1901 Detroit Tigers season

1901 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1900)
Location
Bennett Park (since 1896)
Detroit, Michigan (since 1894)
Other information
Owner(s)	James D. Burns
Manager(s)	George Stallings
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The 1901 Detroit Tigers season was the Tigers' first in Major League Baseball. The team was a charter member of the American League, which was originally formed as the minor-league Western League, of which it had also been a charter member. The Tigers finished in third place with a record or 74–61, eight-and-a-half games behind the Chicago White Stockings. Most of Detroit's home games were played at Bennett Park, with Sunday games played at Burns Park due to Detroit's blue laws.

Roscoe Miller (23–13) led the team in wins and was the Tigers' first 20-game winner. His performance headlined a strong pitching staff that had the third lowest ERA (3.30) in the American League. Joe Yeager had an ERA of 2.61, for the second best Adjusted ERA+ in the AL, behind Cy Young. The offense was not as strong however, scoring 741 runs – fifth among the eight teams in the league. The team's best hitters were shortstop Kid Elberfeld (.308 average) and center fielder Jimmy Barrett (.293 average; 110 runs).

Home field

The Tigers had played their games at Bennett Park since 1896, but the graduation to a major league meant that there would now be games scheduled on Sundays, which was forbidden by Detroit's blue laws. In order to avoid running afoul of this stricture, owner James D. Burns built a ballpark on his own property in Springwells Township, Michigan just outside the Detroit city limits.^[1] Named Burns Park, the Tigers would play their Sunday home games there for the 1901 and 1902 seasons.

1901 season

Pre-season

The following were key dates in the pre-season leading up to the Tigers' inaugural season:

• 12/17/1900. The "Detroit Base Ball and Amusement Company" was incorporated for the term of 10 years, articles being filed with the county clerk on this date. The stated purposes of the new company were "the owning and improving of grounds and parks for base ball, foot ball, field-day sports, picnics and other forms of recreation and amusement." The capital stock was $50,000 in 2000 shares issued to James D. Burns (900 shares), George Stallings (900 shares), Kathleen Burns (30 shares), Belle Stallings (30 shares), and attorney James McNamara (40 shares). These five also composed the board of directors.^[2]
• 1/28/01. The composition of the American League circuit was confirmed as follows: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Detroit. "Ten years' agreement signed and ground leases placed in Ban Johnson's hands."^[3]

Pop Dillon with the Detroit Tigers, pictured here in 1903.

Regular season highlights

The following were key dates in the regular season of the Tigers' inaugural season:

• 4/24/01. After years in the Western League, the Tigers were scheduled to take the field for their first official American League game on April 24, 1901. A standing room only crowd was anticipated at Bennett Park, but the Tigers' inaugural American League game was postponed due to weather.
• 4/25/01. In their first major league game, the Tigers played in front of 10,023 fans in Detroit. Detroit entered the ninth inning trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 13–4, but scored 10 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game, 14–13. Third basemen Doc Casey started the ninth-inning rally with a ground rule double. The Tigers continued the rally to eventually reduce their deficit to one run. Now only down one run, 13–12, with two runners on base and two out, Tiger Frank "Pop" Dillon hit a two-run double against reliever Bert Husting to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 14–13.
• 4/25-28/01. Detroit opened the season with a four-game series against Milwaukee. The Tigers scored 45 runs on 61 hits and 81 bases. "Each contest was one by the Tigers in their last at bat, they securing 10, 2 and 4 runs in the ninth and 5 runs in the eighth."^[4]
• 4/29/01. Detroit won its fifth consecutive game to open the season, defeating Chicago 3 to 2. All three Detroit runs were scored on home runs in the sixth inning by Pop Dillon and Kid Elberfeld.^[4]
• 5/2/01. Detroit scored five runs in the ninth inning to take a 7 to 5 lead over Chicago. The game was declared a forfeit due to Chicago's dilatory tactics. "The Chicagos, of the American League, tried to delay the game and forfeited to the Detroits. Crowd rushed for Umpire, who took refuge in players' cage."^[5]
• 5/17/01. Detroit defeated Cleveland 6 to 4. The Tigers were in first place with a record of 16–5 after 21 games.
• 5/20/01. Detroit defeated Cleveland 13 to 1. The Tigers scored eight runs in the ninth inning off Bill Hart.^[6]
• 5/23/01. The Tigers lost to Cleveland and fell out of first place for the first time. After a hot start, the Tigers lost five out of six games between May 22 and 30.
• 5/31/01. Detroit won by forfeit against Baltimore. Ducky Holmes hit a home run in the ninth inning to tie the score. The Orioles forfeit in an argument over Holmes' home run.^[4] "Baltimore forfeited to the Detroits after a squabble. Catcher Wilson, of the Montreal team of the Eastern League, assaulted Umpire Hunt."^[7]
• 6/30/01. Detroit attracted a crowd of 12,500, the largest of the season in Detroit.^[8]
• 7/3/01. Detroit defeated Milwaukee, 7 to 5, in 16 innings. Roscoe Miller pitched a complete game for the Tigers.^[9]
• 8/21/01. Detroit declared the winner by forfeit after Baltimore pitcher Joe McGinnity stepped on the feet and spat in the face of umpire Connolly. McGinnity was suspended until September 3rd.^[10]
• 8/27/01. Detroit lost to Boston, 2 to 1, in 15 innings.^[11]
• 9/12/01. Detroit defeated Cleveland, 5 to 4, with two runs in the ninth inning.^[12]
• 9/15/01. Detroit defeated Cleveland 21 to 0 in the most one-sided game in the American League during the 1901 season.^[13]
• 9/29/01. Season ended.

Attendance

During the 1901 season, Detroit attracted 259,430 fans at home and 238,100 on the road, for a total of 447,428. Detroit ranked third behind Chicago and Boston in overall attendance.^[14]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Stockings	83	53	0.610	—	49–21	34–32
Boston Americans	79	57	0.581	4	49–20	30–37
Detroit Tigers	74	61	0.548	8½	42–27	32–34
Philadelphia Athletics	74	62	0.544	9	42–24	32–38
Baltimore Orioles	68	65	0.511	13½	40–25	28–40
Washington Senators	61	72	0.459	20½	31–35	30–37
Cleveland Bluebirds	54	82	0.397	29	28–39	26–43
Milwaukee Brewers	48	89	0.350	35½	32–37	16–52

Record vs. opponents

1901 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	MIL	PHI	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	—

Game log

1901 Game Log
April # Date Opponent Score Record 1 April 25 Brewers 14–13 1–0 2 April 26 Brewers 6–5 2–0 3 April 27 Brewers 13–9 3–0 4 April 28 Brewers 12–11 4–0 5 April 29 @White Stockings 3–2 5–0 6 April 30 @White Stockings 2–4 5–1
May # Date Opponent Score Record 7 May 1 @White Stockings 9–19 5–2 8 May 2 @White Stockings 7–5 6–2 9 May 3 Blues 6–3 7–2 10 May 4 Blues 4–11 7–3 11 May 5 Blues 10–3 8–3 12 May 6 Blues 5–4 9–3 13 May 7 @Brewers 9–2 10–3 14 May 9 @Brewers 6–7 10–4 15 May 10 @Brewers 7–6 11–4 16 May 11 White Stockings 9–4 12–4 17 May 12 White Stockings 7–5 13–4 18 May 13 White Stockings 8–7 14–4 19 May 14 White Stockings 2–6 14–5 20 May 16 @Blues 5–2 15–5 21 May 17 @Blues 6–4 16–5 22 May 18 @Blues 7–9 16–6 23 May 19 Blues 2–11 16–7 24 May 20 @Blues 13–1 17–7 25 May 22 Americans 5–9 17–8 26 May 23 Americans 2–4 17–9 27 May 24 Americans 3–0 18–9 28 May 25 Senators 5–6 18–10 29 May 27 Senators 4–8 18–11 30 May 30 Orioles 7–10 18–12 31 May 30 Orioles 4–1 19–12 32 May 31 Orioles *5 – 5 20–12
June # Date Opponent Score Record 33 June 1 Orioles 1–3 20–13 34 June 2 @Athletics 8–11 20–14 35 June 3 @Athletics 1–2 20–15 36 June 4 @Athletics 9–1 21–15 37 June 5 @Athletics 3–2 22–15 38 June 8 @Athletics 1–6 22–16 39 June 10 @Athletics 5–4 23–16 40 June 11 @Athletics 4–1 24–16 41 June 12 @Americans 2–4 24–17 42 June 13 @Americans 11–6 25–17 43 June 14 @Americans 7–16 25–18 44 June 15 @Americans 4–12 25–19 45 June 17 @Senators 9–2 26–19 46 June 18 @Senators 10–6 27–19 47 June 19 @Senators 2–7 27–20 48 June 20 @Senators 7–8 27–21 49 June 21 @Orioles 3–4 27–22 50 June 22 @Orioles 3–10 27–23 51 June 24 @Orioles 8–17 27–24 52 June 25 @Orioles 2–4 27–25 53 June 27 Brewers 4–3 28–25 54 June 28 Brewers 4–0 29–25 55 June 29 Brewers 5–0 30–25 56 June 30 @White Stockings 2–4 30–26
July # Date Opponent Score Record 57 July 2 @White Stockings 2–3 30–27 58 July 3 @Brewers 7–5 31–27 59 July 4 @Brewers 5–1 32–27 60 July 4 @Brewers 7–8 32–28 61 July 5 White Stockings 4–8 32–29 62 July 6 White Stockings 6–5 33–29 63 July 7 White Stockings 8–3 34–29 64 July 9 @Blues 11–3 35–29 65 July 10 @Blues 7–4 36–29 66 July 11 @Blues 1–6 36–30 67 July 12 Blues 2–5 36–31 68 July 13 Blues 19–12 37–31 69 July 14 Blues 5–0 38–31 70 July 16 Senators 5–8 38–32 71 July 17 Senators 4–3 39–32 72 July 18 Senators 6–8 39–33 73 July 19 Senators 7–3 40–33 74 July 20 Americans 8–6 41–33 75 July 21 Americans 3–4 41–34 76 July 22 Americans 6–5 42–34 77 July 24 Athletics 5–12 42–35 78 July 25 Athletics 4–3 43–35 79 July 27 Orioles 1–0 44–35 80 July 28 Orioles 6–4 45–35 81 July 29 Orioles 5–10 45–36 82 July 31 @White Stockings 0–2 45–37
August # Date Opponent Score Record 83 August 1 @White Stockings 0–4 45–38 84 August 2 @White Stockings 0–7 45–39 85 August 3 @White Stockings 8–6 46–39 86 August 4 @Brewers 3–4 46–40 87 August 4 @Brewers 4–11 46–41 88 August 5 @Brewers 4–19 46–42 89 August 6 @Brewers 8–4 47–42 90 August 7 White Stockings 9–3 48–42 91 August 8 White Stockings 8–18 48–43 92 August 9 White Stockings 12–1 49–43 93 August 10 Brewers 3–4 49–44 94 August 11 Brewers 16–5 50–44 95 August 12 Brewers 4–6 50–45 96 August 16 @Senators 5–1 51–45 97 August 17 @Senators 1–5 51–46 98 August 17 @Senators 2–0 52–46 99 August 19 @Orioles 3–4 52–47 100 August 20 @Orioles 5–2 53–47 101 August 21 @Orioles *0 – 0 54–47 102 August 22 @Athletics 0–1 54–48 103 August 23 @Athletics 2–7 54–49 104 August 26 @Americans 6–3 55–49 105 August 27 @Americans 1–2 55–50 106 August 28 @Americans 4–2 56–50 107 August 29 Americans 5–3 57–50 108 August 30 Americans 4–5 57–51 109 August 31 Americans 6–5 58–51 110 August 31 Americans 4–4 58–51
September # Date Opponent Score Record 111 September 1 Senators 4–9 58–52 112 September 2 Senators 5–2 59–52 113 September 2 Senators 7–4 60–52 114 September 3 Senators 2–4 60–53 115 September 4 Athletics 9–1 61–53 116 September 5 Athletics 9–11 61–54 117 September 5 Athletics 2–9 61–55 118 September 6 Athletics 8–3 62–55 119 September 7 Orioles 9–2 63–55 120 September 8 Orioles 8–5 64–55 121 September 9 Orioles 8–4 65–55 122 September 12 @Blues 5–4 66–55 123 September 12 @Blues 4–3 67–55 124 September 13 @Blues 7–0 68–55 125 September 14 Blues 3–5 68–56 126 September 15 Blues 21–0 69–56 127 September 17 @Athletics 1–4 69–57 128 September 20 @Americans 2–5 69–58 129 September 21 @Americans 3–1 70–58 130 September 22 @Americans 5–4 71–58 131 September 23 @Americans 9–2 72–58 132 September 24 @Senators 1–4 72–59 133 September 25 @Senators 2–3 72–60 134 September 26 @Senators 5–3 73–60 135 September 27 @Orioles 4–6 73–61 136 September 28 @Orioles 5–2 74–61

Roster

1901 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Jack Cronin Emil Frisk Ed High Roscoe Miller Frank Owen Ed Siever Joe Yeager		Catchers Fritz Buelow Sport McAllister Al Shaw Infielders Doc Casey Davey Crockett Pop Dillon Kid Elberfeld Kid Gleason Harry Lochhead		Outfielders Jimmy Barrett Ducky Holmes Kid Nance		Manager George Stallings

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Buelow, FritzFritz Buelow	70	231	52	.225	2	29
1B	Dillon, PopPop Dillon	74	281	81	.288	1	42
2B	Gleason, KidKid Gleason	135	547	150	.274	3	75
3B	Casey, DocDoc Casey	128	540	153	.283	2	46
SS	Elberfeld, KidKid Elberfeld	121	432	133	.308	3	76
OF	Barrett, JimmyJimmy Barrett	135	542	159	.293	4	65
OF	Nance, KidKid Nance	132	461	129	.280	3	66
OF	Holmes, DuckyDucky Holmes	131	537	158	.294	4	62

Other batters

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
McAllister, SportSport McAllister	90	306	92	.301	3	57
Shaw, AlAl Shaw	55	171	46	.269	1	23
Crockett, DaveyDavey Crockett	28	102	29	.284	0	14
Lochhead, HarryHarry Lochhead	1	4	2	.500	0	0

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Miller, RoscoeRoscoe Miller	38	332	23	13	2.95	79
Siever, EdEd Siever	38	288.2	18	15	3.24	85
Cronin, JackJack Cronin	30	219.2	13	15	3.89	62
Yeager, JoeJoe Yeager	26	199.2	12	11	2.61	38

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Frisk, EmilEmil Frisk	11	74.2	5	4	4.34	22
Owen, FrankFrank Owen	8	56	1	3	4.34	17
High, EdEd High	4	18	1	0	3.50	4

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

• Jimmy Barrett: #5 in AL in runs scored (110)
• Jimmy Barrett: #3 in AL in bases on balls
• Jimmy Barrett: #4 in AL in times on base (240)
• Jimmy Barrett: #4 in AL in plate appearances (630)
• Doc Casey: #5 in AL in times hit by pitch (10)
• Jack Cronin: #5 in AL in bases on balls per 9 innings pitched (1.72)
• Jack Cronin: #4 in AL in strikeout to walk ratio (1.48)
• Ducky Holmes: #5 in AL in doubles (28)
• Roscoe Miller: #4 in AL in wins (23)
• Roscoe Miller: #3 in AL in innings pitched (332)
• Roscoe Miller: #5 in AL in games started (36)
• Roscoe Miller: #3 in AL in complete games (35)
• Roscoe Miller: #4 in AL in bases on balls allowed (98)
• Kid Nance: AL leader in sacrifice hits (24)
• Joe Yeager: #3 in AL in ERA (2.61)
• Joe Yeager: #2 in AL in Adjusted ERA+ (147)

References

1. Past Detroit Tiger Venues
2. "Detroit Doings: The Club Incorporated by Messrs. Burns and Stallings and Capitalized at $50,000". Sporting Life. December 22, 1900. p. 5.
3. Reach's Official American League Base Ball Guide for 1902 ("1902 Reach Guide"). A.J. Reach Co. 1902. p. 10.
4. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 85.
5. 1902 Reach Guide, pp. 11 and 101.
6. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 83.
7. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 12.
8. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 31.
9. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 109.
10. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 13.
11. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 13.
12. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 102.
13. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 82.
14. 1902 Reach Guide, p. 29.

• 1901 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Statistics