PTWSW #7: The 1910 Philadelphia Athletics

Manager: Connie Mack
Record: 102-48
Ballpark: Shibe Park
Owners: The Shibe Family, Connie Mack, Frank Hough and Sam Jones

Future Hall of Famers: Frank Baker, Chief Bender, Eddie Collins, Eddie Plank

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Eddie Collins, .324
OBP: Eddie Collins, .382
SLG: Danny Murphy, .436
OPS: Eddie Collins, .800
2B: Danny Murphy, 28
3B: Danny Murphy, 18
HR: Danny Murphy, Rube Oldring, 4
RBI: Eddie Collins, 81
BB: Topsy Hartsel, 58
SB: Eddie Collins, 81 (AL leader)

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Jack Coombs, 31 (AL leader)
SO: Jack Coombs, 224
ERA: Jack Coombs, 1.30
IP: Jack Coombs, 353
CG: Jack Coombs, 35
SHO: Jack Coombs, 13 (AL leader)
K/BB: Chief Bender, 3.30
SV: Tommy Atkins, Eddie Plank, 2

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Harry Davis (b. July 19, 1873)

Youngest Player: Stuffy McInnis (b. September 19, 1890)

First to Leave Us: Heinie Heitmuller (d. October 8, 1912). Typhoid fever claimed Heitmuller's life while he was playing in the PCL.

Last Survivor: Amos Strunk (d. July 22, 1979)

First in Majors: Harry Davis (debut September 21, 1895)

Last in Majors: Eddie Collins (final game August 5, 1930)

First to Play For the Franchise: Harry Davis and Eddie Plank both played for the Athletics in their inaugural 1901 season.

Last to Play For the Franchise: Eddie Collins (August 5, 1930)

Pre-union Team: The 1898 Louisville Colonels and 1908-09 Boston Red Sox had two each.

Reunion Team: The 1912 Cleveland Naps and 1919 Boston Red Sox had three each.

Accomplishments

Chief Bender, no-hitter on May 12
Danny Murphy, cycle on August 25

Season Summary

For the first three months of 1910 the American League had a tight three-team race going between the Athletics, New York Highlanders and Detroit Tigers. After that, the Athletics pulled away and ended up winning the pennant by 15.5 games. The Athletics' run prevention was the best in the league, with their pitching (133 ERA+) and defense (DER .715) allowing only 2.85 runs per game. Their offense, while not the best, was pretty darn close. The Tigers outscored them by only nine runs.

They faced the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. Both sides were hit by injuries to key players, as Johnny Evers was out for the Cubs and Rube Oldring and Eddie Plank were out for the Athletics. You wouldn't have guessed Philadelphia was hurting, because they won the first three games by a combined 16 runs. The Cubs avoided the sweep in Game 4, but the A's finished what they started the very next day. Connie Mack used only two pitchers, Jack Coombs and Chief Bender, in winning the series.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives