| 1920 Cleveland Indians | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Series champion American League champion | ||||
| League | American League | |||
| Ballpark | Dunn Field | |||
| City | Cleveland, Ohio | |||
| Owners | Jim Dunn | |||
| Managers | Tris Speaker | |||
| ||||
The1920Cleveland Indians season was the 20th season in franchise history. The Indians won theAmerican Leaguepennant and proceeded to win their first World Series title in the history of the franchise. PitchersJim Bagby,Stan Coveleski andRay Caldwell combined to win 75 games.[1] Despite the team's success, the season was perhaps more indelibly marked by the death of startingshortstopRay Chapman, who died after being hit by a pitch on August 16.
During the season, Jim Bagby became the last pitcher to win 30 games in one season for the Indians in the 20th century.[2]
On August 17, shortstopRay Chapman died after being hit by a pitch in a game against theYankees, becoming the second of only twoMajor League Baseball players to have died as a result of an injury received in a game (the first wasMike "Doc" Powers in 1909).[3]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 51–27 | 47–29 |
| Chicago White Sox | 96 | 58 | .623 | 2 | 52–25 | 44–33 |
| New York Yankees | 95 | 59 | .617 | 3 | 49–28 | 46–31 |
| St. Louis Browns | 76 | 77 | .497 | 21½ | 40–38 | 36–39 |
| Boston Red Sox | 72 | 81 | .471 | 25½ | 41–35 | 31–46 |
| Washington Senators | 68 | 84 | .447 | 29 | 37–38 | 31–46 |
| Detroit Tigers | 61 | 93 | .396 | 37 | 32–46 | 29–47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 48 | 106 | .312 | 50 | 25–50 | 23–56 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 12–10 | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 13–9–1 | 9–13 | 10–11 | |||||
| Chicago | 10–12 | — | 10–12 | 19–3 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 17–5 | |||||
| Cleveland | 16–6 | 12–10 | — | 15–7 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 15–7 | 15–7 | |||||
| Detroit | 9–13 | 3–19 | 7–15 | — | 7–15 | 12–10–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 15–7 | — | 19–3 | 12–10 | 11–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 9–13–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 10–12–1 | 3–19 | — | 8–14 | 6–16 | |||||
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 8–14 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 14–8 | — | 12–9–1 | |||||
| Washington | 11–10 | 5–17 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 9–12–1 | — | |||||
| 1920 Cleveland Indians | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 | Steve O'Neill | 149 | 489 | 157 | .321 | 3 | 55 |
| 1B | Doc Johnston | 147 | 535 | 156 | .292 | 2 | 71 |
| 2B | Bill Wambsganss | 153 | 565 | 138 | .244 | 1 | 55 |
| 3B | Larry Gardner | 154 | 597 | 185 | .310 | 3 | 118 |
| SS | Ray Chapman | 111 | 435 | 132 | .303 | 3 | 49 |
| LF | Charlie Jamieson | 108 | 370 | 118 | .319 | 1 | 40 |
| CF | Tris Speaker | 150 | 552 | 214 | .388 | 8 | 107 |
| RF | Elmer Smith | 129 | 456 | 144 | .316 | 12 | 103 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Evans | 56 | 172 | 60 | .349 | 0 | 23 |
| Jack Graney | 62 | 152 | 45 | .296 | 0 | 13 |
| Joe Wood | 61 | 137 | 37 | .270 | 1 | 30 |
| Harry Lunte | 23 | 71 | 14 | .197 | 0 | 7 |
| Joe Sewell | 22 | 70 | 23 | .329 | 0 | 12 |
| George Burns | 44 | 56 | 15 | .268 | 0 | 13 |
| Les Nunamaker | 34 | 54 | 18 | .333 | 0 | 14 |
| Pinch Thomas | 9 | 9 | 3 | .333 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Bagby | 48 | 339.2 | 31 | 12 | 2.89 | 73 |
| Stan Coveleski | 41 | 315.0 | 24 | 14 | 2.49 | 133 |
| Ray Caldwell | 34 | 237.2 | 20 | 10 | 3.86 | 80 |
| Guy Morton | 29 | 137.0 | 8 | 6 | 4.47 | 72 |
| Duster Mails | 9 | 63.1 | 7 | 0 | 1.85 | 25 |
Note: Guy Morton was team leader insaves with 3.
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Uhle | 27 | 84.2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5.21 | 27 |
| Elmer Myers | 16 | 71.2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4.77 | 16 |
| Bob Clark | 11 | 42.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.43 | 8 |
| Dick Niehaus | 19 | 40.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.60 | 12 |
| Tony Faeth | 13 | 25.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.32 | 14 |
| Joe Boehling | 3 | 13.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.85 | 4 |
| Tim Murchison | 2 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Joe Wood | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.50 | 1 |
| George Ellison | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
On October 10, 1920, which was the fifth game of the World Series,Bill Wambsganss of the Indians executed anunassisted triple play. He caught a line drive, touched second base, and tagged the runner coming from first base.[4] On the same day,Elmer Smith hit the firstgrand slam in World Series history. During that same game, Indians pitcher Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in World Series history.[5]
AL Cleveland Indians (5) vs. NLBrooklyn Robins (2)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indians – 3, Robins – 1 | October 5 | Ebbets Field | 23,759 |
| 2 | Indians – 0,Robins – 3 | October 6 | Ebbets Field | 22,559 |
| 3 | Indians – 1,Robins – 2 | October 7 | Ebbets Field | 25,088 |
| 4 | Robins – 1,Indians – 5 | October 9 | Dunn Field | 25,734 |
| 5 | Robins – 1,Indians – 8 | October 10 | Dunn Field | 26,884 |
| 6 | Robins – 0,Indians – 1 | October 11 | Dunn Field | 27,194 |
| 7 | Robins – 0,Indians – 3 | October 12 | Dunn Field | 27,525 |
October 5, 1920, atEbbets Field inBrooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| W:Stan Coveleski (1–0) L:Rube Marquard (0–1) | ||||||||||||
October 6, 1920, atEbbets Field inBrooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Brooklyn | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| W:Burleigh Grimes (1–0) L:Jim Bagby (0–1) | ||||||||||||
October 7, 1920, atEbbets Field inBrooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Brooklyn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| W:Sherry Smith (1–0) L:Ray Caldwell (0–1) | ||||||||||||
October 9, 1920, atDunn Field inCleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 12 | 1 |
| W:Stan Coveleski (2–0) L:Leon Cadore (0–1) | ||||||||||||
October 10, 1920, atDunn Field inCleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 1 | |||||
| Cleveland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 8 | 12 | 2 | |||||
| W:Jim Bagby (1–1) L:Burleigh Grimes (1–1) | |||||||||||||||||
| HR:CLE –Elmer Smith (1),Jim Bagby (1) | |||||||||||||||||
October 11, 1920, atDunn Field inCleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| W:Duster Mails (1–0) L:Sherry Smith (1–1) | ||||||||||||
October 12, 1920, atDunn Field inCleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| W:Stan Coveleski (3–0) L:Burleigh Grimes (1–2) | ||||||||||||
1920 World Series(5–2):Cleveland Indians (A.L.) overBrooklyn Robins (N.L.)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | 6 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 53 | 12 | |
| Brooklyn Robins | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 44 | 6 | |
| Total Attendance: 236,928 Average Attendance: 29,616 | |||||||||||||
| Winning Player's Share: – $5,207 Losing Player's Share – $3,254 | |||||||||||||
Source:[6]