At Chicago’s South Side Park, the Cleveland Blues (Indians) collect 23 singles as the team coasts to a 13-1 victory over the White Sox. Pale Hose hurler Bock Baker gives up all of the one-base hits, a major league record.
In the second game of the franchise’s history, Senator infielder Billy Clingman hits the team’s first home run. The 33 year-old switch-hitting shortstop blasts a two-run homer off A’s southpaw Wiley Piatt in the top of the fifth inning of Washington’s 11-5 victory over Philadelphia at Columbia Park.
After two days of rain at Philadelphia’s Columbia Park, 10,547 fans witness Connie Mack’s A’s making their American League debut, losing to the Senators, 5-1. In their inaugural season in the Junior Circuit, the Mackmen will finish in fourth place, compiling a 74-62 record.
On April 25, 1901, the Detroit Tigers make an incredible comeback in their American League debut. Down 13-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers score 10 runs in their last at-bat to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 14-13. Frank Dillon drives in the game-winning run with a double.
1901 – Three rain postponements give Chicago the honor of hosting the first major league game in American League history (the circuit played as a minor league in 1900). At South Side Park, a crowd of over 10,000 fans attends the game to see pitcher Roy Patterson take the win for the Chicago White Sox over the the visiting Cleveland Blues, 8 – 2. Clark Griffith manages Chicago.
On April 24, 1901, the Chicago White Stockings and Cleveland Blues play the first game in the history of the American League. A crowd of over 10,000 fans attends the game in Chicago, where the White Stockings rout the Blues, 8-2.
Although he tried to return the money, Christy Mathewson is accused by Connie Mack of reneging on his contract with Philadelphia. In January, ‘Big Six,’ after meeting with the A’s manager, received a signing bonus, committing himself to play for the 1901 season with the American League team, but then used the offer as leverage to get a richer contract from the Giants.
1901 – Jimmy Collins switches leagues but not cities. Collins leaves the Boston Beaneaters National League club to play and manage the American League’s new Boston Americans. The NL Beaneaters will also lose outfielder Hugh Duffy, who becomes manager of Milwaukee’s new AL entry, and catcher Billy Sullivan, who signs with the Chicago White Sox.
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