1903 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1903 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1903 in baseball.

The 1903 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1903. The regular season ended on September 29, with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Americans as regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the first modern World Series on October 1 and ended with Game 8 on October 13. The Americans defeated the Pirates, five games to three, capturing their first championship in franchise history.^[1]

1903 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 20 – September 27, 1903 (AL) April 16 – September 29, 1903 (NL) World Series: October 1–13, 1903
Number of games	140
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Pennant winners
AL champions	Boston Americans
AL runners-up	Philadelphia Athletics
NL champions	Pittsburgh Pirates
NL runners-up	New York Giants
World Series
Champions	Boston Americans
Runners-up	Pittsburgh Pirates

Americans

White Stockings

Naps

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Highlanders

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1903 American League season
American League

Beaneaters

Superbas

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1903–1906 National League seasons
National League

The 1903 season saw the return of a postseason championship series, the World Series, following the one-off 1900 Chronicle-Telegraph Cup. It was also the first inter-league series since the 1890 World's Championship Series between the National League and defunct-since-1891 American Association. The 1903 World Series would also mark the first championship series that is still celebrated today, as all previous series are considered pre-modern and these early contests are discussed by MLB and baseball historians separately.^[2] However, the 1903 arrangement was primarily between the two participating clubs rather than a formal arrangement between the leagues, essentially making this season's World Series a voluntary event.^[3]

The defunct Baltimore Orioles were replaced by a new franchise in New York City known as the New York Highlanders; it was the last change to the lineup of AL and NL franchises until 1953. The American League would not return to Baltimore until the St. Louis Browns relocated their as a new Baltimore Orioles in 1954. The Chicago Orphans and Cleveland Bronchos were renamed as the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Naps, respectively.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1903 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place for the 1901 season. This would be the last season with this format, as the following season would see an increase of games played.

National League Opening Day took place on April 16 with four teams playing, while American League Opening Day did not take place until April 20, with a doubleheader between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Americans. The National League would see its final day of the regular season on September 27, while the American League would see its final day of the season on September 29. The inaugural World Series took place between October 1 and October 13.

Rule changes

The 1903 season saw the following rule changes:

• The pitcher's mound height was capped at 15 inches.^[4][5]
• Previously adopted by the National league in 1901, the American League adopted the rule that foul balls are to count as strike balls, except after two strikes. Previously, foul balls would not affect the count. To cut the cost of lost foul balls, the committee urges that batters who foul off good strikes are to be disciplined.^[6][7]
• A unified balk rule was agreed on, stating "a balk shall constitute any delivery of the ball to the batsman by the pitcher while either foot of the pitcher is back of the plate."^[8]

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager[9]
American League	Boston Americans	Boston, Massachusetts	Huntington Avenue Grounds	11,500	Jimmy Collins
	Chicago White Stockings	Chicago, Illinois	South Side Park	14,000	Jimmy Callahan
	Cleveland Naps	Cleveland, Ohio	League Park (Cleveland)	9,000	Bill Armour
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Bennett Park	8,500	Ed Barrow
	New York Highlanders	New York, New York	Hilltop Park	16,000	Clark Griffith
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Columbia Park	9,500	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	8,000	Jimmy McAleer
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	American League Park	7,000	Tom Loftus
National League	Boston Beaneaters	Boston, Massachusetts	South End Grounds	6,600	Al Buckenberger
	Brooklyn Superbas	New York, New York	Washington Park	12,000	Ned Hanlon
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	West Side Park	13,000	Frank Selee
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Palace of the Fans	12,000	Joe Kelley
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	16,000	John McGraw
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	National League Park	18,000	Chief Zimmer
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Allegheny, Pennsylvania	Exposition Park	16,000	Fred Clarke
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	League Park (St. Louis)	15,200	Patsy Donovan

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Americans	91	47	.659	—	49‍–‍20	42‍–‍27
Philadelphia Athletics	75	60	.556	14½	44‍–‍21	31‍–‍39
Cleveland Naps	77	63	.550	15	49‍–‍25	28‍–‍38
New York Highlanders	72	62	.537	17	41‍–‍26	31‍–‍36
Detroit Tigers	65	71	.478	25	37‍–‍28	28‍–‍43
St. Louis Browns	65	74	.468	26½	38‍–‍32	27‍–‍42
Chicago White Stockings	60	77	.438	30½	41‍–‍28	19‍–‍49
Washington Senators	43	94	.314	47½	29‍–‍40	14‍–‍54

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	91	49	.650	—	46‍–‍24	45‍–‍25
New York Giants	84	55	.604	6½	41‍–‍27	43‍–‍28
Chicago Cubs	82	56	.594	8	45‍–‍28	37‍–‍28
Cincinnati Reds	74	65	.532	16½	41‍–‍35	33‍–‍30
Brooklyn Superbas	70	66	.515	19	40‍–‍33	30‍–‍33
Boston Beaneaters	58	80	.420	32	31‍–‍35	27‍–‍45
Philadelphia Phillies	49	86	.363	39½	25‍–‍33	24‍–‍53
St. Louis Cardinals	43	94	.314	46½	22‍–‍45	21‍–‍49

Postseason

The postseason began on October 1 and ended on October 13 with the Boston Americans defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1903 World Series in eight games.

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	Boston Americans	5
	NL	Pittsburgh Pirates	3

Tom Hughes of the Boston Americans pitches to Nixey Callahan of the Chicago White Stockings in the top of the 5th inning at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, September 22.^[10]

"Battle of Ohio"

Termed the "Battle of Ohio", the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Naps played an unofficial best of 11-game exhibition series after the regular season, with Cleveland winning the series six games to three.^[11]

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Baltimore Orioles	Wilbert Robinson	Team folded
Chicago White Stockings	Clark Griffith	Jimmy Callahan
Detroit Tigers	Frank Dwyer	Ed Barrow
New York Highlanders	Team enfranchised	Clark Griffith
Philadelphia Phillies	Bill Shettsline	Chief Zimmer

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders^[12]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Nap Lajoie (CLE)	.344
OPS	Nap Lajoie (CLE)	.896
HR	Buck Freeman (BSA)	13
RBI	Buck Freeman (BSA)	104
R	Patsy Dougherty (BSA)	107
H	Patsy Dougherty (BSA)	195
SB	Harry Bay (CLE)	45

Pitching leaders^[13]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Cy Young (BSA)	28
L	Patsy Flaherty (CWS)	25
ERA	Earl Moore (CLE)	1.74
K	Rube Waddell (PHA)	302
IP	Cy Young (BSA)	341.2
SV	Bill Dinneen (BSA) George Mullin (DET) Al Orth (WSH) Jack Powell (SLB) Cy Young (BSA)	2
WHIP	Addie Joss (CLE)	0.948

National League

Hitting leaders^[14]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Honus Wagner (PIT)	.355
OPS	Fred Clarke (PIT)	.946
HR	Jimmy Sheckard (BKN)	9
RBI	Sam Mertes (NYG)	104
R	Ginger Beaumont (PIT)	137
H	Ginger Beaumont (PIT)	209
SB	Jimmy Sheckard (BKN) Frank Chance (CHC)	67

Pitching leaders^[15]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Joe McGinnity (NYG)	31
L	Togie Pittinger (BSB)	22
ERA	Sam Leever (PIT)	2.06
K	Christy Mathewson (NYG)	267
IP	Joe McGinnity (NYG)	434.0
SV	Carl Lundgren (CHC) Roscoe Miller (NYG)	3
WHIP	Deacon Phillippe (PIT)	1.030

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
New York Giants[16]	84	75.0%	579,530	91.3%	8,279
Philadelphia Athletics[17]	75	−9.6%	422,473	0.6%	6,306
Chicago Cubs[18]	82	20.6%	386,205	46.5%	5,290
St. Louis Browns[19]	65	−16.7%	380,405	39.7%	5,434
Boston Americans[20]	91	18.2%	379,338	8.8%	5,419
Cincinnati Reds[21]	74	5.7%	351,680	61.8%	4,627
Pittsburgh Pirates[22]	91	−11.7%	326,855	34.1%	4,669
Cleveland Naps[23]	77	11.6%	311,280	13.0%	4,206
Chicago White Stockings[24]	60	−18.9%	286,183	−15.3%	4,088
St. Louis Cardinals[25]	43	−23.2%	226,538	0.1%	3,283
Brooklyn Superbas[26]	70	−6.7%	224,670	12.4%	3,078
Detroit Tigers[27]	65	25.0%	224,523	18.5%	3,454
New York Highlanders[28]	72		211,808		3,161
Philadelphia Phillies[29]	49	−12.5%	151,729	35.4%	2,487
Boston Beaneaters[30]	58	−20.5%	143,155	22.4%	2,105
Washington Senators[31]	43	−29.5%	128,878	−31.5%	1,815

Events

• August 1 – Joe McGinnity becomes the first pitcher to win two complete games in one day, with 4–1 and 5–2 victories for the New York Giants over the Boston Beaneaters in a doubleheader.^[32]