Major League Baseball Season Recap 1911

Major League Baseball Season Recap 1911

World Series – Philadelphia A’s AL over New York Giants NL 4 games to 2

 

Awards –
MVP  –

NL Frank Schulte

AL Ty Cobb

The Philadelphia Athletics struggled early, but pulled away to win the American League pennant handily. Then they repeated that performance against the New York Giants in the World Series. The first five games of the Series were all one-run or two-run contests, and the Giants avoided elimination by grabbing an extra-inning win in game 5, but then Philadelphia salted away the crown with a 13-2 romp. The Athletics’ Frank Baker gained fame for hitting a pair of dramatic home runs in the Series and became known afterward as “Home Run” Baker.\n\nThe Athletics took over first place from Detroit on August 4 by sweeping the St. Louis Browns in a doubleheader, and Philadelphia put up a 38-16 record the rest of the way to win the flag by 13 1/2 games. Eddie Collins led the Athletics with a .365 average, but that was a distant fourth for league honors behind Detroit’s Ty Cobb at .420. (Hitting was enhanced throughout both leagues because of the newly introduced cork-center ball.) Cobb also led in RBI with 127, the most ever for an AL player. The Athletics’ Jack Coombs led the league in wins with a 28-12 record, and teammate Eddie Plank, at the age of 35, was 22-8 with a 2.10 ERA. Chicago’s tireless Ed Walsh went 27-18 with a 2.22 ERA in 369 innings pitched.\n\nThe Giants won the National League by dominating every facet of the game. Christy Mathewson and Rube Marquard combined for a 50-20 record, while catcher Chief Meyers topped the hitters at .332. Five of New York’s regulars had 38 or more stolen bases each. Pittsburgh’s Honus Wagner, at the age of 37, won the NL batting title with a .334 mark; Doc Miller of the last-place Boston Braves finished at .333.