||
October 12, 1909, atBennett Park inDetroit,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) | ||||||||||||
October 13, 1909, atForbes Field inPittsburgh, 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:DET –Davy Jones (1),Sam Crawford (1) PIT –Fred Clarke (2) | ||||||||||||
October 14, 1909, atBennett Park inDetroit,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) | ||||||||||||
October 16, 1909, atBennett Park inDetroit,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) | ||||||||||||