| 1928 Philadelphia Athletics | |
|---|---|
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| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Shibe Park |
| City | Philadelphia |
| Owners | Connie Mack,Tom Shibe andJohn Shibe |
| Managers | Connie Mack |
The1928Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing second in theAmerican League with a record of 98 wins and 55 losses. The team featured seven eventual Hall-of-Fame players:Ty Cobb,Mickey Cochrane,Eddie Collins,Jimmie Foxx,Lefty Grove,Al Simmons, andTris Speaker.
By this time, the nucleus of the 1929–31 dynasty was in place for the A's. The team featured three starters who were later elected into theHall of Fame: catcherMickey Cochrane and outfieldersAl Simmons andTy Cobb. Cochrane was voted league MVP. Simmons led the team with a .351 batting average and 107 RBI. Cobb, in his last major league season, hit .323 in 95 games.Jimmie Foxx,Tris Speaker, andEddie Collins also saw playing time for the 1928 team.
The pitching staff, led by 24-game winnerLefty Grove, allowed the fewest runs in the AL.
The A's were in a hard fought pennant race with theNew York Yankees this season. After trailing the Yankees by 13.5 games on July 1, the A's caught fire with a 25-8 record in July and a 19-9 record in August. In September, the A's won the first 6 out of 8 games and on the 8th pulled into first place by 1/2 game by sweeping the Red Sox atFenway Park in a doubleheader. However, on the very next day, the A's were swept by the Yankees in a doubleheader atYankee Stadium to fall back into second place. The A's kept close on the Yankees heels, but couldn't overtake New York.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 101 | 53 | .656 | — | 52–25 | 49–28 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 98 | 55 | .641 | 2½ | 52–25 | 46–30 |
| St. Louis Browns | 82 | 72 | .532 | 19 | 43–34 | 39–38 |
| Washington Senators | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 37–43 | 38–36 |
| Chicago White Sox | 72 | 82 | .468 | 29 | 37–40 | 35–42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 68 | 86 | .442 | 33 | 36–41 | 32–45 |
| Cleveland Indians | 62 | 92 | .403 | 39 | 28–49 | 34–43 |
| Boston Red Sox | 57 | 96 | .373 | 43½ | 26–47 | 31–49 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 10–12 | 9–13 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 3–18 | 9–13 | 13–9–1 | |||||
| Chicago | 12–10 | — | 12–10–1 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 10–12 | |||||
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | — | 10–12 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 7–15 | 10–12 | |||||
| Detroit | 15–7 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — | 7–15 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 8–14 | |||||
| New York | 16–6 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 15–7 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | 13–9 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 18–3 | 16–6 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 6–16 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | |||||
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 6–16 | — | 13–9 | |||||
| Washington | 9–13–1 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | |||||
| 1928 Philadelphia Athletics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager | ||||||
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 | Mickey Cochrane | 131 | 468 | 137 | .293 | 10 | 57 |
| 1B | Joe Hauser | 95 | 300 | 78 | .260 | 16 | 59 |
| 2B | Max Bishop | 126 | 472 | 149 | .316 | 6 | 50 |
| 3B | Sammy Hale | 88 | 314 | 97 | .309 | 4 | 58 |
| SS | Joe Boley | 132 | 425 | 112 | .264 | 0 | 49 |
| OF | Bing Miller | 139 | 510 | 168 | .329 | 8 | 85 |
| OF | Al Simmons | 119 | 464 | 163 | .351 | 15 | 107 |
| OF | Ty Cobb | 95 | 353 | 114 | .323 | 1 | 40 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmie Foxx | 118 | 400 | 131 | .328 | 13 | 79 |
| Mule Haas | 91 | 332 | 93 | .280 | 6 | 39 |
| Jimmy Dykes | 85 | 242 | 67 | .277 | 5 | 30 |
| Tris Speaker | 64 | 191 | 51 | .267 | 3 | 30 |
| Ossie Orwoll | 64 | 170 | 52 | .306 | 0 | 22 |
| Walter French | 48 | 74 | 19 | .257 | 0 | 7 |
| Joe Hassler | 28 | 34 | 9 | .265 | 0 | 3 |
| Eddie Collins | 36 | 33 | 10 | .303 | 0 | 7 |
| Cy Perkins | 19 | 29 | 5 | .172 | 0 | 1 |
| = Indicates league leader |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lefty Grove | 39 | 261.2 | 24 | 8 | 2.58 | 183 |
| Rube Walberg | 38 | 235.2 | 17 | 12 | 3.55 | 112 |
| Jack Quinn | 31 | 211.1 | 18 | 7 | 2.90 | 43 |
| George Earnshaw | 26 | 158.1 | 7 | 7 | 3.81 | 117 |
| Howard Ehmke | 23 | 139.1 | 9 | 8 | 3.62 | 34 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie Rommel | 43 | 173.2 | 13 | 5 | 3.06 | 37 |
| Ossie Orwoll | 27 | 106.0 | 6 | 5 | 4.58 | 53 |
| Bill Shores | 3 | 14.0 | 1 | 1 | 3.21 | 5 |
| Carroll Yerkes | 2 | 8.2 | 0 | 1 | 2.08 | 1 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Bush | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5.09 | 15 |
| Ike Powers | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4.50 | 4 |
| Jing Johnson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.06 | 3 |
| Art Daney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |