| 1915 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League |
|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 154 |
| Teams | 24 (8 per league) |
| Pennant winners | |
| AL champions | Boston Red Sox |
| AL runners-up | Detroit Tigers |
| NL champions | Philadelphia Phillies |
| NL runners-up | Boston Braves |
| FL champions | Chicago Whales |
| FL runners-up | St. Louis Terriers |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Boston Red Sox (AL) |
| Runners-up | Philadelphia Phillies (NL) |
| MLB seasons | |
The1915 major league baseball season began on April 10, 1915. TheFederal League regular season ended on October 3, and saw theChicago Whales winning the Federal League pennant. The regular season for theNational League andAmerican League ended on October 7, with thePhiladelphia Phillies andBoston Red Sox as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the12th World Series on October 8 and ended with Game 5 on October 13. The Red Sox defeated the Phillies, four games to one, capturing their third championship in franchise history, since their previous in1912. Going into the season, the defendingWorld Series champions were theBoston Braves from the1914 season. The World Series had again featured the cities ofBoston andPhiladelphia, though this time with their opposite-league counterparts.
The Indianapolis Hoosiers relocated toNewark, New Jersey as theNewark Peppers. The Buffalo Buffeds, Chicago Federals, and Cleveland Naps renamed as theBuffalo Blues,Chicago Whales, andCleveland Indians, respectively.
TheFederal League brought an antitrust lawsuit against the National and American Leagues prior to the 1915 season. The parties eventually reached a settlement and the Federal League disbanded after the season.
The major-league status of the Federal League was confirmed by the Special Baseball Records Committee (as convened by then-Commissioner of BaseballWilliam Eckert) in 1969.[1]
The 1915 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League, National League, and Federal 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, and which lasted until the 140-game schedule of1919. Most teams played more than 154 games, due to tie games (called on account of darkness or weather) that had to be replayed;[2] tie games are excluded from team standings, but the statistics of individual players are included in their season totals.
The Federal League had its Opening Day on April 10, featuring all eight teams.[3] Opening Day for the American and National Leagues was on April 14, featuring the 16 teams of those two leagues,[4] as had been scheduled the season prior. The Federal League had the final day of its regular season on October 3.[5] The final day of the regular season for the National and American Leagues was October 7.[6] TheWorld Series took place between October 8 and October 13.[7]
TheNational League established thatplayer-managers would count against the player limit, so the bench manager would be unable to insert himself in any game during the season without forfeiting the right to carry one of the players on his roster. The penalty for violating the rule was forfeiture of the game.[8]
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 101 | 50 | .669 | — | 55–20 | 46–30 |
| Detroit Tigers | 100 | 54 | .649 | 2½ | 51–26 | 49–28 |
| Chicago White Sox | 93 | 61 | .604 | 9½ | 54–24 | 39–37 |
| Washington Senators | 85 | 68 | .556 | 17 | 50–29 | 35–39 |
| New York Yankees | 69 | 83 | .454 | 32½ | 37–43 | 32–40 |
| St. Louis Browns | 63 | 91 | .409 | 39½ | 35–38 | 28–53 |
| Cleveland Indians | 57 | 95 | .375 | 44½ | 27–50 | 30–45 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 43 | 109 | .283 | 58½ | 19–53 | 24–56 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies | 90 | 62 | .592 | — | 49–27 | 41–35 |
| Boston Braves | 83 | 69 | .546 | 7 | 49–27 | 34–42 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 80 | 72 | .526 | 10 | 51–26 | 29–46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 73 | 80 | .477 | 17½ | 42–34 | 31–46 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 73 | 81 | .474 | 18 | 40–37 | 33–44 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 81 | .471 | 18½ | 42–36 | 30–45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 71 | 83 | .461 | 20 | 39–37 | 32–46 |
| New York Giants | 69 | 83 | .454 | 21 | 37–38 | 32–45 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Whales | 86 | 66 | .566 | — | 44–32 | 42–34 |
| St. Louis Terriers | 87 | 67 | .565 | — | 43–34 | 44–33 |
| Pittsburgh Rebels | 86 | 67 | .562 | ½ | 45–31 | 41–36 |
| Kansas City Packers | 81 | 72 | .529 | 5½ | 46–31 | 35–41 |
| Newark Peppers | 80 | 72 | .526 | 6 | 40–39 | 40–33 |
| Buffalo Blues | 74 | 78 | .487 | 12 | 37–40 | 37–38 |
| Brooklyn Tip-Tops | 70 | 82 | .461 | 16 | 34–40 | 36–42 |
| Baltimore Terrapins | 47 | 107 | .305 | 40 | 24–51 | 23–56 |
The postseason began on October 8 and ended on October 13 with theBoston Red Sox defeating thePhiladelphia Phillies in the1915 World Series in five games. TheNational andAmerican Leagues refused a postseason against theFederal League.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Boston Red Sox | 4 | ||
| NL | Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | ||
Any team shown insmall text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Ty Cobb (DET) | .369 |
| OPS | Ty Cobb (DET) | .973 |
| HR | Braggo Roth (CLE/CWS) | 7 |
| RBI | Sam Crawford (DET) Bobby Veach (DET) | 112 |
| R | Ty Cobb (DET) | 144 |
| H | Ty Cobb (DET) | 208 |
| SB | Ty Cobb (DET) | 96 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 27 |
| L | Weldon Wyckoff (PHA) | 22 |
| ERA | Smoky Joe Wood (BOS) | 1.49 |
| K | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 203 |
| IP | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 336.2 |
| SV | Carl Mays (BOS) | 7 |
| WHIP | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 0.933 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Larry Doyle (NYG) | .320 |
| OPS | Gavvy Cravath (PHI) | .902 |
| HR | Gavvy Cravath (PHI) | 24 |
| RBI | Gavvy Cravath (PHI) | 115 |
| R | Gavvy Cravath (PHI) | 89 |
| H | Larry Doyle (NYG) | 189 |
| SB | Max Carey (PIT) | 36 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Grover Alexander1 (PHI) | 31 |
| L | Dick Rudolph (BSN) Pete Schneider (CIN) | 19 |
| ERA | Grover Alexander1 (PHI) | 1.22 |
| K | Grover Alexander1 (PHI) | 241 |
| IP | Grover Alexander (PHI) | 376.1 |
| SV | Tom Hughes (BSN) | 9 |
| WHIP | Grover Alexander (PHI) | 0.842 |
1 National LeagueTriple Crown pitching winner
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Benny Kauff (BKF) | .342 |
| OPS | Benny Kauff (BKF) | .955 |
| HR | Hal Chase (BUF) | 17 |
| RBI | Dutch Zwilling (CWH) | 94 |
| R | Babe Borton (SLT) | 97 |
| H | Jack Tobin (SLT) | 184 |
| SB | Benny Kauff (BKF) | 55 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | George McConnell (CWH) | 25 |
| L | Jack Quinn (BAL) | 22 |
| ERA | Earl Moseley (NWK) | 1.91 |
| K | Dave Davenport (SLT) | 229 |
| IP | Dave Davenport (SLT) | 392.2 |
| SV | Hugh Bedient (BUF) | 10 |
| WHIP | Dave Davenport (SLT) | 0.991 |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox[16] | 101 | 11.0% | 539,885 | 12.2% | 7,104 |
| Chicago White Sox[17] | 93 | 32.9% | 539,461 | 15.0% | 6,829 |
| Detroit Tigers[18] | 100 | 25.0% | 476,105 | 14.4% | 6,183 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[19] | 90 | 21.6% | 449,898 | 224.9% | 5,920 |
| New York Giants[20] | 69 | -17.9% | 391,850 | 7.6% | 5,156 |
| Boston Braves[21] | 83 | -11.7% | 376,283 | -1.7% | 4,824 |
| Brooklyn Robins[22] | 80 | 6.7% | 297,766 | 142.7% | 3,818 |
| New York Yankees[23] | 69 | -1.4% | 256,035 | -28.8% | 3,122 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[24] | 72 | -11.1% | 252,666 | -1.3% | 3,119 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[25] | 73 | 5.8% | 225,743 | 61.7% | 2,858 |
| Cincinnati Reds[26] | 71 | 18.3% | 218,878 | 117.2% | 2,771 |
| Chicago Cubs[27] | 73 | -6.4% | 217,058 | 7.2% | 2,819 |
| Washington Senators[28] | 85 | 4.9% | 167,332 | -31.4% | 2,092 |
| Cleveland Indians[29] | 57 | 11.8% | 159,285 | -14.4% | 2,069 |
| St. Louis Browns[30] | 63 | -11.3% | 150,358 | -38.6% | 1,978 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[31] | 43 | -56.6% | 146,223 | -57.8% | 1,976 |
Note: Attendance data for Federal League teams is unavailable.
