1898 Boston Beaneaters season
The 1898 Boston Beaneaters season was the 28th season of the franchise. The Beaneaters had a record of 102–47–3, finishing 6.0 games ahead of the second-place Baltimore Orioles and winning their second straight National League pennant and their eighth overall. It was also their fifth, and last, of the decade. This team has been cited as one of the greatest of the 19th century. This was the end of a tremendous run of success for the team, which won four straight National Association titles and eight National League pennants.
The starting line-up featured three Hall of Famers: third baseman Jimmy Collins and outfielders Billy Hamilton and Hugh Duffy. Collins led the league with 15 home runs and Hamilton had a batting average of.369 with 54 stolen bases. The pitching staff was led by Hall of Famers Kid Nichols and Vic Willis. Nichols led the NL with 31 wins and had an earned run average of 2.13.
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 | 120 | 446 | 125 | .280 | 3 | 60 | |
| 1B | 117 | 488 | 160 | .328 | 0 | 62 | |
| 2B | 147 | 559 | 152 | .272 | 4 | 94 | |
| 3B | 152 | 597 | 196 | .328 | 15 | 111 | |
| SS | 144 | 589 | 156 | .265 | 6 | 99 | |
| OF | 152 | 568 | 169 | .298 | 8 | 108 | |
| OF | 125 | 467 | 144 | .308 | 3 | 52 | |
| OF | 110 | 417 | 154 | .369 | 3 | 50 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| 68 | 221 | 59 | .267 | 3 | 24 | |
| 37 | 123 | 32 | .260 | 1 | 8 | |
| 41 | 111 | 28 | .252 | 2 | 16 | |
| 19 | 58 | 15 | .259 | 0 | 7 | |
| 14 | 43 | 12 | .279 | 0 | 3 | |
| 10 | 30 | 5 | .167 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
| 50 | 388.0 | 31 | 12 | 2.13 | 138 | |
| 41 | 313.1 | 26 | 8 | 2.90 | 72 | |
| 41 | 311.0 | 25 | 13 | 2.84 | 160 | |
| 35 | 270.2 | 19 | 10 | 3.89 | 51 |
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 |
| 6 | 33.0 | 1 | 2 | 2.18 | 9 | |
| 2 | 12.0 | 0 | 1 | 8.25 | 1 | |
| 3 | 12.0 | 0 | 1 | 12.00 | 1 |
Awards and honors
League top ten finishers
Jimmy Collins- NL leader in home runs
- #2 in NL in RBI
- #2 in NL in slugging percentage
- #4 in NL in RBI
- NL leader in on-base percentage
- #2 in NL in batting average
- #2 in NL in stolen bases
- NL leader in wins
- #3 in NL in ERA
- #4 in NL in strikeouts
- #3 in NL in strikeouts