1901 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkBennett Park
CityDetroit, Michigan
OwnersJames D. Burns
ManagersGeorge Stallings
Seasons
1901 Tigers team portrait
1901 Tigers team portrait

The 1901 Detroit Tigers season was the Tigers' first in Major League Baseball. The team was a charter member of the American League, which was originally formed as the minor-league Western League, of which it had also been a charter member. The Tigers finished in third place with a record or 74–61, 8+1⁄2 games behind the Chicago White Stockings. Most of Detroit's home games were played at Bennett Park, with Sunday games played at Burns Park due to Detroit's blue laws.

Roscoe Miller (23–13) led the team in wins and was the Tigers' first 20-game winner. His performance headlined a strong pitching staff that had the third lowest ERA (3.30) in the American League. Joe Yeager had an ERA of 2.61, for the second best Adjusted ERA+ in the AL, behind Cy Young. The offense was not as strong however, scoring 741 runs – fifth among the eight teams in the league. The team's best hitters were shortstop Kid Elberfeld (.308 average) and center fielder Jimmy Barrett (.293 average; 110 runs).

Home field

The Tigers had played their games at Bennett Park since 1896, but the graduation to a major league meant that there would now be games scheduled on Sundays, which was forbidden by Detroit's blue laws. In order to avoid running afoul of this stricture, owner James D. Burns built a ballpark on his own property in Springwells Township, Michigan just outside the Detroit city limits.[1] Named Burns Park, the Tigers would play their Sunday home games there for the 1901 and 1902 seasons.

1901 season

Pre-season

The following were key dates in the pre-season leading up to the Tigers' inaugural season:

  • 12/17/1900: The "Detroit Base Ball and Amusement Company" was incorporated for the term of 10 years, articles being filed with the county clerk on this date. The stated purposes of the new company were "the owning and improving of grounds and parks for base ball, foot ball, field-day sports, picnics and other forms of recreation and amusement." The capital stock was $50,000 in 2000 shares issued to James D. Burns (900 shares), George Stallings (900 shares), Kathleen Burns (30 shares), Belle Stallings (30 shares), and attorney James McNamara (40 shares). These five also composed the board of directors.[2]
  • 1/28/01: The composition of the American League circuit was confirmed as follows: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Detroit. "Ten years' agreement signed and ground leases placed in Ban Johnson's hands."[3]
Pop Dillon with the Detroit Tigers, pictured here in 1903.

Regular season highlights

The following were key dates in the regular season of the Tigers' inaugural season:

  • 4/24/01: After years in the Western League, the Tigers were scheduled to take the field for their first official American League game on April 24, 1901. A standing room only crowd was anticipated at Bennett Park, but the Tigers' inaugural American League game was postponed due to weather.
  • 4/25/01: In their first major league game, the Tigers played in front of 10,023 fans in Detroit. Detroit entered the ninth inning trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 13–4, but scored 10 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game, 14–13. Third basemen Doc Casey started the ninth-inning rally with a ground rule double. The Tigers continued the rally to eventually reduce their deficit to one run. Now only down one run, 13–12, with two runners on base and two out, Tiger Frank "Pop" Dillon hit a two-run double against reliever Bert Husting to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 14–13.
  • 4/25-28/01: Detroit opened the season with a four-game series against Milwaukee. The Tigers scored 45 runs on 61 hits and 81 bases. "Each contest was won by the Tigers in their last at bat, they securing 10, 2 and 4 runs in the ninth and 5 runs in the eighth."[4]
  • 4/29/01: Detroit won its fifth consecutive game to open the season, defeating Chicago 3 to 2. All three Detroit runs were scored on home runs in the sixth inning by Pop Dillon and Kid Elberfeld.[4]
  • 5/2/01: Detroit scored five runs in the ninth inning to take a 7 to 5 lead over Chicago. The game was declared a forfeit due to Chicago's dilatory tactics. "The Chicagos, of the American League, tried to delay the game and forfeited to the Detroits. Crowd rushed for Umpire, who took refuge in players' cage."[5]
  • 5/17/01: Detroit defeated Cleveland 6 to 4. The Tigers were in first place with a record of 16–5 after 21 games.
  • 5/20/01: Detroit defeated Cleveland 13 to 1. The Tigers scored eight runs in the ninth inning off Bill Hart.[6]
  • 5/23/01: The Tigers lost to Cleveland and fell out of first place for the first time. After a hot start, the Tigers lost five out of six games between May 22 and 30.
  • 5/31/01: Detroit won by forfeit against Baltimore. Ducky Holmes hit a home run in the ninth inning to tie the score. The Orioles forfeit in an argument over Holmes' home run.[4] "Baltimore forfeited to the Detroits after a squabble. Catcher Wilson, of the Montreal team of the Eastern League, assaulted Umpire Hunt."[7]
  • 6/30/01: Detroit attracted a crowd of 12,500, the largest of the season in Detroit.[8]
  • 7/3/01: Detroit defeated Milwaukee, 7 to 5, in 16 innings. Roscoe Miller pitched a complete game for the Tigers.[9]
  • 8/21/01: Detroit declared the winner by forfeit after Baltimore pitcher Joe McGinnity stepped on the feet and spat in the face of umpire Connolly. McGinnity was suspended until September 3.[10]
  • 8/27/01: Detroit lost to Boston, 2 to 1, in 15 innings.[10]
  • 9/12/01: Detroit defeated Cleveland, 5 to 4, with two runs in the ninth inning.[11]
  • 9/15/01: Detroit defeated Cleveland 21 to 0 in the most one-sided game in the American League during the 1901 season.[12]
  • 9/29/01: Season ended.

Attendance

During the 1901 season, Detroit attracted 259,430 fans at home and 238,100 on the road, for a total of 447,428. Detroit ranked third behind Chicago and Boston in overall attendance.[13]

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Stockings 8353 0.610 — 49–21 34–32
Boston Americans 7957 0.581 4 49–20 30–37
Detroit Tigers 7461 0.548 8½ 42–27 32–34
Philadelphia Athletics 7462 0.544 9 42–24 32–38
Baltimore Orioles 6865 0.511 13½ 40–25 28–40
Washington Senators 6172 0.459 20½ 31–35 30–37
Cleveland Bluebirds 5482 0.397 29 28–39 26–43
Milwaukee Brewers 4889 0.350 35½ 32–37 16–52

Record vs. opponents

1901 American League record

Sources:
Team BLA BOS CWS CLE DET MLA PHA WSH
Baltimore —9–94–14–111–99–1012–7–112–811–8
Boston 9–9—12–812–69–11–115–510–1012–8–1
Chicago 14–4–18–12—13–710–1016–412–810–8
Cleveland 9–116–127–13—6–1411–96–149–9–2
Detroit 10–911–9–110–1014–6—13–77–99–11
Milwaukee 7–12–15–154–169–117–13—6–1410–8–1
Philadelphia 8–1210–108–1214–69–714–6—11–9–1
Washington 8–118–12–18–109–9–211–98–10–19–11–1—

Game log

1901 Game Log
April
#DateOpponentScoreRecord
1April 25Brewers14–131–0
2April 26Brewers6–52–0
3April 27Brewers13–93–0
4April 28Brewers12–114–0
5April 29@White Stockings3–25–0
6April 30@White Stockings2–45–1
May
#DateOpponentScoreRecord
7May 1@White Stockings9–195–2
8May 2@White Stockings7–56–2
9May 3Blues6–37–2
10May 4Blues4–117–3
11May 5Blues10–38–3
12May 6Blues5–49–3
13May 7@Brewers9–210–3
14May 9@Brewers6–710–4
15May 10@Brewers7–611–4
16May 11White Stockings9–412–4
17May 12White Stockings7–513–4
18May 13White Stockings8–714–4
19May 14White Stockings2–614–5
20May 16@Blues5–215–5
21May 17@Blues6–416–5
22May 18@Blues7–916–6
23May 19Blues2–1116–7
24May 20@Blues13–117–7
25May 22Americans5–917–8
26May 23Americans2–417–9
27May 24Americans3–018–9
28May 25Senators5–618–10
29May 27Senators4–818–11
30May 30Orioles7–1018–12
31May 30Orioles4–119–12
32May 31Orioles*5 – 520–12
June
#DateOpponentScoreRecord
33June 1Orioles1–320–13
34June 2@Athletics8–1120–14
35June 3@Athletics1–220–15
36June 4@Athletics9–121–15
37June 5@Athletics3–222–15
38June 8@Athletics1–622–16
39June 10@Athletics5–423–16
40June 11@Athletics4–124–16
41June 12@Americans2–424–17
42June 13@Americans11–625–17
43June 14@Americans7–1625–18
44June 15@Americans4–1225–19
45June 17@Senators9–226–19
46June 18@Senators10–627–19
47June 19@Senators2–727–20
48June 20@Senators7–827–21
49June 21@Orioles3–427–22
50June 22@Orioles3–1027–23
51June 24@Orioles8–1727–24
52June 25@Orioles2–427–25
53June 27Brewers4–328–25
54June 28Brewers4–029–25
55June 29Brewers5–030–25
56June 30@White Stockings2–430–26
July
#DateOpponentScoreRecord
57July 2@White Stockings2–330–27
58July 3@Brewers7–531–27
59July 4@Brewers5–132–27
60July 4@Brewers7–832–28
61July 5White Stockings4–832–29
62July 6White Stockings6–533–29
63July 7White Stockings8–334–29
64July 9@Blues11–335–29
65July 10@Blues7–436–29
66July 11@Blues1–636–30
67July 12Blues2–536–31
68July 13Blues19–1237–31
69July 14Blues5–038–31
70July 16Senators5–838–32
71July 17Senators4–339–32
72July 18Senators6–839–33
73July 19Senators7–340–33
74July 20Americans8–641–33
75July 21Americans3–441–34
76July 22Americans6–542–34
77July 24Athletics5–1242–35
78July 25Athletics4–343–35
79July 27Orioles1–044–35
80July 28Orioles6–445–35
81July 29Orioles5–1045–36
82July 31@White Stockings0–245–37
August
#DateOpponentScoreRecord
83August 1@White Stockings0–445–38
84August 2@White Stockings0–745–39
85August 3@White Stockings8–646–39
86August 4@Brewers3–446–40
87August 4@Brewers4–1146–41
88August 5@Brewers4–1946–42
89August 6@Brewers8–447–42
90August 7White Stockings9–348–42
91August 8White Stockings8–1848–43
92August 9White Stockings12–149–43
93August 10Brewers3–449–44
94August 11Brewers16–550–44
95August 12Brewers4–650–45
96August 16@Senators5–151–45
97August 17@Senators1–551–46
98August 17@Senators2–052–46
99August 19@Orioles3–452–47
100August 20@Orioles5–253–47
101August 21@Orioles*0 – 054–47
102August 22@Athletics0–154–48
103August 23@Athletics2–754–49
104August 26@Americans6–355–49
105August 27@Americans1–255–50
106August 28@Americans4–256–50
107August 29Americans5–357–50
108August 30Americans4–557–51
109August 31Americans6–558–51
110August 31Americans4–458–51
September
#DateOpponentScoreRecord
111September 1Senators4–958–52
112September 2Senators5–259–52
113September 2Senators7–460–52
114September 3Senators2–460–53
115September 4Athletics9–161–53
116September 5Athletics9–1161–54
117September 5Athletics2–961–55
118September 6Athletics8–362–55
119September 7Orioles9–263–55
120September 8Orioles8–564–55
121September 9Orioles8–465–55
122September 12@Blues5–466–55
123September 12@Blues4–367–55
124September 13@Blues7–068–55
125September 14Blues3–568–56
126September 15Blues21–069–56
127September 17@Athletics1–469–57
128September 20@Americans2–569–58
129September 21@Americans3–170–58
130September 22@Americans5–471–58
131September 23@Americans9–272–58
132September 24@Senators1–472–59
133September 25@Senators2–372–60
134September 26@Senators5–373–60
135September 27@Orioles4–673–61
136September 28@Orioles5–274–61

Roster

1901 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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
CFritz Buelow7023152.225229
1BPop Dillon7428181.288142
2BKid Gleason135547150.274375
3BDoc Casey128540153.283246
SSKid Elberfeld121432133.308376
OFJimmy Barrett135542159.293465
OFKid Nance132461129.280366
OFDucky Holmes131537158.294462

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
Sport McAllister9030692.301357
Al Shaw5517146.269123
Davey Crockett2810229.284014
Harry Lochhead142.50000

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

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
Roscoe Miller38332.023132.9579
Ed Siever38288.218153.2485
Jack Cronin30219.213153.8962
Joe Yeager26199.212112.6138

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
Emil Frisk1174.2544.3422
Frank Owen856.0134.3417
Ed High418.0103.504

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

References

  1. ↑ Past Detroit Tiger Venues
  2. ↑ "Detroit Doings: The Club Incorporated by Messrs. Burns and Stallings and Capitalized at $50,000". Sporting Life. December 22, 1900. p. 5.
  3. ↑ Reach's Official American League Base Ball Guide for 1902 ("1902 Reach Guide"). A.J. Reach Co. 1902. p. 10.
  4. 1 2 3 1902 Reach Guide, p. 85.
  5. ↑ 1902 Reach Guide, pp. 11 and 101.
  6. ↑ 1902 Reach Guide, p. 83.
  7. ↑ 1902 Reach Guide, p. 12.
  8. ↑ 1902 Reach Guide, p. 31.
  9. ↑ 1902 Reach Guide, p. 109.
  10. 1 2 1902 Reach Guide, p. 13.
  11. ↑ 1902 Reach Guide, p. 102.
  12. ↑ 1902 Reach Guide, p. 82.
  13. ↑ 1902 Reach Guide, p. 29.
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