The 1901
Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...
season involved the A's finishing fourth in the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
with a record of 74 wins and 62 losses. The franchise that would become the modern Athletics originated in 1901 as a new franchise in the American League.
Before the 1901 season
The
Western League had been renamed the American League in 1900 by league president
Bancroft (Ban) Johnson, and declared itself the second major league in 1901.
In 1901, Johnson created new franchises in the east and eliminated some franchises in the west. Philadelphia seems to have been a new franchise created to compete with the National League's
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
. Former catcher
Connie Mack
Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...
was recruited to manage the club. Mack in turn persuaded Phillies minority owner
Ben Shibe
Benjamin Franklin Shibe (January 23, 1838 – January 14, 1922) was an American sporting goods and baseball executive who was owner and president of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League from 1901 until his death. He is credited with th ...
as well as others to invest in the team, which would be called the Philadelphia Athletics. He himself bought a 25 percent interest.
Regular season
In 1901,
Nap Lajoie
Napoléon "Nap" Lajoie (; September 5, 1874 – February 7, 1959), also known as Larry Lajoie and nicknamed "The Frenchman", was an American professional baseball second baseman and player-manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for t ...
jumped from the Phillies to the crosstown
Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...
, owned by
Connie Mack
Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...
. Lajoie's
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
that year was .426, still a league record. The same year Lajoie became the second major leaguer to be
intentionally walked
In baseball, an intentional base on balls, usually referred to as an intentional walk and denoted in baseball scorekeeping by ''IBB'', is a walk issued to a batter by a pitcher with the intent of removing the batter's opportunity to swing at the ...
with the bases loaded after
Abner Dalrymple
Abner Frank Dalrymple (September 9, 1857 – January 25, 1939) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who hit 43 home runs (including 22 in 1884, the second-highest total to that date) and batted .288 with 407 RBI during his 12-s ...
in 1881.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions
* June 1901:
Tom Leahy was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
[Tom Leahy page at Baseball Reference]
/ref>
* July 1901: Tom Leahy was acquired from the Athletics by the Providence Grays
The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leagu ...
.[
* July 20, 1901: ]Snake Wiltse
Lewis DeWitt "Snake" Wiltse (December 5, 1871 – August 25, 1928) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Highlanders from 1901 to 1903. His brother w ...
was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Snake Wiltse page at Baseball Reference
/ref>
Roster
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''
Other batters
''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''
Pitching
Starting pitchers
''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''
Other pitchers
''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''
Relief pitchers
''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''
Notes
References
1901 Philadelphia Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
1901 Philadelphia Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
Oakland Athletics seasons
Philadelphia Athletics season
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
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