| 1914 Boston Braves | |
|---|---|
| World Series champion National League champion | |
 | |
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | South End Grounds (since 1871) Fenway Park |
| City | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Record | 94–59 (.614) |
| League place | 1st |
| Owners | James Gaffney |
| Managers | George Stallings |
The1914Boston Braves season was the 44th season of thefranchise. The team finished first in theNational League, winning thepennant by 10½ games over theNew York Giants after being in last place in the NL at midseason. The team, which became known as the1914 Miracle Braves, went on to sweep thePhiladelphia Athletics in theWorld Series.
The Braves performed one of the most memorable reversals in major league history, going from last place to first place in two months, becoming the first team to win a pennant after being in last place on theFourth of July.[2] After finishing in fifth place in 1913 with a record of 69 wins and 82 losses, the Braves were not expected to be contenders. They spent the first part of the season in last place, posting a record of 26 wins and 40 losses in early July.[3] Led by three pitchers,Dick Rudolph,Bill James, andLefty Tyler, the team began to win games, taking over first place for good on September 8.[4] Their record over their final 87 games was 68–19 for a winning percentage of .782.[4] InfieldersJohnny Evers andRabbit Maranville led the league indouble plays. The Braves went on to sweepConnie Mack's heavily favored Athletics in four games in the1914 World Series.[5] The team became known as the "Miracle" Braves and remain one of the most storied comeback teams in baseball history. The franchise would not win another pennant until1948.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Braves | 94 | 59 | .614 | — | 51–25 | 43–34 |
| New York Giants | 84 | 70 | .545 | 10½ | 43–36 | 41–34 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 81 | 72 | .529 | 13 | 42–34 | 39–38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 78 | 76 | .506 | 16½ | 46–30 | 32–46 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 75 | 79 | .487 | 19½ | 45–34 | 30–45 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 74 | 80 | .481 | 20½ | 48–30 | 26–50 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 69 | 85 | .448 | 25½ | 39–36 | 30–49 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 60 | 94 | .390 | 34½ | 34–42 | 26–52 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 16–6 | 14–8–2 | 11–11–1 | 12–10 | 17–5–1 | 15–6–1 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 5–17 | |||||
| Chicago | 6–16 | 12–10 | — | 17–5 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 10–12–2 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 8–14–2 | 11–11 | 5–17 | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 8–14–1 | 10–12 | |||||
| New York | 11–11–1 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 13–9 | — | 12–10 | 13–9–1 | 9–13 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 10–12 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 10–12 | — | 12–10 | 8–14 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 5–17–1 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 14–8–1 | 9–13–1 | 10–12 | — | 15–7–1 | |||||
| St. Louis | 6–15–1 | 17–5 | 12–10–2 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 7–15–1 | — | |||||
| 1914 Boston Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
Note: Pos. = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos. | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Hank Gowdy | 128 | 366 | 42 | 89 | .243 | 3 | 46 | 14 |
| 1B | Butch Schmidt | 147 | 537 | 67 | 153 | .285 | 1 | 71 | 14 |
| 2B | Johnny Evers | 139 | 491 | 81 | 137 | .279 | 1 | 40 | 12 |
| 3B | Charlie Deal | 79 | 257 | 17 | 54 | .210 | 0 | 23 | 4 |
| SS | Rabbit Maranville | 156 | 586 | 74 | 144 | .246 | 4 | 78 | 28 |
| OF | Larry Gilbert | 72 | 224 | 32 | 60 | .268 | 5 | 25 | 3 |
| OF | Les Mann | 126 | 389 | 44 | 96 | .247 | 4 | 40 | 9 |
| OF | Joe Connolly | 120 | 399 | 64 | 122 | .306 | 9 | 65 | 12 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possum Whitted | 66 | 218 | 57 | .261 | 2 | 31 |
| Red Smith | 60 | 207 | 65 | .314 | 3 | 37 |
| Bert Whaling | 60 | 172 | 36 | .209 | 0 | 12 |
| Herbie Moran | 41 | 154 | 41 | .266 | 0 | 4 |
| Ted Cather | 50 | 145 | 43 | .297 | 0 | 27 |
| Josh Devore | 51 | 128 | 29 | .227 | 1 | 5 |
| Jim Murray | 39 | 112 | 26 | .232 | 0 | 12 |
| Oscar Dugey | 58 | 109 | 21 | .193 | 1 | 10 |
| Jack Martin | 33 | 85 | 18 | .212 | 0 | 5 |
| Tommy Griffith | 16 | 48 | 5 | .104 | 0 | 1 |
| Wilson Collins | 27 | 35 | 9 | .257 | 0 | 1 |
| Fred Tyler | 6 | 19 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 2 |
| Clarence Kraft | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Martin | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Rudolph | 42 | 336.1 | 26 | 10 | 2.35 | 138 |
| Bill James | 46 | 332.1 | 26 | 7 | 1.90 | 156 |
| Lefty Tyler | 38 | 271.1 | 16 | 13 | 2.69 | 140 |
| Otto Hess | 14 | 89.0 | 5 | 6 | 3.03 | 24 |
| Hub Perdue | 9 | 51.0 | 2 | 5 | 5.82 | 13 |
| Tom Hughes | 2 | 17.0 | 2 | 0 | 2.65 | 11 |
| Ensign Cottrell | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 1 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Crutcher | 33 | 158.2 | 5 | 7 | 3.46 | 58 |
| George Davis | 9 | 55.2 | 3 | 3 | 3.40 | 26 |
| Paul Strand | 16 | 55.1 | 6 | 2 | 2.44 | 33 |
| Gene Cocreham | 15 | 44.2 | 3 | 4 | 4.84 | 15 |
| Dolf Luque | 2 | 8.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.15 | 1 |
Boston Braves (4) vsPhiladelphia Athletics (0)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Braves – 7, Philadelphia Athletics – 1 | October 9 | Shibe Park | 20,562 |
| 2 | Boston Braves – 1, Philadelphia Athletics – 0 | October 10 | Shibe Park | 20,562 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Athletics – 4,Boston Braves – 5 (12 innings) | October 12 | Fenway Park | 35,520 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Athletics – 1,Boston Braves – 3 | October 13 | Fenway Park | 34,365 |
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| World Series Championships (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National League Championships (18) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World's Championship Series Championships (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Association Championships (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Division titles (23) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wild card berths (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minor league affiliates |
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