| 1901 Cleveland Blues | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | League Park |
| City | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Record | 54–62 (.466) |
| League place | 7th |
| Owners | Charles Somers |
| Managers | Jimmy McAleer |
1902 → | |
The1901Cleveland Blues season was a season in Americanbaseball. It was the franchise's first in the majors, being one of the original franchises of theAmerican League. Called the "Blues" or "Bluebirds", the team finished seventh out of eight teams.
TheCleveland Spiders were dissolved after winning only 20 games and losing 134 in the1899 season along with theLouisville Colonels,Baltimore Orioles, and theWashington Senators, leaving theNational League with eight teams to begin the 1900 season. As a result, 1900 marked the first year since 1886 during which the city ofCleveland did not have a team affiliated withMajor League Baseball.
Ban Johnson, president of theWestern League, changed the league's name to theAmerican League in 1900, bringing aboard a new team in Cleveland, then known as the Cleveland Lake Shores, along with new Baltimore and Washington franchises, which would be created with or without the approval of theNational League.[1] During this time, Cleveland had a minor league baseball team, known as the Bluebirds or Blues due to their all-blue uniforms, which finished their season with a 63–73 record and finished sixth.[1]
The American League became a major league before the 1901 season. As the American League made the jump to major league status, many players jumped ship, includingCy Young andNap Lajoie, which led the National League to call them an "outlaw league" in November 1900.[1] As the 1901 season came underway in April, and as the war between the two leagues erupted, the Cleveland franchise, now known as the Blues, began its first official season as a Major League Baseball team.
The Cleveland Blues played their first game of the season against theChicago White Stockings on April 24, 1901. This was the first games in the history of the American League; three other games scheduled that day were rained out.[2] The starting lineup consisted of:Ollie Pickering (RF),Jack McCarthy (LF),Frank Genins (CF),Candy LaChance (1B),Bill Bradley (3B),Erve Beck (2B),Bill Hallman (SS),Bob Wood (C), andBill Hoffer (P). Hoffer allowed seven runs in the first two innings and the Blues failed to recover,[2] as they lost the game 8–2, earning the first loss in American League history.[3] In the second game of the season, Beck hit the firsthome run in American League history off pitcherJohn Skopec, but the Blues lost again, 7–3.[2]
On May 9, 1901,Earl Moore threw the first no-hitter in the history of the franchise and the American League.[4] The Blues lost to Chicago by a score of 4–2 despite allowing no hits.
On May 23, Cleveland scored nine runs with the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Washington 14–13.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Stockings | 83 | 53 | .610 | — | 49–21 | 34–32 |
| Boston Americans | 79 | 57 | .581 | 4 | 49–20 | 30–37 |
| Detroit Tigers | 74 | 61 | .548 | 8½ | 42–27 | 32–34 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 74 | 62 | .544 | 9 | 42–24 | 32–38 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 68 | 65 | .511 | 13½ | 40–25 | 28–40 |
| Washington Senators | 61 | 72 | .459 | 20½ | 31–35 | 30–37 |
| Cleveland Blues | 54 | 82 | .397 | 29 | 28–39 | 26–43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 48 | 89 | .350 | 35½ | 32–37 | 16–52 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | MIL | PHA | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 4–14–1 | 11–9 | 9–10 | 12–7–1 | 12–8 | 11–8 | |||||
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 12–8 | 12–6 | 9–11–1 | 15–5 | 10–10 | 12–8–1 | |||||
| Chicago | 14–4–1 | 8–12 | — | 13–7 | 10–10 | 16–4 | 12–8 | 10–8 | |||||
| Cleveland | 9–11 | 6–12 | 7–13 | — | 6–14 | 11–9 | 6–14 | 9–9–2 | |||||
| Detroit | 10–9 | 11–9–1 | 10–10 | 14–6 | — | 13–7 | 7–9 | 9–11 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 7–12–1 | 5–15 | 4–16 | 9–11 | 7–13 | — | 6–14 | 10–8–1 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 8–12 | 10–10 | 8–12 | 14–6 | 9–7 | 14–6 | — | 11–9–1 | |||||
| Washington | 8–11 | 8–12–1 | 8–10 | 9–9–2 | 11–9 | 8–10–1 | 9–11–1 | — | |||||
| 1901 Cleveland Blues | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager | ||||||
| Statistic† | Indicates sole team leader in this category among batters (player must qualify by MLB rules to lead a category) |
| Statistic§ | Indicates sole team leader in this category among pitchers (player must qualify by MLB rules to lead a category) |
| * | Indicates that two or more players tied for the lead in the category |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Bob Wood | 98 | 346 | 45 | 101 | 23 | 3 | .292 | 1 | 49 | 6 |
| 1B | Candy LaChance | 133 | 548† | 81 | 166 | 22 | 9 | .303 | 1 | 75 | 11 |
| 2B | Erve Beck | 135 | 539 | 78 | 156 | 26 | 8 | .289 | 6† | 79† | 7 |
| 3B | Bill Bradley | 133 | 516 | 95 | 151 | 28† | 13† | .293 | 1 | 55 | 15 |
| SS | Frank Scheibeck | 93 | 329 | 33 | 70 | 11 | 3 | .213 | 0 | 38 | 3 |
| LF | Jack McCarthy | 86 | 343 | 60 | 110 | 14 | 7 | .321 | 0 | 32 | 9 |
| CF | Ollie Pickering | 137† | 547 | 102† | 169† | 25 | 6 | .309† | 0 | 40 | 36† |
| RF | Jack O'Brien | 92 | 375 | 54 | 106 | 14 | 5 | .286 | 0 | 39 | 13 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zaza Harvey | 45 | 170 | 21 | 60 | 5 | 5 | .353 | 1 | 24 | 15 |
| George Yeager | 39 | 139 | 13 | 31 | 5 | 0 | .223 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
| Joe Connor | 37 | 121 | 13 | 17 | 3 | 1 | .140 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Frank Genins | 26 | 101 | 15 | 23 | 5 | 0 | .228 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| Danny Shay | 19 | 75 | 4 | 17 | 2 | 2 | .227 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Tom Donovan | 18 | 71 | 9 | 18 | 3 | 1 | .254 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Jim McGuire | 18 | 69 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 0 | .232 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Bill Hallman | 5 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .211 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Truck Eagan | 5 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jimmy McAleer | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .143 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Cross | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .600 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Cermak | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shorty Gallagher | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Russ Hall | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Malachi Hogan | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paddy Livingston | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | ERA | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Dowling | 33§ | 30* | 256.1§ | 11 | 22 | 3.86 | 160§ | 110§ | 104 | 99* |
| Earl Moore | 31 | 30* | 251.1 | 16§ | 14 | 2.90 | 129 | 81 | 107§ | 99* |
| Bill Hart | 20 | 19 | 157.2 | 7 | 11 | 3.77 | 109 | 66 | 57 | 48 |
| Ed Scott | 17 | 16 | 124.2 | 6 | 6 | 4.40 | 82 | 61 | 38 | 23 |
| Jack Bracken | 12 | 12 | 100.0 | 4 | 8 | 6.21 | 94 | 69 | 31 | 18 |
| Harry McNeal | 12 | 10 | 85.1 | 5 | 5 | 4.43 | 68 | 42 | 30 | 15 |
| Bill Cristall | 6 | 6 | 48.1 | 1 | 5 | 4.84 | 42 | 26 | 30 | 12 |
| Dick Braggins | 4 | 3 | 32.0 | 1 | 2 | 4.78 | 28 | 17 | 15 | 1 |
| Bock Baker | 1 | 1 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 5.63 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Hoffer | 16 | 10 | 99.0 | 3 | 8 | 3§ | 4.55 | 78 | 50 | 35 | 19 |
| Gus Weyhing | 2 | 1 | 11.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.94 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Donovan | 1 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.14 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Bill Bradley | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmy McAleer | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |