1909 Pittsburg Pirates season

1909 Pittsburg Pirates
	1909 World Series Champion; 1909 National League Champion
Major League affiliations
	National League (since 1887);
Location
	Exposition Park (since 1891); Forbes Field (since 1909);
	Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (since 1907);
Other information
Owner(s)	Barney Dreyfuss
Manager(s)	Fred Clarke
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The 1909 Pittsburg Pirates^[2] won the National League pennant with a record of 110–42 and their first World Series over the Detroit Tigers. Led by shortstop Honus Wagner and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke, the Pirates scored the most runs in the majors. Wagner led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and runs batted in. Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss opened the Pirates’ new ballpark, named Forbes Field, on June 30, 1909.^[3]

The Pirates’ 110 wins remain a team record, a record they set in the last game of the season by beating the Cincinnati Reds 7–4 in muddy conditions on October 5. It is in fact the best regular season win percentage by any World Series winning team.

Regular season

Opening Day lineup

Season standings

v t e National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburg Pirates	110	42	0.724	—	56–21	54–21
Chicago Cubs	104	49	0.680	6½	47–29	57–20
New York Giants	92	61	0.601	18½	44–33	48–28
Cincinnati Reds	77	76	0.503	33½	39–38	38–38
Philadelphia Phillies	74	79	0.484	36½	40–37	34–42
Brooklyn Superbas	55	98	0.359	55½	34–45	21–53
St. Louis Cardinals	54	98	0.355	56	26–48	28–50
Boston Doves	45	108	0.294	65½	27–47	18–61

Record vs. opponents

1909 National League Records v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	11–11	1–21	5–17	8–14–2	10–12	1–20	9–13
Brooklyn	11–11	—	5–16	5–17–1	7–15	11–11	4–18	12–10–1
Chicago	21–1	16–5	—	16–6	11–11–1	16–6	9–13	15–7–1
Cincinnati	17–5	17–5–1	6–16	—	9–13–1	9–12–1	7–15–1	12–10
New York	14–8–2	15–7	11–11–1	13–9–1	—	12–10	11–11–1	16–5
Philadelphia	12–10	11–11	6–16	12–9–1	10–12	—	7–15	16–6
Pittsburg	20–1	18–4	13–9	15–7–1	11–11–1	15–7	—	18–3
St. Louis	13–9	10–12–1	7–15–1	10–12	5–16	6–16	3–18	—

Notable transactions

May 28, 1909: Ward Miller and cash were traded by the Pirates to the Cincinnati Reds for Kid Durbin.^[4]

Roster

1909 Pittsburg Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Kid Durbin

Manager

Fred Clarke

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	George Gibson	150	510	135	.265	2	52
1B	Bill Abstein	137	512	133	.260	1	70
2B	Dots Miller	151	560	156	.279	3	87
3B	Jap Barbeau	91	350	77	.220	0	25
SS	Honus Wagner	137	495	168	.339	5	100
OF	Tommy Leach	151	587	153	.261	6	43
OF	Fred Clarke	152	550	158	.287	3	68
OF	Chief Wilson	154	569	155	.272	4	59

Other batters

Note: 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
3B	Bobby Byrne	46	168	43	.256	0	7
2B, SS	Ed Abbaticchio	36	87	20	.230	1	16
1B	Ham Hyatt	49	67	20	.299	0	7
OF	Ward Miller	15	56	8	.143	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
Vic Willis	39	289.2	22	11	2.24	95
Howie Camnitz	41	283	25	6	1.62	133
Nick Maddox	31	203.1	13	8	2.21	56
Lefty Leifield	32	201.2	19	8	2.37	43

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
Babe Adams	25	130	12	3	1.11	65
Sam Leever	19	70	8	1	2.83	23
Chick Brandom	13	40.2	1	0	1.11	21
Sam Frock	8	36.1	2	1	2.48	11
Bill Powell	3	7.1	0	1	3.68	2

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	ERA	SO
Harry Camnitz	1	4.50	1
Charlie Wacker	1	0.00	0
Gene Moore	1	18.00	2

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Howie Camnitz

#2 in NL in wins (25)
#4 in NL in ERA (1.62)

Fred Clarke

#2 in NL in runs scored (97)
#4 in NL in on-base percentage (.384)

Tommy Leach

MLB leader in runs scored (126)

Dots Miller

#3 in NL in RBI (87)

Honus Wagner

NL leader in batting average (.339)
NL leader in RBI (100)
NL leader in on-base percentage (.420)
NL leader in slugging percentage (.489)
#3 in NL in runs scored (92)

Vic Willis

#4 in NL in wins (22)

1909 World Series

The 1909 Pirates in a poster celebrating their National League pennant. Frank Chance of the Chicago Cubs and John McGraw of the New York Giants, two teams the Pirates beat for the pennant, are being made to walk the plank.

In the World Series, Pittsburg faced the American League champion Detroit Tigers, led by triple crown winner Ty Cobb. The matchup was largely billed as one between the major leagues’ two superstars. Wagner thoroughly outplayed Cobb, and rookie Babe Adams won all three of his starts, as the Pirates won in seven games.

Game 1

October 8, 1909 at Forbes Field in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (AL)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	4
Pittsburg (NL)	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	X	4	5	0
W: Babe Adams (1–0) L: George Mullin (0–1)
HR: PIT – Fred Clarke (1)

Game 2

October 9, 1909 at Forbes Field in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (AL)	0	2	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	7	9	3
Pittsburg (NL)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	1
W: Bill Donovan (1–0) L: Howie Camnitz (0–1)

Game 3

October 11, 1909 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburg (NL)	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	10	2
Detroit (AL)	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	2	6	11	5
W: Nick Maddox (1–0) L: Ed Summers (0–1)

Game 4

October 12, 1909 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburg (NL)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	6
Detroit (AL)	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	X	5	8	0
W: George Mullin (1–1) L: Lefty Leifield (0–1)

Game 5

October 13, 1909 at Forbes Field in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (AL)	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	4	6	1
Pittsburg (NL)	1	1	1	0	0	0	4	1	X	8	10	2
W: Babe Adams (2–0) L: Ed Summers (0–2)
HR: DET – Davy Jones (1), Sam Crawford (1) PIT – Fred Clarke (2)

Game 6

October 14, 1909 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburg (NL)	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	7	3
Detroit (AL)	1	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	X	5	10	3
W: George Mullin (2–1) L: Vic Willis (0–1)

Game 7

October 16, 1909 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburg (NL)	0	2	0	2	0	3	0	1	0	8	7	0
Detroit (AL)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	3
W: Babe Adams (3–0) L: Bill Donovan (1–1)

Notes

↑ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
↑ In 1891 the United States Board on Geographic Names forced the city of Pittsburgh to undergo a controversial name change by having them drop the "h" at the end of the name, making the team's official name the "Pittsburg Pirates" from the adoption of the Pirates nickname until Pittsburgh was able to get the "h" restored to its name in 1911.
↑ Crazy ‘08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 105, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
↑ Ward Miller page at Baseball Reference

References

[1] From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.

[2] In 1891 the United States Board on Geographic Names forced the city of Pittsburgh to undergo a controversial name change by having them drop the "h" at the end of the name, making the team's official name the "Pittsburg Pirates" from the adoption of the Pirates nickname until Pittsburgh was able to get the "h" restored to its name in 1911.

[3] Crazy ‘08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 105, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1

[4] Ward Miller page at Baseball Reference

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Pittsburgh Pirates 1909 World Series champions
Ed Abbaticchio Bill Abstein Babe Adams Chick Brandom Bobby Byrne Harry Camnitz Howie Camnitz Fred Clarke Sam Frock George Gibson Ham Hyatt Tommy Leach Sam Leever Lefty Leifield Nick Maddox Dots Miller Gene Moore Paddy O'Connor Deacon Phillippe Bill Powell Mike Simon Jimmy Wacker Honus Wagner Vic Willis Chief Wilson
Manager Fred Clarke
Regular season