# 1905 Philadelphia Athletics season

The 1905 Philadelphia Athletics season was a season in American baseball. The team finished first in the American League with a record of 92 wins and 56 losses, winning their second pennant. They went on to face the New York Giants in the 1905 World Series, losing 4 games to 1.
The pitching staff featured three future Hall of Famers: Rube Waddell, Eddie Plank, and Chief Bender. Waddell easily won the pitching triple crown in 1905, with 27 wins, 287 strikeouts, and a 1.48 earned run average.

## Preseason
### 1905 Philadelphia City Series

The Athletics played eight games against the Philadelphia Phillies for the local championship in the pre-season city series. The Athletics and Phillies tied in the series, 4 games to 4.
Two games scheduled for April 5, 1905 at the Phillies' Philadelphia Ball Park, and for April 6, 1905 at the Athletics' Columbia Park were called off on account of wet grounds.
AL Philadelphia Athletics (4) vs. NL Philadelphia Phillies (4)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | April 1, 1905 | Philadelphia Phillies – 0, Philadelphia Athletics – 4 | Columbia Park | 1:40 | 14,830 |
| 2 | April 3, 1905 | Philadelphia Athletics – 3, Philadelphia Phillies – 2 | Philadelphia Ball Park | 1:45 | 4,642 |
| 3 | April 4, 1905 | Philadelphia Phillies – 4, Philadelphia Athletics – 3 | Columbia Park | 1:40 | 2,451 |
| 4 | April 7, 1905 | Philadelphia Phillies – 1, Philadelphia Athletics – 6 | Columbia Park | 1:30 | 1,905 |
| 5 | April 8, 1905 | Philadelphia Athletics – 1, Philadelphia Phillies – 3 | Philadelphia Ball Park | 1:35 | 4,372 |
| 6 | April 10, 1905 | Philadelphia Athletics – 5, Philadelphia Phillies – 1 | Philadelphia Ball Park | 1:40 | 2,896 |
| 7 | April 11, 1905 | Philadelphia Phillies – 8, Philadelphia Athletics – 5 | Columbia Park | 1:45 | 1,874 |
| 8 | April 12, 1905 | Philadelphia Athletics – 0, Philadelphia Phillies – 5 | Philadelphia Ball Park | 1:40 | 1,975 |
The A's all-time record against the Phillies was 14–14 through 1905.

## Regular season

The A's offense scored the most runs in the league. Slugger Harry Davis led all players in home runs, runs scored, and runs batted in.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 92 | 56 | .622 | — | 51‍–‍22 | 41‍–‍34 |
| Chicago White Sox | 92 | 60 | .605 | 2 | 50‍–‍29 | 42‍–‍31 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 74 | .516 | 15½ | 45‍–‍30 | 34‍–‍44 |
| Boston Americans | 78 | 74 | .513 | 16 | 44‍–‍32 | 34‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Naps | 76 | 78 | .494 | 19 | 41‍–‍36 | 35‍–‍42 |
| New York Highlanders | 71 | 78 | .477 | 21½ | 40‍–‍35 | 31‍–‍43 |
| Washington Senators | 64 | 87 | .424 | 29½ | 33‍–‍42 | 31‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 54 | 99 | .353 | 40½ | 34‍–‍42 | 20‍–‍57 |

### Record vs. opponents

1905 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYH | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 6–16–1 | 14–8 | 10–12 | 13–8 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 13–8 |
| Chicago | 16–6–1 | — | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 15–7–1 | 9–12–1 | 14–7–1 | 14–8–1 |
| Cleveland | 8–14 | 9–13 | — | 12–10 | 12–10 | 7–15 | 14–8–1 | 14–8 |
| Detroit | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 10–12 | — | 13–8 | 9–13 | 13–9 | 11–11 |
| New York | 8–13 | 7–15–1 | 10–12 | 8–13 | — | 8–11–1 | 15–7 | 15–7–1 |
| Philadelphia | 15–7 | 12–9–1 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 11–8–1 | — | 15–7–1 | 11–9–1 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–14–1 | 8–14–1 | 9–13 | 7–15 | 7–15–1 | — | 9–13 |
| Washington | 8–13 | 8–14–1 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 7–15–1 | 9–11–1 | 13–9 | — |

### Birth of the Elephant mascot

After New York Giants' manager John McGraw told reporters that Philadelphia manufacturer Ben Shibe, who owned the controlling interest in the Athletics, had a "white elephant on his hands", manager Connie Mack defiantly adopted the white elephant as the team mascot, and presented McGraw with a stuffed toy elephant at the start of the 1905 World Series. McGraw and Mack had known each other for years, and McGraw accepted it graciously.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Ossee Schreckengost | 123 | 420 | 114 | .271 | 0 | 45 |
| 1B | Harry Davis | 150 | 607 | 173 | .285 | 8 | 83 |
| 2B | Danny Murphy | 151 | 537 | 149 | .277 | 6 | 71 |
| 3B | Lave Cross | 147 | 587 | 156 | .266 | 0 | 77 |
| SS | John Knight | 88 | 325 | 66 | .203 | 3 | 29 |
| LF | Topsy Hartsel | 150 | 538 | 148 | .275 | 0 | 28 |
| CF | Danny Hoffman | 120 | 459 | 120 | .261 | 1 | 35 |
| RF | Socks Seybold | 133 | 492 | 135 | .274 | 6 | 59 |

#### 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 |
| Monte Cross | 79 | 252 | 67 | .266 | 0 | 24 |
| Bris Lord | 66 | 238 | 57 | .239 | 0 | 13 |
| Doc Powers | 40 | 121 | 18 | .149 | 0 | 10 |
| Harry Barton | 29 | 60 | 10 | .167 | 0 | 3 |

### 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 |
| Eddie Plank | 41 | 346.2 | 24 | 12 | 2.26 | 210 |
| Rube Waddell | 46 | 328.2 | 27 | 10 | 1.48 | 287 |
| Andy Coakley | 35 | 255.0 | 18 | 8 | 1.84 | 145 |
| Weldon Henley | 25 | 183.2 | 4 | 11 | 2.60 | 82 |
| Joseph Myers | 1 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Chief Bender | 35 | 229.0 | 18 | 11 | 2.83 | 142 |
| Jimmy Dygert | 6 | 35.1 | 1 | 4 | 4.33 | 24 |

## 1905 World Series

NL New York Giants (4) vs AL Philadelphia Athletics (1)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Giants – 3, Athletics – 0 | October 9 | Columbia Park | 17,995 |
| 2 | Athletics – 3, Giants – 0 | October 10 | Polo Grounds | 24,992 |
| 3 | Giants – 9, Athletics – 0 | October 12 | Columbia Park | 10,991 |
| 4 | Athletics – 0, Giants – 1 | October 13 | Polo Grounds | 13,598 |
| 5 | Athletics – 0, Giants – 2 | October 14 | Polo Grounds | 24,187 |

## Awards and honors
### American League top five finishers

Andy Coakley
* #4 earned run average (1.84)
Lave Cross
* #2 runs batted in (77)
Harry Davis
* #1 runs batted in (83)
* #1 home runs (8)
* #1 runs scored (93)
* #4 slugging percentage (.422)
Topsy Hartsel
* #1 on-base percentage (.409)
* #4 runs scored (88)
* #4 stolen bases (37)
Danny Hoffman
* #1 in stolen bases (46)
Eddie Plank
* #2 wins (24)
* #2 strikeouts (210)
Rube Waddell
* #1 wins (27)
* #1 earned run average (1.48)
* #1 strikeouts (287)
* #2 shutouts (7)