1898 Boston Beaneaters season

The 1898 Boston Beaneaters season was the 28th season of the franchise. The Beaneaters won 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 (along with the 1880s St. Louis Browns and the 1890s Baltimore Orioles) 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 (1872–1875) and eight National League pennants (1877–78, 1883, 1891–93, 1897-98).

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 hit .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 ERA 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 (15)
• #2 in NL in RBI (111)
• #2 in NL in slugging percentage (.479)

Hugh Duffy

• #4 in NL in RBI (108)

Sliding Billy Hamilton

• NL leader in on-base percentage (.480)
• #2 in NL in batting average (.369)
• #2 in NL in stolen bases (54)

Kid Nichols

• NL leader in wins (31)
• #3 in NL in ERA (2.13)
• #4 in NL in strikeouts (138)

Vic Willis

• #3 in NL in strikeouts (160)

References

• 1898 Boston Beaneaters season at Baseball Reference

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