1901 Boston Americans season

The 1901 Boston Americans season was the first season for the professional baseball franchise that later became known as the Boston Red Sox, and the first season of play for the American League. It resulted in the Americans finishing second in the AL with a record of 79 wins and 57 losses, four games behind the Chicago White Stockings. The team was managed by Jimmy Collins and played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.

Off-Season

On February 11, Jimmy Collins, third baseman for the National League Boston Beaneaters became the first player under contract for the Boston Americans after being offered a contract of $4000 with the added ability to sign subsequent players to contracts. Collins was joined on March 4 by the outfielder Chick Stahl, who was also from the Beaneaters. Defecting with Stahl and Collins was the outfielder Buck Freeman.
Yet perhaps the most important signing was that of the 34 year old St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Cy Young, who accepted a contract worth $3500 from the Boston Americans. Vital to the signing of Cy Young from the Cardinals was the signing of Cy Young's catcher in St. Louis, Lou Criger; the value that Young gave to Criger and that Criger gave to Young was so strong, that it is unlikely that Young would have signed for the Americans if Criger had not done so.

Transactions

March 4, 1901: Chick Stahl and Bill Dinneen defect from the Boston Nationals to play for the Boston Americans, with the later agreeing to play for $3600.
March 6, 1901: Outfielder Charlie Hemphill joins the Americans from the Kansas City Blues.
March 16, 1901: Infielder Fred Parent signs a contract to play for the Boston Americans.

Regular season

Prior to the regular season, the team held spring training in Charlottesville, Virginia.

April 26: The franchise's first-ever American League contest ends as a 10–6 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park in Baltimore. Pitching for the Red Sox was Win Kellum, who became the first Red Sox player to pitch a complete game, but was also the first pitcher to earn a loss. Boston's first run was scored by player-manager Jimmy Collins in the fifth inning. In 1903, the Orioles relocated to New York City as the Highlanders, then in 1913 became known as the New York Yankees.
April 30: After losing their first three games, the team records its first win, an 8–6 victory in 10 innings over the Philadelphia Athletics at Columbia Park in Philadelphia. Cy Young was the winning pitcher.
May 2: In their highest-scoring game of the year, Boston defeats Philadelphia, 23–12 in a road victory. This game was also the first game played by the Wales-born pitcher Ted Lewis, who pitched a complete game, becoming the first person born outside of North America to play for the Red Sox.
May 8: The team plays and wins its first-ever home game, 12–4 over the visiting Athletics.
May 11: Buck Freeman receives the first ejection in franchise history, sent off by umpire following a call at second base, in a home loss to the Washington Senators.
May 17: The team's longest losing streak of the season, five games between May 11 and 16, comes to an end with a victory over the visiting Orioles.
June 10: A 7–4 win over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers gives the team a winning record for the first time, as they reach 17–16. In 1902, the Brewers moved and became the St. Louis Browns, then in 1954 moved again and became today's Baltimore Orioles.
June 24: The team's longest winning streak of the season, nine games between June 14 and 22, comes to an end with a loss to the visiting Cleveland Blues.
August 27: The team's longest game of the season ends as a 2–1 win in 15 innings over the visiting Detroit Tigers.
September 28: The season ends with a home doubleheader against the Brewers; Boston wins both games, 8–3, and 10–9 in seven innings.

The total attendance for the Red Sox was 289,448, the second most in the American League and more than the crosstown Boston Beaneaters' 146,502.

Transactions and Signings

April 27, 1901: The Boston Americans sign pitcher Frank Foreman.
May 16, 1901: Pitcher Frank Foreman is dropped from the roster.
June 25, 1901: Pitcher Win Kellum is released from the Americans alongside outfielder Charlie Jones.
August 31, 1901: The Red Sox release pitcher George Cuppy.

Statistical leaders

The offense was led by Buck Freeman, who hit 12 home runs and had 114 RBIs while recording a.339 batting average. The pitching staff was led by Cy Young, who made 43 appearances and pitched 38 complete games with a 33–10 record and 1.62 ERA, while striking out 158 in innings.

Season Standings

The team had two games end in a tie; August 31 at Detroit Tigers and September 12 at Washington Senators. Tied games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tied games are counted.

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

Source:

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On base percentage; SLG = Slugging percentage

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	Avg.	OBP	SLG	Reference
C		86	280	37	85	0	38	.304	.356	.386
1B		129	489	88	166	12	114	.339	.403	.521
2B		138	524	68	131	2	63	.250	.296	.349
SS		138	519	87	158	4	60	.304	.360	.407
3B		138	565	108	187	6	94	.331	.375	.494
OF		136	545	71	142	3	62	.261	.315	.332
OF		131	515	105	156	6	72	.303	.376	.439
OF		138	596	104	159	3	52	.267	.317	.336
─	Total	─	4,028	668	1,184	36	554	.295	.349	.408	─

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On base percentage; SLG = Slugging percentage

Player	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	Avg.	OBP	SLG	Reference
	76	269	26	62	0	24	.231	.274	.275
	10	41	6	6	0	6	.146	.167	.195
	9	19	4	4	0	2	.211	.211	.263
	1	3	1	1	0	1	.333	.500	.333
	1	1	0	1	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000
	─	332	37	74	0	33	.384	.430	.413	_─

Pitchers

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On base percentage; SLG = Slugging percentage

Player	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	Avg.	OBP	SLG	Reference
Cy Young	45	153	20	32	0	17	.209	.239	.288
Ted Lewis	39	121	14	21	0	10	.174	.225	.207
George Winter	28	100	7	19	1	6	.190	.198	.220
Fred Mitchell	20	45	5	7	0	4	.156	.191	.244
George Cuppy	17	49	4	10	0	6	.204	.250	.265
Win Kellum	6	18	2	3	0	0	.167	.211	.167
Ben Beville	3	7	2	2	0	1	.286	.286	.571
Frank Foreman	1	4	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Jake Volz	1	4	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
George Prentiss	2	3	0	1	0	1	.333	.600	.333
Frank Morrissey	1	3	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
	─	507	54	95	1	45	.156	.200	.208	─

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO	Reference
	43		33	10	0	1.62	160
	39		16	17	1	3.53	112
	28	241	16	12	0	2.80	64
	17		6	6	0	3.81	35
	13		4	6	0	4.15	22
Win Kellum	6	48	2	3	0	6.38	8
Ben Beville	2	9	0	2	0	4.00	1
Frank Foreman	1	8	0	1	0	9.00	1
Jake Volz	1	7	1	0	0	9.00	5
Total	─	313	78	57	1	4.92	408	─

Other pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO	Reference
	2	10	1	0	0	1.80	0

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	IP	L	SV	ERA	SO	Reference
	1	0		0	0	2.08	1

League Leaders

Players

Cy Young led the league in ERA, shutouts, strikeouts, and wins.