| 1912 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 154 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Regular season | |
| SeasonMVP | AL:Tris Speaker (BOS) NL:Larry Doyle (NYG) |
| AL champions | Boston Red Sox |
| AL runners-up | Washington Senators |
| NL champions | New York Giants |
| NL runners-up | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Boston Red Sox |
| Runners-up | New York Giants |
| MLB seasons | |
The1912 major league baseball season began on April 11, 1912. The regular season ended on October 6, with theNew York Giants andBoston Red Sox as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of theninth modern World Series on October 8 and ended with Game 8 on October 16. The Red Sox defeated the Giants, four games to three (with one tie), capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in1903. Going into the season, the defendingWorld Series champions were thePhiladelphia Athletics from the1911 season.
This was the second of four seasons that the Chalmers Award, a precursor to theMajor League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (introduced in 1931), was given to a player in each league.
During the season,Harper's Weekly conducted a detailed accounting of the expenses of major league clubs, reaching a figure of approximately $175,000 to $200,000.[1]
The Boston Rustlers renamed as theBoston Braves.
The 1912 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, April 11, featured all sixteen teams, only the second time every team has started their season on the same day (first being two years prior with the1910 season). The final day of the regular season was on October 6. TheWorld Series took place between October 8 and October 16.
The 1912 season saw the following rule change:
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 105 | 47 | .691 | — | 57–20 | 48–27 |
| Washington Senators | 91 | 61 | .599 | 14 | 45–32 | 46–29 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 90 | 62 | .592 | 15 | 45–31 | 45–31 |
| Chicago White Sox | 78 | 76 | .506 | 28 | 34–43 | 44–33 |
| Cleveland Naps | 75 | 78 | .490 | 30½ | 41–35 | 34–43 |
| Detroit Tigers | 69 | 84 | .451 | 36½ | 37–39 | 32–45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 53 | 101 | .344 | 53 | 27–50 | 26–51 |
| New York Highlanders | 50 | 102 | .329 | 55 | 31–44 | 19–58 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 103 | 48 | .682 | — | 49–25 | 54–23 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 93 | 58 | .616 | 10 | 44–31 | 49–27 |
| Chicago Cubs | 91 | 59 | .607 | 11½ | 46–30 | 45–29 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 75 | 78 | .490 | 29 | 45–32 | 30–46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 73 | 79 | .480 | 30½ | 34–41 | 39–38 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 63 | 90 | .412 | 41 | 37–40 | 26–50 |
| Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers | 58 | 95 | .379 | 46 | 33–43 | 25–52 |
| Boston Braves | 52 | 101 | .340 | 52 | 31–47 | 21–54 |
The postseason began on October 8 and ended on October 16 with theBoston Red Sox defeating theNew York Giants in the1912 World Series in seven games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Boston Red Sox | 4 | ||
| NL | New York Giants | 3 | ||
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Naps | Harry Davis | Joe Birmingham |
| St. Louis Browns | Bobby Wallace | George Stovall |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Ty Cobb (DET) | .409 |
| OPS | Ty Cobb (DET) | 1.040 |
| HR | Home Run Baker (PHA) Tris Speaker (BOS) | 10 |
| RBI | Home Run Baker (PHA) | 130 |
| R | Eddie Collins (PHA) | 137 |
| H | Ty Cobb (DET) Joe Jackson (CLE) | 226 |
| SB | Clyde Milan (WSH) | 88 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Heinie Zimmerman1 (CHC) | .372 |
| OPS | Heinie Zimmerman (CHC) | .989 |
| HR | Heinie Zimmerman1 (CHC) | 14 |
| RBI | Heinie Zimmerman1 (CHC) | 104 |
| R | Bob Bescher (CIN) | 120 |
| H | Heinie Zimmerman (CHC) | 207 |
| SB | Bob Bescher (CIN) | 67 |
1 National LeagueTriple Crown batting winner
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Larry Cheney (CHC) Rube Marquard (NYG) | 26 |
| L | Lefty Tyler (BSN) | 22 |
| ERA | Jeff Tesreau (NYG) | 1.96 |
| K | Grover Alexander (PHI) | 195 |
| IP | Grover Alexander (PHI) | 310.1 |
| SV | Slim Sallee (STL) | 6 |
| WHIP | Hank Robinson (PIT) | 1.006 |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants[8] | 103 | 4.0% | 638,000 | −5.5% | 8,395 |
| Chicago White Sox[9] | 78 | 1.3% | 602,241 | 3.3% | 7,721 |
| Boston Red Sox[10] | 105 | 34.6% | 597,096 | 18.5% | 7,655 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[11] | 90 | −10.9% | 517,653 | −14.5% | 6,723 |
| Chicago Cubs[12] | 91 | −1.1% | 514,000 | −10.8% | 6,590 |
| Detroit Tigers[13] | 69 | −22.5% | 402,870 | −16.9% | 5,301 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[14] | 93 | 9.4% | 384,000 | −11.1% | 5,120 |
| Washington Senators[15] | 91 | 42.2% | 350,663 | 43.2% | 4,496 |
| Cincinnati Reds[16] | 75 | 7.1% | 344,000 | 14.7% | 4,468 |
| Cleveland Naps[17] | 75 | −6.3% | 336,844 | −17.1% | 4,375 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[18] | 73 | −7.6% | 250,000 | −39.9% | 3,333 |
| Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers[19] | 58 | −9.4% | 243,000 | −9.7% | 3,197 |
| New York Highlanders[20] | 50 | −34.2% | 242,194 | −19.9% | 3,187 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[21] | 63 | −16.0% | 241,759 | −46.0% | 3,140 |
| St. Louis Browns[22] | 53 | 17.8% | 214,070 | 2.9% | 2,710 |
| Boston Braves[23] | 52 | 18.2% | 121,000 | 4.3% | 1,532 |
