1897 Boston Beaneaters season

1897 Boston Beaneaters 1897 National League Championship
Major league affiliations
National League (Since 1876)
Location
South End Grounds (Since 1871) Boston, Massachusetts (Since 1871)
1897 Information
Owner(s)	Arthur Soden
Manager(s)	Frank Selee
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The 1897 Boston Beaneaters won the National League pennant. It was their fourth of the decade and their seventh overall. After the season, the Beaneaters played in the Temple Cup for the first time. They lost the series to the second-place Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 1.

Regular season

This team has been cited (along with the 1880s St. Louis Browns and the 1890s Baltimore Orioles) as one of the greatest of the 19th century.^{[citation needed]} It featured five Hall of Famers: manager Frank Selee, pitcher Kid Nichols, third baseman Jimmy Collins, and outfielders Billy Hamilton and Hugh Duffy.

In just 132 games, the Beaneaters scored 1025 runs to lead the league (Hamilton had 152 of them to win individual honors). They also allowed the fewest, on the way to a .705 winning percentage. Nichols was one of the premier pitchers in the league, leading the NL with 31 wins. His 2.64 ERA ranked second.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Beaneaters	93	39	0.705	—	54–12	39–27
Baltimore Orioles	90	40	0.692	2	51–15	39–25
New York Giants	83	48	0.634	9½	51–19	32–29
Cincinnati Reds	76	56	0.576	17	49–18	27–38
Cleveland Spiders	69	62	0.527	23½	49–16	20–46
Washington Senators	61	71	0.462	32	40–26	21–45
Brooklyn Bridegrooms	61	71	0.462	32	38–29	23–42
Pittsburgh Pirates	60	71	0.458	32½	38–27	22–44
Chicago Colts	59	73	0.447	34	36–30	23–43
Philadelphia Phillies	55	77	0.417	38	32–34	23–43
Louisville Colonels	52	78	0.400	40	34–31	18–47
St. Louis Browns	29	102	0.221	63½	18–41	11–61

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Bergen, MartyMarty Bergen	87	327	81	.248	2	45
1B	Tenney, FredFred Tenney	132	566	180	.318	1	85
2B	Lowe, BobbyBobby Lowe	123	499	154	.309	5	106
3B	Collins, JimmyJimmy Collins	134	529	183	.346	6	132
SS	Long, HermanHerman Long	107	450	145	.322	3	69
OF	Duffy, HughHugh Duffy	134	550	187	.340	11	129
OF	Hamilton, BillyBilly Hamilton	127	507	174	.343	3	61
OF	Stahl, ChickChick Stahl	114	469	166	.354	4	97

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Mahoney, MikeMike Mahoney	2	2	1	.500	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Nichols, KidKid Nichols	46	368	31	11	2.64	127
Klobedanz, FredFred Klobedanz	38	309.1	26	7	4.60	92
Lewis, TedTed Lewis	38	290	21	12	3.85	65

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Sullivan, JimJim Sullivan	13	89	4	5	3.94	17

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Hickman, CharlieCharlie Hickman	2	0	0	1	5.87	0
Mahoney, MikeMike Mahoney	1	0	0	0	18.00	1

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Jimmy Collins

• #2 in NL in RBI (132)

Hugh Duffy

• NL leader in home runs (11)
• #3 in NL in RBI (129)

Sliding Billy Hamilton

• NL leader in runs scored (152)
• #3 in NL in stolen bases (66)

Fred Klobedanz

• #3 in NL in wins (26)

Kid Nichols

• NL leader in wins (31)
• #2 in NL in ERA (2.64)

References

• 1897 Boston Beaneaters season at Baseball Reference

Preceded by Baltimore Orioles 1896

National League Championship Season 1897

Succeeded by Boston Beaneaters 1898