# 1920 Brooklyn Robins season

The 1920 Brooklyn Robins, also known as the Dodgers, won 16 of their final 18 games to pull away from a tight pennant race and earn a trip to their second World Series against the Cleveland Indians. They lost the series in seven games.The team featured four Hall of Famers: manager Wilbert Robinson, pitchers Burleigh Grimes and Rube Marquard, and outfielder Zack Wheat. Grimes anchored a pitching staff that allowed the fewest runs in the majors.

## Offseason

* January 1920: Frank O'Rourke was purchased from the Robins by the Washington Senators.
* January 12, 1920: Mack Wheat was purchased from the Robins by the Philadelphia Phillies.
* March 1920: Bill Lamar was purchased by the Robins from the Boston Red Sox.

## Regular season

On May 1, Brooklyn and the Boston Braves played what remains the longest major league baseball game, tied 1 to 1 at the end of nine innings and then going scoreless for 17 more until the 26-inning game was called because of darkness

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Robins | 93 | 61 | .604 | — | 49‍–‍29 | 44‍–‍32 |
| New York Giants | 86 | 68 | .558 | 7 | 45‍–‍35 | 41‍–‍33 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 82 | 71 | .536 | 10½ | 42‍–‍34 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 79 | 75 | .513 | 14 | 42‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 79 | .487 | 18 | 38‍–‍38 | 37‍–‍41 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 18 | 43‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Boston Braves | 62 | 90 | .408 | 30 | 36‍–‍37 | 26‍–‍53 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 62 | 91 | .405 | 30½ | 32‍–‍45 | 30‍–‍46 |

### Record vs. opponents

1920 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 8–14–1 | 7–15 | 9–12 | 10–12 | 10–11 | 7–15 | 11–11 |
| Brooklyn | 14–8–1 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 15–7 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 12–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | — | 6–16–1 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 13–9 |
| New York | 12–10 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 16–6–1 | — | 12–10 | 13–9 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 11–10 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 10–12 | — | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| Pittsburgh | 15–7 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 13–9 | — | 11–11–1 |
| St. Louis | 11–11 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 11–11–1 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 22, 1920: Bill McCabe was purchased by the Robins from the Chicago Cubs.
* July 1920: Wally Hood was purchased from the Robins by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* July 27, 1920: Doug Baird was purchased from the Robins by the New York Giants.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Otto Miller | 90 | 301 | 16 | 87 | .289 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| 1B | Ed Konetchy | 131 | 497 | 62 | 153 | .308 | 5 | 63 | 3 |
| 2B | Pete Kilduff | 141 | 478 | 62 | 130 | .272 | 0 | 58 | 2 |
| 3B | Jimmy Johnston | 155 | 635 | 87 | 185 | .291 | 1 | 52 | 19 |
| SS | Ivy Olson | 143 | 637 | 71 | 162 | .254 | 1 | 46 | 4 |
| OF | Hy Myers | 154 | 582 | 83 | 177 | .304 | 4 | 80 | 9 |
| OF | Zack Wheat | 148 | 583 | 89 | 191 | .328 | 9 | 73 | 8 |
| OF | Tommy Griffith | 93 | 334 | 41 | 87 | .260 | 2 | 30 | 3 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| Bernie Neis | 95 | 249 | 38 | 63 | .253 | 2 | 22 | 9 |
| Ernie Krueger | 52 | 146 | 21 | 42 | .288 | 1 | 17 | 2 |
| Rowdy Elliott | 41 | 112 | 13 | 27 | .241 | 1 | 13 | 0 |
| Chuck Ward | 19 | 71 | 7 | 11 | .155 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Bill McCabe | 41 | 68 | 10 | 10 | .147 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Ray Schmandt | 28 | 63 | 7 | 15 | .238 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Bill Lamar | 24 | 44 | 5 | 12 | .273 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Wally Hood | 7 | 14 | 4 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Zack Taylor | 9 | 13 | 3 | 5 | .385 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Doug Baird | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Sheehan | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Sheridan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games
| Player | G | GS | CG | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
| Burleigh Grimes | 40 | 33 | 25 | 303.2 | 23 | 11 | 2.22 | 67 | 131 |
| Leon Cadore | 35 | 30 | 16 | 254.1 | 15 | 14 | 2.62 | 56 | 79 |
| Jeff Pfeffer | 30 | 28 | 20 | 215.0 | 16 | 9 | 3.01 | 45 | 80 |
| Rube Marquard | 28 | 26 | 10 | 189.2 | 10 | 7 | 3.23 | 35 | 89 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games
| Player | G | GS | CG | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
| Al Mamaux | 41 | 18 | 9 | 190.2 | 12 | 8 | 2.69 | 63 | 101 |
| Sherry Smith | 33 | 12 | 6 | 136.1 | 11 | 9 | 1.85 | 27 | 33 |
| Clarence Mitchell | 19 | 7 | 3 | 78.2 | 5 | 2 | 3.09 | 23 | 18 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | BB | SO |
| George Mohart | 13 | 35.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.77 | 7 | 13 |
| Johnny Miljus | 9 | 23.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.09 | 4 | 9 |

## Awards and honors
### League top ten finishers

Burleigh Grimes
* #2 in NL in strikeouts (131)
* #3 in NL in wins (23)
* #3 in NL in ERA (2.22)
Zack Wheat
* #4 in NL in batting average (.328)
* #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.385)

## 1920 World Series

On October 10, 1920, which was the fifth game of the World Series, Elmer Smith of the Indians hit the first grand slam in World Series history. On the same day, Bill Wambsganss of the Indians had an unassisted triple play. He caught a liner, touched second base, and tagged the runner coming from first base. During that same game, Indians pitcher Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in World Series history.

### Game 1

October 5, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| W: Stan Coveleski (1–0) L: Rube Marquard (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 6, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Brooklyn | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Burleigh Grimes (1–0) L: Jim Bagby (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 7, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Brooklyn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| W: Sherry Smith (1–0) L: Ray Caldwell (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 9, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 12 | 1 |
| W: Stan Coveleski (2–0) L: Leon Cadore (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 5

October 10, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 8 | 12 | 2 |
| W: Jim Bagby (1–1) L: Burleigh Grimes (1–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: CLE – Elmer Smith (1), Jim Bagby (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 6

October 11, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| W: Duster Mails (1–0) L: Sherry Smith (1–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 7

October 12, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| W: Stan Coveleski (3–0) L: Burleigh Grimes (1–2) |||||||||||||