# 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.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Beaneaters | 102 | 47 | .685 | — | 62‍–‍15 | 40‍–‍32 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 96 | 53 | .644 | 6 | 58‍–‍15 | 38‍–‍38 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 92 | 60 | .605 | 11½ | 58‍–‍28 | 34‍–‍32 |
| Chicago Orphans | 85 | 65 | .567 | 17½ | 58‍–‍31 | 27‍–‍34 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 81 | 68 | .544 | 21 | 36‍–‍19 | 45‍–‍49 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 78 | 71 | .523 | 24 | 49‍–‍31 | 29‍–‍40 |
| New York Giants | 77 | 73 | .513 | 25½ | 45‍–‍28 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 72 | 76 | .486 | 29½ | 39‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍41 |
| Louisville Colonels | 70 | 81 | .464 | 33 | 43‍–‍34 | 27‍–‍47 |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 54 | 91 | .372 | 46 | 30‍–‍41 | 24‍–‍50 |
| Washington Senators | 51 | 101 | .336 | 52½ | 34‍–‍44 | 17‍–‍57 |
| St. Louis Browns | 39 | 111 | .260 | 63½ | 20‍–‍44 | 19‍–‍67 |

### Record vs. opponents

1898 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BLN | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | CLV | LOU | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | WHS |
| Baltimore | — | 5–7 | 8–5–1 | 9–5 | 8–6–1 | 8–6–1 | 9–5 | 10–3–1 | 10–3–1 | 10–4 | 12–2 | 7–7 |
| Boston | 7–5 | — | 11–2 | 9–5 | 9–4–1 | 6–7–1 | 8–6–1 | 10–4 | 10–4 | 9–5 | 12–2 | 11–3 |
| Brooklyn | 5–8–1 | 2–11 | — | 4–10 | 3–11 | 6–7 | 2–10–1 | 3–11 | 6–6 | 9–5–1 | 7–6–1 | 7–6 |
| Chicago | 5–9 | 5–9 | 10–4 | — | 6–8 | 7–7 | 9–5 | 9–5–1 | 6–7 | 7–4–1 | 10–4 | 11–3 |
| Cincinnati | 6–8–1 | 4–9–1 | 11–3 | 8–6 | — | 8–5–2 | 9–5 | 6–8–1 | 7–7 | 12–2 | 12–2 | 9–5 |
| Cleveland | 6–8–1 | 7–6–1 | 7–6 | 7–7 | 5–8–2 | — | 9–5 | 6–8 | 7–7 | 5–8 | 10–3–1 | 12–2–2 |
| Louisville | 5–9 | 6–8–1 | 10–2–1 | 5–9 | 5–9 | 5–9 | — | 6–8 | 4–10 | 4–9–1 | 10–4 | 10–4 |
| New York | 3–10–1 | 4–10 | 11–3 | 5–9–1 | 8–6–1 | 8–6 | 8–6 | — | 6–7 | 5–9–1 | 10–3–2 | 9–4–1 |
| Philadelphia | 3–10–1 | 4–10 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–7 | 7–7 | 10–4 | 7–6 | — | 6–8 | 9–5 | 12–2 |
| Pittsburgh | 4–10 | 5–9 | 5–9–1 | 4–7–1 | 2–12 | 8–5 | 9–4–1 | 9–5–1 | 8–6 | — | 9–4 | 9–5 |
| St. Louis | 2–12 | 2–12 | 6–7–1 | 4–10 | 2–12 | 3–10–1 | 4–10 | 3–10–2 | 5–9 | 4–9 | — | 4–10 |
| Washington | 7–7 | 3–11 | 6–7 | 3–11 | 5–9 | 2–12–2 | 4–10 | 4–9–1 | 2–12 | 5–9 | 10–4 | — |

### Roster
## 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 | Marty Bergen | 120 | 446 | 125 | .280 | 3 | 60 |
| 1B | Fred Tenney | 117 | 488 | 160 | .328 | 0 | 62 |
| 2B | Bobby Lowe | 147 | 559 | 152 | .272 | 4 | 94 |
| 3B | Jimmy Collins | 152 | 597 | 196 | .328 | 15 | 111 |
| SS | Herman Long | 144 | 589 | 156 | .265 | 6 | 99 |
| OF | Hugh Duffy | 152 | 568 | 169 | .298 | 8 | 108 |
| OF | Chick Stahl | 125 | 467 | 144 | .308 | 3 | 52 |
| OF | Billy Hamilton | 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 |
| George Yeager | 68 | 221 | 59 | .267 | 3 | 24 |
| General Stafford | 37 | 123 | 32 | .260 | 1 | 8 |
| Jack Stivetts | 41 | 111 | 28 | .252 | 2 | 16 |
| Charlie Hickman | 19 | 58 | 15 | .259 | 0 | 7 |
| Dave Pickett | 14 | 43 | 12 | .279 | 0 | 3 |
| Bill Keister | 10 | 30 | 5 | .167 | 0 | 4 |
| Stub Smith | 3 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| Kitty Bransfield | 5 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
| Hi Ladd | 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 |
| Kid Nichols | 50 | 388.0 | 31 | 12 | 2.13 | 138 |
| Edward M. Lewis | 41 | 313.1 | 26 | 8 | 2.90 | 72 |
| Vic Willis | 41 | 311.0 | 25 | 13 | 2.84 | 160 |
| Fred Klobedanz | 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 |
| Charlie Hickman | 6 | 33.0 | 1 | 2 | 2.18 | 9 |
| Jack Stivetts | 2 | 12.0 | 0 | 1 | 8.25 | 1 |
| Jim Sullivan | 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)