Notable baseball lineups from the dead-ball era

In two earlier posts, I identified some of baseball’s all-time great baseball lineups. However, I have not yet considered the dead-ball era, which I define as the period from 1900 (when the American League was founded) until 1921, when run totals started soaring and guys other than Babe Ruth started hitting 20 home runs or more in a season.

In this post, I identify three notable lineups from the dead-ball era.

The 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates:

Ginger Beaumont cf
Fred Clarke lf
Tommy Leach 3B
Honus Wagner ss
Kitty Bransfield 1B
Claude Ritchie 2B
Lefty Davis rf
Harry Smith c

This lineup is similar to, but more productive in comparison to the National League as a whole than, the Pittsburgh lineup that won the first World Series in 1903. It featured two future Hall of Famers, Clarke, the player-manager, and Wagner, generally considered the best shortstop of all time.

The 1902 Bucs scored 775 runs. This was 142 more than their nearest rival, Cincinnati, and 203 more than their next nearest. The team’s record was 103-36.

The 1907 Detroit Tigers:

Davy Jones 1f
Germany Schaefer 2B
Sam Crawford cf
Ty Cobb rf
Claude Rossman 1B
Bill Coughlin 3B
Boss Schmidt c
Charley O’Leary ss

I included this lineup mainly because it’s an oddity. It was the most productive offense of the three Detroit teams that won consecutive pennants in 1907-1909, but lost all three World Series. The 1907 Tigers scored 693 runs, nearly 100 more than their nearest rival.

I’m not sure how the team accomplished this, though. Its two Hall of Famers, Cobb and Crawford, had spectacular seasons. Cobb led the league in hits, RBIs, batting average, slugging percentage, and stolen bases. Crawford led the league in runs scored. However, the rest of the lineup was undistinguished.

The lineup faltered in the World Series. The Chicago Cubs swept Detroit, and the Tigers managed only six runs. Cobb batted .200; Crawford batted .238.

The 1913 Philadelphia Athletics:

Eddie Murphy if
Rube Oldring rf
Eddie Collins 2B
Frank “Home Run” Baker 3B
Stuffy McInnis 1B
Amos Strunk cf
Jack Barry ss
Wally Schang c

The lineups of the pennant winning 1913 and 1914 Athletics were identical and their output was quite similar. However, the 1913 edition scored more runs — 794 of them, 161 more than their nearest rival — and was able to win the World Series. The 1914 team fell to Boston’s “Miracle” Braves in four games.

Both teams featured Connie Mack’s “$100,000 infield.” Bill James rates the 1914 edition of this infield the best of all time, with the 1913 edition close behind.

Collins and Baker, both Hall of Famers, had fantastic seasons in 1913. Baker, true to his nickname, led the American League in home runs with 12 and RBIs with 117. He added a home run and seven RBIs in the five game World Series. Collins batted .345 in the regular season and .421 in the Series.

McInnis, one the best first baseman of his era, had a fine season. He batted .324.

Schang, a rookie, would become the American League’s best catcher. In the 1913 World Series, he batted .357 and drove in seven runs. His OPS was 1.152. Schang played in six World Series for three different clubs — the Athletics twice, the Red Sox once, and the Yankees three times. (Schang, McInnis, and Strunk were reunited on the championship Red Sox team of 1918.)

Connie Mack cashed in on three-quarters of his $100,000 infield after the 1914 season. (In 1916, the Athletics’ record was 36-117.) Mack sold Collins to the Chicago White Sox, where he would lead the Pale Hose to two pennants (and stay clean during the 1919 World Series). Barry went to the Red Sox, for whom he played in the 1915 World Series.

Baker went to New York, eventually becoming a teammate of the new home run king, Babe Ruth. Baker was a reserve by the time New York made the World Series, but played in both the 1921 and 1922 Fall Classics.

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