Of the 82 games won by the Giants, it was a matter of streaks in which they got them. After losing the first 6 games of the season, they won enough through the beginning of August to be only 4.5 games behind the then front-running Pirates. New York clawed their way to within 2 games by the end of the month then went on a major winning streak at the end of September and beginning of October and claimed the lead with only 5 games to go from Philadelphia. The two teams were tied near the end of the season before the Giants finally clinched the NL title on the next-to-last day of the season. New York was led by the bats of Gavvy Cravath (.292-3-40-1), Walter Holke (.289-0-30-11), George Burns (.265-3-45-24) and Dave Robertson (.264-6-45-16) and the arms of Dick Rudolph (19-14, 2.33 ERA) and Jeff Tesreau (17-15, 2.31 ERA). The Philadelphia Phillies, who started the season in 7th place, came up during the season and finished in second place, one game behind. The Phillies were led by the league's top pitching staff, led by George Chalmers (19-9, MLB leading 1.19 ERA), Grover Alexander (18-14, 1.99 ERA) and the NL's Outstanding Pitcher, Eppa Rixey (21-14, 1.76 ERA). The Pittsburgh Pirates contended all season and finished in third place, only 2 games behind. Pittsburgh was led by the bats of Hal Chase (.304-6-67-23) and Frank Baker (.283-7-71-9) and on the mound by 21-game winner Sherry Smith (21-13, 2.06 ERA) and Wilbur Cooper (17-13, 2.28 ERA).
In the American League, the Red Sox proved to be much better at playing musical chairs atop the league with the White Sox and Athletics during the first half of the season. Boston then went on a tear to hold a 10.5 game lead over Philadelphia and cruised to a 13-game lead at the end of the season. Their AL leading offensive attack was led by the AL's Outstanding Hitter, Tris Speaker (.354-1-69-33) and Jake Daubert (.297-3-67-32) with Bobby Veach (.260-5-76-13) leading the team with 5 home runs and 76 RBIs. The pitching staff was lead once again by the AL's Outstanding Pitcher, Dutch Leonard (24-7, 1.59 ERA) plus the arms of rookie Babe Ruth (19-9, 2.09 ERA) and the veteran Fred Anderson (17-11, 2.13 ERA). The Cleveland Indians came from behind to finish in second place, 13 games behind Boston. The Indians were led by the bats of Amos Strunk (.295-0-55-14) and 42-year old Honus Wagner (.261-1-51-25) and the arm of Eddie Cicotte (19-12, 2.16 ERA), who led the MLB in strikeouts with 171. The Chicago White Sox also had past the slumping Athletics to finish the season in third place, 15 games behind. The White Sox were led by the second best offense in the league, led by Edd Roush (.322-0-36-30), Johnny Evers (.279-0-27-8), Ernie Johnson (.274-1-37-30) and Jack Fournier (.241-5-70-43), who led the team in home runs and RBIs. The mound staff was led by 22-game winner Reb Russell (22-9, 2.38 ERA) and 20-game winner Phil Douglas (20-11, AL leading 1.49 ERA).
The World Series was a case of Red Sox bats against the Giants' pitching. It was the Giants sweeping the first two games, held in Boston, then Boston took the next 2 of 3 at the Polo Grounds to send the series back to Fenway Park. The Giants' Dick Rudolph and the Red Sox's Babe Ruth were in a pitcher's duel before both gave way to their respective bullpens very late in the game with the score tied 2-2. The Giants scratched for a run in the top of the 11th inning to win the game, 3-2, and the world's championship, 4 games to 2.
Code:
American League W L PCT GB National League W L PCT GB
Boston 97 57 .630 -- New York 82 72 .532 --
Cleveland 84 70 .545 13 Philadelphia 81 73 .526 1
Chicago 82 72 .532 15 Pittsburgh 80 74 .519 2
Philadelphia 81 73 .526 16 St.Louis 79 75 .513 3
New York 80 74 .519 17 Boston 78 76 .506 4
St.Louis 77 77 .500 20 Cincinnati 76 78 .494 6
Detroit 68 86 .442 29 Brooklyn 75 79 .487 7
Washington 47 107 .305 50 Chicago 65 89 .422 17
Batting AVG AVG Batting AVG AVG
T.Speaker, BOS .354 J.Wilhoit, BOS .321
B.Kauff, NY .312 E.Collins, STL .315
G.Sisler, STL .304 T.Cobb, BRO .313
Homeruns HR Homeruns HR
B.Kauff, NY 14 V.Saier, CHI 8
F.Merkle, STL 7 F.Baker, PIT 7
W.Schang, PHI 7 H.Zimmerman, CHI 7
Runs Batted In RBI Runs Batted In RBI
B.Veach, BOS 76 S.Crawford, BRO 72
J.Fournier, CHI 70 F.Baker, PIT 71
H.Heilmann, DET 69 H.Zimmerman, CHI 69
Stolen Bases SB Stolen Bases SB
R.Chapman, CLE 45 E.Collins, STL 43
M.Carey, NY 44 C.Milan, PHI 35
J.Fournier, CHI 43 W.Miller, STL 31
Earned Run Average ERA Earned Run Average ERA
P.Douglas, CHI 1.49 G.Chalmers, PHI 1.19
D.Leonard, BOS 1.59 C.Bender, CIN 1.73
J.Benz, CHI 1.74 E.Rixey, PHI 1.76
Wins W Wins W
D.Leonard, BOS 24 E.Rixey, PHI 21
R****ssell, CHI 22 S.Smith, PIT 21
W.Johnson, STL 21 G.Chalmers, PHI 19
Saves SV Saves SV
G.McQuillan, PHI 18 H.Ritter, PHI 20
N****cker, NY 18 P.Strand, BOS 20
B.Adams, BOS 17 E.Jacobs, PHI 18
Strikeouts SO Strikeouts SO
E.Cicotte, CLE 171 G.Alexander, PHI 152
W.Johnson, STL 166 L.Cheney, CHI 145
D.Leonard, BOS 162 P.Ragan, CIN 141
1916 World Series
Game #1
New York (N) 0 0 3 0 1 2 4 1 1 - 12 17 2
Boston (A) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 5 3
D****dolph B****th, J.Wood (6)
WP - D****dolph (1-0)
LP - B****th (0-1)
HR - none
Game #2
New York (N) 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 - 5 11 1
Boston (A) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 - 2 9 1
J.Tesreau, E.Shore (9) D.Leonard, B.Donovan (8)
WP - J.Tesreau (1-0)
LP - D.Leonard (0-1)
SV - E.Shore (1)
HR - NY: W.Fischer (1) BOS: T.Speaker (1)
Game #3
Boston (A) 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 - 4 9 2
New York (N) 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 2 7 4
B****th, J.Wood (8) D****dolph, R.Schauer (7)
WP - R****th (1-1)
LP - D****dolph (1-1)
SV - J.Wood (1)
HR - none
Game #4
Boston (A) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 7 1
New York (N) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 - 3 8 1
D.Leonard, J.Wood (8) J.Tesreau, S.Smith (8)
WP - S.Smith (1-0)
LP - J.Wood (0-1)
HR - NY: C.Williams (1)
Game #5
Boston (A) 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 - 6 11 6
New York (N) 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 - 5 6 3
B****th, J.Wood (7), B.Adams (9) E.Yingling, G.Smith (8)
WP - B****th (2-1)
LP - E.Yingling (0-1)
SV - B.Adams (1)
HR - none
Game #6
New York (N) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 - 3 9 1
Boston (A) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 2 7 2
D****dolph, E.Shore (9) B****th, J.Wood (8), B.Adams (11)
WP - E.Shore (1-0)
LP - B.Adams (0-1)
HR - BOS: B****th (1)