# 1916 New York Giants season

The 1916 New York Giants season was the franchise's 34th season. The team finished in fourth place in the National League with an 86–66 record, 7 games behind the Brooklyn Robins. This season introduced a new uniform design.

## Opening day games

The first game of the home season was on April 20, 1916, at the Polo Grounds. John Purroy Mitchel threw the ceremonial first pitch.

## Regular season

The 1916 Giants set a still-standing Major League record for the longest winning streak at 26 games between September 7 to 30. Earlier in the season, the Giants had won 17 consecutive games. Despite the winning streaks, no Giants pitcher won 20 games.
For the only time in franchise history, the Giants failed to score a run in a three-game series; they were shut out in all three games against St. Louis, August 20–22.
Former Federal League star Benny Kauff led the team in runs batted in and stolen bases.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Robins | 94 | 60 | .610 | — | 50‍–‍27 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 91 | 62 | .595 | 2½ | 50‍–‍29 | 41‍–‍33 |
| Boston Braves | 89 | 63 | .586 | 4 | 41‍–‍31 | 48‍–‍32 |
| New York Giants | 86 | 66 | .566 | 7 | 47‍–‍30 | 39‍–‍36 |
| Chicago Cubs | 67 | 86 | .438 | 26½ | 37‍–‍41 | 30‍–‍45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 65 | 89 | .422 | 29 | 37‍–‍40 | 28‍–‍49 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 60 | 93 | .392 | 33½ | 36‍–‍40 | 24‍–‍53 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 60 | 93 | .392 | 33½ | 32‍–‍44 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1916 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 13–9 | 14–7–2 | 13–9–1 | 11–10–1 | 11–11–1 | 14–8–1 | 13–9 |
| Brooklyn | 9–13 | — | 15–7–1 | 15–7–1 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 7–14–2 | 7–15–1 | — | 9–13 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 14–8 |
| Cincinnati | 9–13–1 | 7–15–1 | 13–9 | — | 5–16 | 5–17 | 13–9 | 8–14 |
| New York | 10–11–1 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 16–5 | — | 9–13 | 17–5–2 | 15–7 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11–1 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 17–5 | 13–9 | — | 13–9 | 12–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–14–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 5–17–2 | 9–13 | — | 16–6 |
| St. Louis | 9–13 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 14–8 | 7–15 | 9–12 | 6–16 | — |

### Notable transactions

* August 28, 1916: Larry Doyle, Merwin Jacobson, and Herb Hunter were traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Heinie Zimmerman and Mickey Doolan.

### 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 | Bill Rariden | 120 | 351 | 78 | .222 | 1 | 29 |
| 1B | Fred Merkle | 112 | 401 | 95 | .237 | 7 | 44 |
| 2B | Larry Doyle | 113 | 441 | 118 | .268 | 2 | 47 |
| 3B | Bill McKechnie | 71 | 260 | 64 | .246 | 0 | 17 |
| SS | Art Fletcher | 133 | 500 | 143 | .286 | 3 | 66 |
| OF | Benny Kauff | 154 | 552 | 146 | .264 | 9 | 74 |
| OF | Dave Robertson | 150 | 587 | 180 | .307 | 12 | 69 |
| OF | George Burns | 155 | 623 | 174 | .279 | 5 | 41 |

#### 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 |
| Buck Herzog | 77 | 280 | 73 | .261 | 0 | 25 |
| Heinie Zimmerman | 40 | 151 | 41 | .272 | 0 | 19 |
| Walter Holke | 34 | 111 | 39 | .351 | 0 | 13 |
| Hans Lobert | 48 | 76 | 17 | .224 | 0 | 11 |
| George Kelly | 49 | 76 | 12 | .158 | 0 | 3 |
| Edd Roush | 39 | 69 | 13 | .188 | 0 | 5 |
| Lew McCarty | 25 | 68 | 27 | .397 | 0 | 9 |
| Brad Kocher | 34 | 65 | 7 | .108 | 0 | 1 |
| Mickey Doolan | 18 | 51 | 12 | .235 | 1 | 3 |
| Herb Hunter | 21 | 28 | 7 | .250 | 1 | 4 |
| Red Dooin | 15 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 0 |
| Fred Brainard | 2 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Lew Wendell | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Killefer | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 |
| Heinie Stafford | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| José Rodríguez | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
| Duke Kelleher | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Jeff Tesreau | 40 | 268.1 | 18 | 14 | 2.92 | 113 |
| Pol Perritt | 40 | 251.0 | 18 | 11 | 2.62 | 115 |
| Rube Benton | 38 | 238.2 | 16 | 8 | 2.87 | 115 |
| Fred Anderson | 38 | 188.0 | 9 | 13 | 3.40 | 98 |
| Slim Sallee | 15 | 111.2 | 9 | 4 | 1.37 | 35 |

#### 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 |
| Ferdie Schupp | 30 | 140.1 | 9 | 3 | 0.90 | 86 |
| Christy Mathewson | 12 | 65.2 | 3 | 4 | 2.33 | 16 |
| Sailor Stroud | 10 | 46.2 | 1 | 2 | 2.70 | 16 |
| Rube Schauer | 19 | 45.2 | 1 | 4 | 2.96 | 24 |
| Emilio Palmero | 4 | 15.2 | 0 | 3 | 8.04 | 8 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| George Smith | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.61 | 9 |
| Hank Ritter | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |

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

George Burns
* NL leader in runs scored (105)
* 4th in NL in stolen bases (37)
Benny Kauff
* 2nd in NL in stolen bases (40)
* 4th in NL in RBI (74)
Dave Robertson
* MLB leader in home runs (12)
* 3rd in NL in runs scored (88)