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1903 Major League Baseball season

Field	Value
title	1903 MLB season
league	American League (AL)
National League (NL)
sport	Baseball
duration	Regular season:{{Bulleted list
no_of_games	140
no_of_teams	16 (8 per league)
playoffs	Pennant winners
conf1	AL
conf1_champ	Boston Americans
conf1_runner-up	Philadelphia Athletics
conf2	NL
conf2_champ	Pittsburgh Pirates
conf2_runner-up	New York Giants
finals	World Series
finals_link	1903 World Series
finals_champ	Boston Americans
finals_runner-up	Pittsburgh Pirates
seasonslist	List of Major League Baseball seasons
seasonslistnames	MLB
prevseason_link	1902 Major League Baseball season
prevseason_year	1902
nextseason_link	1904 Major League Baseball season
nextseason_year	1904

National League (NL) | April 20 – September 27, 1903 (AL) | April 16 – September 29, 1903 (NL)}}World Series:{{Bulleted list | October 1–13, 1903}} | conf1_runner-up = Philadelphia Athletics | conf2_runner-up = New York Giants | finals_runner-up = Pittsburgh Pirates The 1903 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1903. The regular season ended on September 29, with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Americans as regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the first modern World Series on October 1 and ended with Game 8 on October 13. The Americans defeated the Pirates, five games to three, capturing their first championship in franchise history.

The 1903 season saw the return of a postseason championship series, the World Series, following the one-off 1900 Chronicle-Telegraph Cup. It was also the first inter-league series since the 1890 World's Championship Series between the National League and defunct-since- American Association. The 1903 World Series would also mark the first championship series that is still celebrated today, as all previous series are considered pre-modern and these early contests are discussed by MLB and baseball historians separately. However, the 1903 arrangement was primarily between the two participating clubs rather than a formal arrangement between the leagues, essentially making this season's World Series a voluntary event.

The defunct Baltimore Orioles were replaced by a new franchise in New York City known as the New York Highlanders; it was the last change to the lineup of AL and NL franchises until . The American League would not return to Baltimore until the St. Louis Browns relocated their as a new Baltimore Orioles in . The Chicago Orphans and Cleveland Bronchos were renamed as the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Naps, respectively.

Schedule

The 1903 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place for the season. This would be the last season with this format, as the following season would see an increase of games played.

National League Opening Day took place on April 16 with four teams playing, while American League Opening Day did not take place until April 20, with a doubleheader between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Americans. The National League would see its final day of the regular season on September 27, while the American League would see its final day of the season on September 29. The inaugural World Series took place between October 1 and October 13.

Rule changes

The 1903 season saw the following rule changes:

The pitcher's mound height was capped at 15 inches.
Previously adopted by the National league in , the American League adopted the rule that foul balls are to count as strike balls, except after two strikes. Previously, foul balls would not affect the count. To cut the cost of lost foul balls, the committee urges that batters who foul off good strikes are to be disciplined.
A unified balk rule was agreed on, stating "a balk shall constitute any delivery of the ball to the batsman by the pitcher while either foot of the pitcher is back of the plate."

Teams

An asterisk () denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at*

League	Team	City
Boston, Massachusetts	Huntington Avenue Grounds	11,500
Chicago, Illinois	South Side Park	14,000
Cleveland, Ohio	League Park (Cleveland)	9,000
Detroit, Michigan	Bennett Park	8,500
New York, New York	Hilltop Park	16,000
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Columbia Park	9,500
St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	8,000
Washington, D.C.	American League Park	7,000
Boston, Massachusetts	South End Grounds	6,600
New York, New York	Washington Park	12,000
Chicago, Illinois	West Side Park	13,000
Cincinnati, Ohio	Palace of the Fans	12,000
New York, New York	Polo Grounds	16,000
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	National League Park	18,000
Columbia Park*	9,500*
Allegheny, Pennsylvania	Exposition Park	16,000
St. Louis, Missouri	League Park (St. Louis)	15,200

Sunday games

Blue laws restricted Sunday activities in several localities, causing several teams to play at ballparks in a different locality.

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity
Warwick, Rhode Island	Rocky Point State Park	Unknown	1
Canton, Ohio	Mahaffey Park	Unknown	2
Columbus, Ohio	Neil Park	6,000	1
Toledo, Ohio	Armory Park	Unknown	2
East Grand Rapids, Michigan	Ramona Park	1

Standings

American League

National League

Tie games

15 tie games (6 in AL, 9 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again), occurred throughout the season.

American League

Boston Americans, 3
Chicago White Stockings, 1
Detroit Tigers, 1
New York Highlanders, 2
Philadelphia Athletics, 2
Washington Senators, 3

National League

Boston Beaneaters, 2
Brooklyn Superbas, 3
Chicago Cubs, 1
Cincinnati Reds, 2
New York Giants, 3
Philadelphia Phillies, 4
Pittsburgh Pirates, 1
St. Louis Cardinals, 2

Postseason

The postseason began on October 1 and ended on October 13 with the Boston Americans defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1903 World Series in eight games.

Bracket

"Battle of Ohio"

Termed the "Battle of Ohio", the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Naps played an unofficial best of 11-game exhibition series after the regular season, with Cleveland winning the series six games to three.

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager	Baltimore Orioles	Chicago White Stockings	Detroit Tigers	New York Highlanders	Philadelphia Phillies
Wilbert Robinson	Team folded
Clark Griffith	Jimmy Callahan
Frank Dwyer	Ed Barrow
Team enfranchised	Clark Griffith
Bill Shettsline	Chief Zimmer

League leaders

American League

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Nap Lajoie (CLE)	.344
OPS	Nap Lajoie (CLE)	.896
HR	Buck Freeman (BOS)	13
RBI	Buck Freeman (BOS)	104
R	Patsy Dougherty (BOS)	107
H	Patsy Dougherty (BOS)	195
SB	Harry Bay (CLE)	45

Stat	Player	Total
W	Cy Young (BOS)	28
L	Patsy Flaherty (CWS)	25
ERA	Earl Moore (CLE)	1.74
K	Rube Waddell (PHA)	302
IP	Cy Young (BOS)	341.2
SV	Bill Dinneen (BOS)
George Mullin (DET)
Al Orth (WSH)
Jack Powell (SLB)
Cy Young (BOS)	2
WHIP	Addie Joss (CLE)	0.948

National League

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Honus Wagner (PIT)	.355
OPS	Fred Clarke (PIT)	.946
HR	Jimmy Sheckard (BRO)	9
RBI	Sam Mertes (NYG)	104
R	Ginger Beaumont (PIT)	137
H	Ginger Beaumont (PIT)	209
SB	Jimmy Sheckard (BRO)
Frank Chance (CHC)	67

Stat	Player	Total
W	Joe McGinnity (NYG)	31
L	Togie Pittinger (BSN)	22
ERA	Sam Leever (PIT)	2.06
K	Christy Mathewson (NYG)	267
IP	Joe McGinnity (NYG)	434.0
SV	Carl Lundgren (CHC)
Roscoe Miller (NYG)	3
WHIP	Deacon Phillippe (PIT)	1.030

Milestones

Batters

Cycles

Fred Clarke (PIT):
- Clarke hit for his second cycle and third in franchise history, on May 7 against the Cincinnati Reds.
Buck Freeman (BOS):
- Freeman hit for his first cycle and the first cycle in franchise history, on June 21 against the Cleveland Naps.
Patsy Dougherty (BOS):
- Dougherty hit for his first cycle and the second cycle in franchise history, on July 29 against the New York Highlanders.
Bill Bradley (CLE):
- Bradley hit for his first cycle and the first cycle in franchise history, September 24 against the Washington Senators.

Pitchers

No-hitters

Chick Fraser (PHI):
- Fraser threw his first career no-hitter and the third no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the Chicago Cubs 10–0 in game 2 of a doubleheader on September 18. Fraser walked five and struck out four.

Other pitching accomplishments

Joe McGinnity (NYG):
- Became the first pitcher to win two complete games in one day on August 1, with 4–1 and 5–2 victories over the Boston Beaneaters in a doubleheader.

Miscellaneous

Chicago White Stockings / Detroit Tigers:
- Set a major league record for most errors in a game at 18 (twelve committed by Chicago, and six by Detroit).

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
New York Giants	84	75.0%	579,530	91.3%	8,279
Philadelphia Athletics	75	−9.6%	422,473	0.6%	6,306
Chicago Cubs	82	20.6%	386,205	46.5%	5,290
St. Louis Browns	65	−16.7%	380,405	39.7%	5,434
Boston Americans	91	18.2%	379,338	8.8%	5,419
Cincinnati Reds	74	5.7%	351,680	61.8%	4,627
Pittsburgh Pirates	91	−11.7%	326,855	34.1%	4,669
Cleveland Naps	77	11.6%	311,280	13.0%	4,206
Chicago White Stockings	60	−18.9%	286,183	−15.3%	4,088
St. Louis Cardinals	43	−23.2%	226,538	0.1%	3,283
Brooklyn Superbas	70	−6.7%	224,670	12.4%	3,078
Detroit Tigers	65	25.0%	224,523	18.5%	3,454
New York Highlanders	72		211,808		3,161
Philadelphia Phillies	49	−12.5%	151,729	35.4%	2,487
Boston Beaneaters	58	−20.5%	143,155	22.4%	2,105
Washington Senators	43	−29.5%	128,878	−31.5%	1,815

Venues

The 1903 season saw the enfranchisement of the New York Highlanders, in place of the folded Baltimore Orioles, playing at Hilltop Park in New York City, New York, where they would play for ten seasons through .

Regarding games that were rescheduled to Sunday, and existing blue laws:

For 1903 only, the Boston Beaneaters, played one game at Rocky Point State Park in Warwick, Rhode Island on September 6.
The Cleveland Naps continue playing a few Sunday games at Mahaffey Park in Canton, Ohio (two games on May 10 and June 21) and at Neil Park (one game on May 17). Previously, the Naps played Sunday games at Jail Flats in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Fairview Park in Dayton, Ohio. This would be the last season of separate Sunday games.
The Detroit Tigers ceased playing at their prior Sunday home game venue at Burns Park in Springwells Township (outside of Detroit city limits), and played at Armory Park in Toledo, Ohio (two games on June 28 and August 16) and Ramona Park in East Grand Rapids, Michigan (one game on May 24).

On August 8, in what is known as the worst disaster in American sports spectating history, Black Saturday, a section of balcony at the Philadelphia Phillies' home at the Baker Bowl collapsed, killing 12 spectators and injuring 232. The Philadelphia Phillies played their last 16 of their 61 home games at the home of the American League crosstown Philadelphia Athletics, Columbia Park from August 20.

References

"History of the World Series – 1903". The Sporting News.
"World Series Summary". MLB Advanced Media.
"World Series: Every World Series in Major League Baseball History".
"A guide to rules changes in MLB (and sports) history".
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. (June 9, 2012). "Pitching Mound Is a Work of Art Often Abused".
(1901-02-27). "The National League Rules Committee decrees that all foul balls are to count as strikes, except after two strikes. - This Day In Baseball".
(2010-02-27). "This Day in Sports: The National League Makes it Way Harder for Fans to Catch a Foul Ball".
Miskowiec, Abigail. "1902 Winter Meetings: A Peace Accord – Society for American Baseball Research".
"1903 Major League Managers".
"Boston Braves – Seamheads.com Ballparks Database".
"Cleveland Indians – Seamheads.com Ballparks Database".
"Detroit Tigers – Seamheads.com Ballparks Database".
Shieber, Tom. (2011-08-09). "Baseball Researcher: Nix Flicks Sticks in Box for Sox in Rox".
Rhodes, Greg. (2007). "Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Highlights: Memorable Moments in Team History As Heard on the Reds Radio Network". Clerisy Press.
"1903 American League Batting Leaders".
"1903 American League Pitching Leaders".
"1903 National League Batting Leaders".
"1903 National League Pitching Leaders".
(September 19, 1903). "No Hit Game For Fraser". St. Paul Globe.
Mackin, Bob. (2004). "The Unofficial Guide to Baseball's Most Unusual Records". Greystone Books.
"San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Cleveland Guardians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
"Seamheads.com Ballparks Database".
Griggs, Bill. "League Park (Fort Wayne, IN) – Society for American Baseball Research".
Browning, William. "Worst spectator deaths at sporting events". Yahoo Sports.
"1903 Philadelphia Phillies Schedule".

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