1920 Brooklyn Robins season
The 1920 Brooklyn Robins, also known as the Dodgers, won 16 of their final 18 games to pull away from a tight pennant race and earn a trip to their second World Series against the Cleveland Indians. They lost the series in seven games.
1920 Brooklyn Robins | |
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1920 National League Champions | |
Major League affiliations | |
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Location | |
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Other information | |
Owners | Charles Ebbets, Ed McKeever, Stephen McKeever |
President | Charles Ebbets |
Managers | Wilbert Robinson |
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The team featured four Hall of Famers: manager Wilbert Robinson, pitchers Burleigh Grimes and Rube Marquard, and outfielder Zack Wheat. Grimes anchored a pitching staff that allowed the fewest runs in the majors.
Offseason
- January 1920: Frank O'Rourke was purchased from the Robins by the Washington Senators.[1]
- January 12, 1920: Mack Wheat was purchased from the Robins by the Philadelphia Phillies.[2]
- March 1920: Bill Lamar was purchased by the Robins from the Boston Red Sox.[3]
Regular season
On May 1, Brooklyn and the Boston Braves played what remains the longest major league baseball game, tied 1 to 1 at the end of nine innings and then going scoreless for 17 more until the game 26-inning game was called because of darkness [4]
Season standings
National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brooklyn Robins | 93 | 61 | 0.604 | — | 49–29 | 44–32 |
New York Giants | 86 | 68 | 0.558 | 7 | 45–35 | 41–33 |
Cincinnati Reds | 82 | 71 | 0.536 | 10½ | 42–34 | 40–37 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 79 | 75 | 0.513 | 14 | 42–35 | 37–40 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 79 | 0.487 | 18 | 38–38 | 37–41 |
Chicago Cubs | 75 | 79 | 0.487 | 18 | 43–34 | 32–45 |
Boston Braves | 62 | 90 | 0.408 | 30 | 36–37 | 26–53 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 62 | 91 | 0.405 | 30½ | 32–45 | 30–46 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
Boston | — | 8–14–1 | 7–15 | 9–12 | 10–12 | 10–11 | 7–15 | 11–11 | |||||
Brooklyn | 14–8–1 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 15–7 | |||||
Chicago | 15–7 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 10–12 | |||||
Cincinnati | 12–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | — | 6–16–1 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 13–9 | |||||
New York | 12–10 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 16–6–1 | — | 12–10 | 13–9 | 11–11 | |||||
Philadelphia | 11–10 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 10–12 | — | 9–13 | 8–14 | |||||
Pittsburgh | 15–7 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 13–9 | — | 11–11–1 | |||||
St. Louis | 11–11 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 11–11–1 | — |
Notable transactions
- May 22, 1920: Bill McCabe was purchased by the Robins from the Chicago Cubs.[5]
- July 1920: Wally Hood was purchased from the Robins by the Pittsburgh Pirates.[6]
- July 27, 1920: Doug Baird was purchased from the Robins by the New York Giants.[7]
Roster
1920 Brooklyn Robins | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers | Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders | Manager |
Player stats
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Otto Miller | 90 | 301 | 16 | 87 | .289 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
1B | Ed Konetchy | 131 | 497 | 62 | 153 | .308 | 5 | 63 | 3 |
2B | Pete Kilduff | 141 | 478 | 62 | 130 | .272 | 0 | 58 | 2 |
3B | Jimmy Johnston | 155 | 635 | 87 | 185 | .291 | 1 | 52 | 19 |
SS | Ivy Olson | 143 | 637 | 71 | 162 | .254 | 1 | 46 | 4 |
OF | Hy Myers | 154 | 582 | 83 | 177 | .304 | 4 | 80 | 9 |
OF | Zack Wheat | 148 | 583 | 89 | 191 | .328 | 9 | 73 | 8 |
OF | Tommy Griffith | 93 | 334 | 41 | 87 | .260 | 2 | 30 | 3 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bernie Neis | 95 | 249 | 38 | 63 | .253 | 2 | 22 | 9 |
Ernie Krueger | 52 | 146 | 21 | 42 | .288 | 1 | 17 | 2 |
Rowdy Elliott | 41 | 112 | 13 | 27 | .241 | 1 | 13 | 0 |
Chuck Ward | 19 | 71 | 7 | 11 | .155 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
Bill McCabe | 41 | 68 | 10 | 10 | .147 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
Ray Schmandt | 28 | 63 | 7 | 15 | .238 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
Bill Lamar | 24 | 44 | 5 | 12 | .273 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Wally Hood | 7 | 14 | 4 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Zack Taylor | 9 | 13 | 3 | 5 | .385 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Doug Baird | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Jack Sheehan | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Red Sheridan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games
Player | G | GS | CG | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Burleigh Grimes | 40 | 33 | 25 | 303.2 | 23 | 11 | 2.22 | 67 | 131 |
Leon Cadore | 35 | 30 | 16 | 254.1 | 15 | 14 | 2.62 | 56 | 79 |
Jeff Pfeffer | 30 | 28 | 20 | 215.0 | 16 | 9 | 3.01 | 45 | 80 |
Rube Marquard | 28 | 26 | 10 | 189.2 | 10 | 7 | 3.23 | 35 | 89 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games
Player | G | GS | CG | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Al Mamaux | 41 | 18 | 9 | 190.2 | 12 | 8 | 2.69 | 63 | 101 |
Sherry Smith | 33 | 12 | 6 | 136.1 | 11 | 9 | 1.85 | 27 | 33 |
Clarence Mitchell | 19 | 7 | 3 | 78.2 | 5 | 2 | 3.09 | 23 | 18 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | BB | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Mohart | 13 | 35.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.77 | 7 | 13 |
Johnny Miljus | 9 | 23.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.09 | 4 | 9 |
Awards and honors
League top ten finishers
- #2 in NL in strikeouts (131)
- #3 in NL in wins (23)
- #3 in NL in ERA (2.22)
- #4 in NL in batting average (.328)
- #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.385)
1920 World Series
On October 10, 1920, which was the fifth game of the World Series, Elmer Smith of the Indians hit the first grand slam in World Series history. On the same day, Bill Wambsganss of the Indians had an unassisted triple play. He caught a liner, touched second base, and tagged the runner coming from first base.[8] During that same game, Indians pitcher Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in World Series history.[9]
Game 1
October 5, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
W: Stan Coveleski (1–0) L: Rube Marquard (0–1) |
Game 2
October 6, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
Brooklyn | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 3 | 7 | 0 |
W: Burleigh Grimes (1–0) L: Jim Bagby (0–1) |
Game 3
October 7, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Brooklyn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 2 | 6 | 1 |
W: Sherry Smith (1–0) L: Ray Caldwell (0–1) |
Game 4
October 9, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Cleveland | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 12 | 1 |
W: Stan Coveleski (2–0) L: Leon Cadore (0–1) |
Game 5
October 10, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 1 | |||||
Cleveland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 8 | 12 | 2 | |||||
W: Jim Bagby (1–1) L: Burleigh Grimes (1–1) | |||||||||||||||||
HR: CLE – Elmer Smith (1), Jim Bagby (1) |
Game 6
October 11, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 1 | 7 | 3 |
W: Duster Mails (1–0) L: Sherry Smith (1–1) |
Game 7
October 12, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 3 | 7 | 3 |
W: Stan Coveleski (3–0) L: Burleigh Grimes (1–2) |
References
- Frank O'Rourke page at Baseball Reference
- Mack Wheat page at Baseball Reference
- Bill Lamar page at Baseball Reference
- "5 of the longest, strangest games in MLB history", MLB.com
- Bill McCabe page at Baseball Reference
- Wally Hood page at Baseball Reference
- Doug Baird page at Baseball Reference
- "Unassisted Triple Plays | Baseball Almanac".
- "World Series | baseballbiography.com". Retrieved August 27, 2008.