1911 Cleveland Naps season


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. 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. Joss's funeral took place on April 17 in Toledo, when the Naps were scheduled to play the Detroit Tigers. The players declared their intention to strike if the game that day was not postponed. Though American League president Ban Johnson initially did not agree, he cancelled the game. Several Tigers players attended the funeral as well.
Charles Sommers, the owner of the Naps, began to plan the Addie Joss Benefit Game, which was held at League Park in Cleveland on July 24, a mutual off day for all teams in the American League. An all-star team played against Cleveland, defeating the Naps by a score of 5–3. 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 ; the sum was more than double Joss's annual salary.

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.

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
C7020353.261012
1B126458124.271079
2B116412122.296345
3B117417105.252028
SS140545142.261150
OF147571233.408783
OF146527142.269145
OF125447136.304251

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
90315115.365260
9928793.324137
5815446.299121
3813332.241111
3510715.140010
276817.25017
196616.24205
13394.10300
9274.14801
13175.29401
6164.25000
472.28600
261.16700
251.20000
240.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
34244.22371.80125
35222.01393.41132
30177.17143.7678
15106.2853.2946
851.2244.8821
746.1343.8820
422.1104.336
13.20112.272

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
29176.07113.6880
30154.1983.2797
1364.2343.7617
1253.1224.2225
421.1123.388
417.1012.086
216.0104.506
213.0016.236

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Vean Gregg
  • MLB leader in ERA
  • #2 in AL in shutouts
  • #4 in AL in wins
  • #8 in AL in complete games
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Gene Krapp
  • #10 in AL in strikeouts