1911 Cleveland Naps season explained

Cleveland Naps
Season:1911
League:American League
Ballpark:League Park II
City:Cleveland, Ohio
Owners:Charles Somers
Managers:Deacon McGuire, George Stovall

The 1911 Cleveland Naps season was a season in American major league baseball. It involved the Cleveland Naps attempting to win the American League pennant and finishing in third place (22 games back). They had a record of 80 wins and 73 losses.

The Naps played their home games at League Park II.

Regular season

Addie Joss

Addie Joss, the ace starting pitcher for the Naps, experienced fainting spells while training for the 1911 season. He died of tubercular meningitis on April 14, at his home in Toledo, Ohio, leaving behind his wife and two young children.[1] Joss's funeral took place on April 17 in Toledo, when the Naps were scheduled to play the Detroit Tigers.[2] The players declared their intention to strike if the game that day was not postponed.[3] Though American League president Ban Johnson initially did not agree, he cancelled the game.[4] Several Tigers players attended the funeral as well.[5]

Charles Sommers, the owner of the Naps, began to plan the Addie Joss Benefit Game,[6] which was held at League Park in Cleveland on July 24, a mutual off day for all teams in the American League.[7] An all-star team played against Cleveland, defeating the Naps by a score of 5–3.[2] In total, nine players from the game were later inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame: Cy Young and Nap Lajoie for Cleveland, Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, Sam Crawford, Home Run Baker, and Bobby Wallace for the all-stars. The game raised $12,914 for Joss's widow ($ in current dollar terms);[8] the sum was more than double Joss's annual salary.[9]

Season highlights

In his rookie season, Shoeless Joe Jackson hit .408, which ranked second in the American League. He also finished in the league top 10 in home runs, RBI, runs scored, and stolen bases. Jackson was fourth in the Chalmers MVP Award voting.

Vean Gregg led the starting pitchers of the team in several categories: he had a total of 23 wins and seven losses; he pitched innings, yet maintained a league-leading 1.80 ERA, while striking out 125 batters.

Young, 44 years old at the time, played part of his final season with the 1911 Cleveland Naps team.

Roster

1911 Cleveland Naps
Roster
PitchersCatchersInfieldersOutfieldersManagers

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C 70 203 53 .261 0 12
1B 126 458 124 .271 0 79
2B 116 412 122 .296 3 45
3B 117 417 105 .252 0 28
SS 140 545 142 .261 1 50
OF 147 571 233 .408 7 83
OF 146 527 142 .269 1 45
OF 125 447 136 .304 2 51

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
90 315 115 .365 2 60
99 287 93 .324 1 37
58 154 46 .299 1 21
38 133 32 .241 1 11
35 107 15 .140 0 10
27 68 17 .250 1 7
19 66 16 .242 0 5
13 39 4 .103 0 0
9 27 4 .148 0 1
13 17 5 .294 0 1
6 16 4 .250 0 0
4 7 2 .286 0 0
2 6 1 .167 0 0
2 5 1 .200 0 0
2 4 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
34 244.2 23 7 1.80 125
35 222.0 13 9 3.41 132
30 177.1 7 14 3.76 78
15 106.2 8 5 3.29 46
8 51.2 2 4 4.88 21
7 46.1 3 4 3.88 20
4 22.1 1 0 4.33 6
1 3.2 0 1 12.27 2

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
29 176.0 7 11 3.68 80
30 154.1 9 8 3.27 97
13 64.2 3 4 3.76 17
12 53.1 2 2 4.22 25
4 21.1 1 2 3.38 8
4 17.1 0 1 2.08 6
2 16.0 1 0 4.50 6
2 13.0 0 1 6.23 6

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Vean Gregg

Shoeless Joe Jackson

Gene Krapp

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Baseball Loses Great Star by Death of Joss. 17. Chicago Examiner . Newspapers.com. April 15, 1911 . May 19, 2021.
  2. Web site: Addie Joss Day: An All-Star Celebration. Society for American Baseball Research.
  3. Web site: Cleveland Team Threaten Strike. 9. Lansing State Journal . Newspapers.com. April 17, 1911 . May 19, 2021.
  4. Web site: Cleveland Team Refuses To Play. 10. Quad-City Times . Newspapers.com . April 17, 1911 . May 19, 2021.
  5. Web site: Cleveland Team Wept Unashamed. 5. The Boston Globe . Newspapers.com . April 18, 1911 . May 19, 2021.
  6. Web site: 17 Apr 1911, 3. Portage Daily Democrat . Newspapers.com. subscription . April 17, 1911 . May 19, 2021.
  7. Web site: 22 Apr 1911. 1. Fort Scott Daily Tribune and Fort Scott Daily Monitor . Newspapers.com. subscription . April 22, 1911 . May 19, 2021.
  8. Web site: 6 Aug 1911. 24. The St. Louis Star and Times . Newspapers.com. subscription . August 6, 1911 . May 19, 2021.
  9. Web site: Cleveland's First All-Star Game. John. Thorn. July 5, 2019. Medium.