Chicago's pennant this year is often called a surprise for "The Hitless Wonders." Of course, they had finished a solid second the previous year, and had one of the greatest pitching staffs of the era. The offense was actually middle of the pack, but last in the league in batting average and slugging. They led the league in walks, stole lots of bases, and made their own opportunities. Then they beat the crosstown, 106-win Cubs in the World Series. The White Sox won a close race over the Highlanders of New York and the Cleveland Naps, with Philadelphia slipping to 4th. St. Louis and Detroit were competitive, Washington and Boston trailed the pack. Boston collapsed badly, but would rebuild quickly.
Statistical leaders: George Stone (.358) edged Nap Lajoie (.355) for the batting title. Stone also led in on-base, slugging, and OPS as well as total bases. Lajoie led in hits (214) and doubles (48). Harry Davis led in HR and RBI with 12 and 96. Elmer Flick led in runs (98) and triples (22), and tied John Anderson for the stolen base lead (39).
Al Orth had a goodly margin in wins with 27, Jack Chesbro 23, Frank Owen and Bob Rhoads 22, Addie Joss and George Mullin 21, Nick Altrock and Otto Hess 20. Doc White led the league with a 1.52 ERA, Barney Pelty 1.59, Joss 1.72, Jack Powell 1.77, Rhoads 1.80. Rube Waddell led with 196 strikeouts, Cy Falkenberg 178, Ed Walsh 171.
Here come the Win Shares:
Players; George Stone (St. Louis) 38, Nap Lajoie (Cleveland) 33, Harry Davis (Philadelphia) 31, Elmer Flick (Cleveland) 30, George Davis (Chicago) 29, Terry Turner (Cleveland) 28, Fielder Jones (Chicago) 27, Frank Isbell (Chicago) 26, Topsy Hartsel (Philadelphia) and Charlie Hemphill (St. Louis) 24.
Pitchers; Al Orth (New York) 36, George Mullin (Detroit) 26, Doc White (Chicago) and Jack Chesbro (New York) 25, Otto Hess (Cleveland) 24, Addie Joss and Bob Rhoads (Cleveland) 23, Ed Walsh (Chicago) 22.
WARP3 leaders, players: Lajoie 11.5, Stone 11.1, Flick 8.7, Turner 8.6, Bobby Wallace (St. Louis) 6.8, G. Davis 5.5, H. Davis 5.4, Jones 4.9.
Pitchers: Orth 8.4, White 7.4, Mullin 6.2, Rube Waddell (Philadelphia) 6.1, Case Patten (Washington) 5.4, Walsh 5.3, Eddie Plank (Philadelphia) 4.9, Joss 4.7.
Position player leaders in WAR: Lajoie 10.1, Stone 9.7, Turner 9.1, Flick 7.4, G. Davis 6.5, Wallace 6.1, H. Davis 5.7, Hemphill 5.1, Jones 4.6, Stahl 4.3.
Pitcher leaders in WAR: Orth 6.5, White 5.6, Waddell 4.8, Joss and Pelty 4.6, Rhoads 4.5, Hess 4.4, Walsh 4.2.
Top player: Nap Lajoie. One of the common methods of picking a top player is to pick the best player or perceived leader on the pennant winner or biggest surprise team. By that method, we would pick George Davis, veteran shortstop and cleanup hitter for the pennant-winning White Sox, the famed "Hitless Wonders." And that wouldn't be a real bad choice. In real life, Davis probably would have won the vote, and be better remembered today. For a top player, I will go with the great Lajoie and the WARP and WAR scores.
#1 Nap Lajoie, #2 George Stone, #3 Elmer Flick, #4 Terry Turner, #5 George Davis.
Top pitcher: Al Orth. Doc White led in ERA and ERA+, Orth led in wins and innings.
#1 Al Orth, #2 Doc White, #3 Addie Joss, #4 Ed Walsh, #5 Rube Waddell.
I'll venture a vote for Jack Coombs as top rookie. He was 10-10 with a 2.50 ERA for Philadelphia.
Top manager to Fielder Jones of the White Sox.
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