Philadelphia Athletics - The Turn of the Century (1901-1909)

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Titles:

Top Athletics Players of the Turn of the Century

1902 AL Champs (No World Series)

1905 AL Champs (Lost World Series to Giants)

Pitchers:

Eddie Plank (56.88) - 119

BallPark:

Rube Waddell (46.53) - 85

Columbia Park (1901-1909)

Chief Bender (21.41) - 62

Shibe Park (1909)

Jimmy Dygert (8.52) - 29

Weldon Henley (4.09) - 16

Team Name:

Andy Coakley (4.26) - 15

Athletics

Rube Vickers (4.87) - 13

Jack Coombs (8.18) - 12

Owner

Chick Fraser (2.78) - 12

Ben Shibe

Harry Krause (5.95) - 11

Cy Morgan (5.65) - 10

General Manager:

Connie Mack

Catchers:

Ossie Schreckengost (10.2) - 44

Manager

Doc Powers (3.16) - 27

Connie Mack

First Basemen:

No Hitters:

Harry Davis (33.85) - 101

Weldon Henley (1905)

Second Basemen:

Hall of Famers:

Eddie Collins (11.1) - 25

Chief Bender

Nap Lajoie (8.39) - 15

Eddie Collins

Elmer Flick

ShortStop:

Nap Lajoie

Monte Cross (8.27) - 27

Connie Mack

Simon Nicholls (3.12) - 10

Eddie Plank

Rube Waddell

Third Base:

Jimmy Collins

Lave Cross (16.61) - 32

Home Run Baker

Home Run Baker (6.04) - 11

Shoeless Joe Jackson (pending)

Jimmy Collins (2.25) - 7

Notable Events:

Outfield:

Socks Seybold (24.69) - 72

1901 - The A's are formed. The owners are Connie Mack, local

Topsey Hartsell (24.27) - 60

Sporting Goods producers the Shibe family, and a couple of local

Danny Murphy (25.36) - 60

sports writers. Mack had been manager of the Milwaukee Brewers of

Dave Fultz (2.82) - 21

the minor league American Association the previous four years.

Rube Oldring (2.53) - 19

As such, he was familiar with several excellent minor league

Ollie Pickering (1.97) - 17

players who for one reason or another had fallen thru the cracks

Shoeless Joe Jackson (0) - 0

with all of the turmoil and player movement that was going on.

The Shibe's have controlling financial interest in the club at this point.

Notable Events:

1901 - Twenty five year old righty Eddie Plank had been knocking

1902 - The A's win the pennant. There is no World Series yet

around in the minors, Mack signed him and he went on to a

Hall of Fame career

1903 - Future Hall of Famer, nineteen year old Chief Bender is a rookie

and wins 17 games. He was signed as a free agent by the A's

1901 - Twenty five year old lefty Rube Waddell, who had played

for Mack in 1900 in Milwaukee was pitching in the NL in 1901.

1905 - The A's win their second pennant. However, they lose their first

Mack coveted him and Waddell wanted to come to Philly.

World Series to the Giants and the hated John McGraw

It happened in 1902 and Rube went on to a Hall of Fame career.

It's the last title of the decade for Philadelphia, altho' they do finish second

a couple of times.

1901 - Hard hitting twenty seven year old first baseman Harry

Davis had been playing for minor league Providence. Mack

1906 - Nineteen year old future Hall of Fame Second Baseman Eddie

grabbed him.and he became a star for the A's in the Oughts

Collins is signed by Mack and makes his first big league appearance.

He comes up for good the following season

1901 - Good hitting thirty year old outfielder Socks Seybold failed

in an earlier trial with Cincinnati and was in the minors. Mack

1906 -Twenty Two year outfielder Rube Oldring joins the club. He was

picked him up and he became a mainstay for the A's until age 38.

spirited from the New York Highlanders in the Rule V draft. Rube will be

a starting outfielder for the A's for the next decade.

1901 - Mack signs three stars from the Phillies. They were Hall of Fame

second baseman Nap Lajoie and pitchers Chick Fraser and

1906 - Twenty Three year old righthander Jack Coombs joins the A's.

Bill Bernhard. After the season, Philiies owner John Rogers gets

He was signed by Philly as a free agent the previous year. It takes a little

the Pennsylvania supreme court to issue an injunction banning

while, but Jack turns into one of the top pitchers in baseball for a couple

the three from playing for anybody but the Phillies. The ruling

of seasons in the next decade.

stands only for the state of Pennsylvania however. To get around

the ruling, Lajoie and Bernhard are sent to Cleveland where they

1908 - Third Baseman Home Run Baker, 22, joins the club. He will go on to

can play everywhere except in Pennsylvania for the Bronchos team.

have a Hall of Fame career, much of it with the A's. He was acquired

Fraser goes back to play with the Phillies.

in a trade with minor league club Reading.

1901 - Thirty five year old third baseman Lave Cross jumps from

1908 - Nineteen year old outfielder Amos Strunk joins Philly. He was

the Brooklyn Superbas

signed by Mack earlier in the previous season. Amos goes on to have a

successful seventeen year career, mostly with the A's

1902 - After more raids of the NL, with Connie Mack leading the way,

the American and National Leagues merge in 1902 - agreeing to

1908 - Nineteen year old outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson is purchased

honor each other's contracts and to conduct a World Series

from Greenville and comes up to the A's. He's dealt to Cleveland in 1910

between the two leagues.

for outfielder Bris Lord in a horrendous trade. Mack, unwilling to admit a

mistake, later says he knew Jackson would be great but traded him

In the AL-NL feud, John McGraw calls the A's White Elephants and

because he felt that Joe, a courntry boy, would never fit in in Philly

the A's adopt the White Elephant as their logo.

1909 - Shibe Park opens on April 12. It was the first concrete and steel

1902 - Cleveland releases twenty seven year old catcher Ossie

ballpark. This would set the standard for a spate of new parks in that

Schreckengost over to the A's. He is the A's starting catcher

era. As baseball had become more popular, old wooden ballparks were

along with Doc Powers thru the end of the decade.

unsafe for the larger crowds. The economy was in the midst of an upturn

which also led to more fans and a greater ability to invest in a stadium.

1902 - Twenty Eight year old outfielder Topsy Hartsell jumps from the

Chicago NL club to the A's. He is a starting outfielder for the A's for the

1909 - First Baseman Stuffy McInnis, 19, joins the A's. He was signed

next decade.

by Mack a year earlier. He would go on to have a successful 19 year

big league career, the first half of which was spent with the A's

1902 - Second Baseman Danny Murphy is picked up as a free agent.

The twenty five year old had been released a year earlier by the Giants.

1909 - Twenty One year old shortstop Jack Barry joins the club. He was

He goes on to be a fixture in the A's lineup for over a decade both as a

signed by Mack the previous season. Jack goes on to be one of the top

second baseman and as an outfielder

shortstops in the game thru the next decade

1902 - Shortstop Monte Cross, 32, jumps from the Phillies.