1917 New York Giants season

1917 New York Giants
1917 National League Champions
Ballpark	Polo Grounds
City	New York City
Owners	Harry Hempstead
Managers	John McGraw
Seasons

The 1917 New York Giants season was the franchise's 35th season. It involved the Giants winning the National League pennant for the first time in four years. The team went on to lose to the Chicago White Sox in the 1917 World Series, four games to two.

Regular season

New York had no real superstars, but they had a very balanced roster and led the league in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed.

Third baseman Heinie Zimmerman had a fine offensive season, pacing the circuit in runs batted in, but suffered through an embarrassment in the World Series. A third baseman, Zimmerman had the unfortunate task of chasing White Sox star Eddie Collins across home plate when there was no one to throw to. The Giants lost in six games.

Between July 31 and August 10, the Giants hit at least one triple in each of 11 games, the longest such streak in franchise history (considering records from 1914 onwards).

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	98	56	.636	—	50‍–‍28	48‍–‍28
Philadelphia Phillies	87	65	.572	10	46‍–‍29	41‍–‍36
St. Louis Cardinals	82	70	.539	15	38‍–‍38	44‍–‍32
Cincinnati Reds	78	76	.506	20	39‍–‍38	39‍–‍38
Chicago Cubs	74	80	.481	24	35‍–‍42	39‍–‍38
Boston Braves	72	81	.471	25½	35‍–‍42	37‍–‍39
Brooklyn Robins	70	81	.464	26½	36‍–‍38	34‍–‍43
Pittsburgh Pirates	51	103	.331	47	25‍–‍53	26‍–‍50

Record vs. opponents

1917 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	13–9–1	11–11	10–12–2	7–15	11–11	14–8	6–15–1
Brooklyn	9–13–1	—	7–15	10–12	9–13–2	9–11–1	16–6–1	10–11
Chicago	11–11	15–7	—	8–14–1	7–15–1	6–16–1	17–5	10–12
Cincinnati	12–10–2	12–10	14–8–1	—	11–11	8–14	12–10	9–13
New York	15–7	13–9–2	15–7–1	11–11	—	14–8	16–6–1	14–8
Philadelphia	11–11	11–9–1	16–6–1	14–8	8–14	—	14–8	13–9
Pittsburgh	8–14	6–16–1	5–17	10–12	6–16–1	8–14	—	8–14–1
St. Louis	15–6–1	11–10	12–10	13–9	8–14	9–13	14–8–1	—

Notable transactions

• April 23, 1917: Jim Thorpe was purchased from the Giants by the Cincinnati Reds.
• August 18, 1917: Jim Thorpe was returned to the Giants by the Cincinnati Reds.

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	Bill Rariden	101	266	72	.271	0	25
1B	Walter Holke	153	527	146	.277	2	55
2B	Buck Herzog
3B	Heinie Zimmerman	150	585	174	.297	5	102
SS	Art Fletcher
OF	Benny Kauff	153	559	172	.308	5	68
OF	Dave Robertson
OF	George Burns	152	597	180	.302	5	45

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
Jim Thorpe	26	57	11	.193	0	4

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
Pol Perritt	35	215	17	7	1.88	72
Rube Benton	35	215	15	9	2.72	70

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
Fred Anderson	38	162	8	8	1.44	69

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

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Fred Anderson

• MLB leader in ERA (1.44)

George Burns

• NL leader in runs scored (103)
• #2 in NL in stolen bases (40)
• #3 in NL in on-base percentage (.380)

Benny Kauff

• #3 in NL in runs scored (89)
• #3 in NL in stolen bases (30)
• #4 in NL in batting average (.308)

Pol Perritt

• #3 in NL in ERA (1.88)

Dave Robertson

• MLB leader in home runs (12)

Ferdie Schupp

• #4 in NL in wins (21)
• #4 in NL in ERA (1.95)
• #4 in NL in strikeouts (147)

Heinie Zimmerman

• NL leader in RBI (102)

1917 World Series

Main article: 1917 World Series

Game 1

October 6, 1917 at Comiskey Park in Chicago

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	7	1
Chicago	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	x	2	7	1
W: Eddie Cicotte (1–0)  L: Slim Sallee (0–1)
HR: CHI – Happy Felsch (1)

Game 2

October 7, 1917 at Comiskey Park in Chicago

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	1
Chicago	0	2	0	0	5	0	0	0	x	7	14	1
W: Red Faber (1–0)  L: Fred Anderson (0–1)

Game 3

October 10, 1917 at the Polo Grounds in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	3
New York	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	x	2	8	2
W: Rube Benton (1–0)  L: Eddie Cicotte (1–1)

Game 4

October 11, 1917 at the Polo Grounds in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
New York	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	2	x	5	10	1
W: Ferdie Schupp (1–0)  L: Red Faber (1–1)
HR: NYG – Benny Kauff (1), Benny Kauff (2)

Game 5

October 13, 1917 at Comiskey Park in Chicago

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	2	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	5	12	3
Chicago	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	3	x	8	14	6
W: Red Faber (2–1)  L: Slim Sallee (0–2)

Game 6

October 15, 1917 at the Polo Grounds in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	4	7	1
New York	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	6	3
W: Red Faber (3–1)  L: Rube Benton (1–1)

External links

• 1917 New York Giants season at Baseball Reference