1897 Boston Beaneaters season

The 1897 Boston Beaneaters season was the 27th season of the franchise. The Beaneaters won the National League pennant, their fourth of the decade and their seventh overall. After the season, the Beaneaters played in the Temple Cup for the first time. They lost the series to the second-place Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 1.

Regular season

File:1897 Boston Beaneaters.jpg

1897 Boston Beaneaters

This team has been cited (along with the 1880s St. Louis Browns and the 1890s Baltimore Orioles) as one of the greatest of the 19th century. It featured five Hall of Famers: manager Frank Selee, pitcher Kid Nichols, third baseman Jimmy Collins, and outfielders Billy Hamilton and Hugh Duffy.

In just 132 games, the Beaneaters scored 1025 runs to lead the league (Hamilton had 152 of them to win individual honors). They also allowed the fewest, on the way to a .705 winning percentage. Nichols was one of the premier pitchers in the league, leading the NL with 31 wins. His 2.64 ERA ranked second.

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		87	327	81	.248	2	45
1B		132	566	180	.318	1	85
2B		123	499	154	.309	5	106
3B		134	529	183	.346	6	132
SS		107	450	145	.322	3	69
OF		134	550	187	.340	11	129
OF		127	507	174	.343	3	61
OF		114	469	166	.354	4	97

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
	61	199	73	.367	2	37
	34	119	38	.319	1	24
	30	105	28	.267	0	14
	30	95	23	.242	2	15
	19	62	15	.242	0	5
	4	14	3	.214	0	4
	2	2	1	.500	0	1

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
	46	368.0	31	11	2.64	127
	38	309.1	26	7	4.60	92
	38	290.0	21	12	3.85	65
	18	129.1	11	4	3.41	27

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
	13	89.0	4	5	3.94	17

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
	2	0	0	1	5.87	0
	1	0	0	0	18.00	1

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Jimmy Collins

• #2 in NL in RBI (132)

Hugh Duffy

• NL leader in home runs (11)
• #3 in NL in RBI (129)

Sliding Billy Hamilton

• NL leader in runs scored (152)
• #3 in NL in stolen bases (66)

Fred Klobedanz

• #3 in NL in wins (26)

Kid Nichols

• NL leader in wins (31)
• #2 in NL in ERA (2.64)

References

• 1897 Boston Beaneaters season at Baseball Reference

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