# 1916 Major League Baseball season

The 1916 major league baseball season began on April 12, 1916. The regular season ended on October 5, with the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Red Sox as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 13th World Series on October 7 and ended with Game 5 on October 12. The Red Sox defeated the Robins, four games to one, capturing their fourth championship in franchise history, and the third team to win back-to-back World Series.
Interference by the National and American Leagues in their operations caused the two-season Federal League to fold prior to the 1916 season.

## Schedule

The 1916 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place for the 1904 season. This format would last until 1919.
Opening Day, April 14, featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend which started with the 1912 season. The American League would see its final day of the regular season on October 4, while the National League would see its final day of the regular season was on October 5. The World Series took place between October 7 and October 12.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 35,000 | Bill Carrigan |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | Comiskey Park | 28,000 | Pants Rowland |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park | 21,414 | Lee Fohl |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Navin Field | 23,000 | Hughie Jennings |
| American League | New York Yankees | New York, New York | Brush Stadium | 34,000 | Bill Donovan |
| American League | Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Shibe Park | 23,000 | Connie Mack |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 18,000 | Fielder Jones |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Griffith Stadium | 27,000 | Clark Griffith |
| National League | Boston Braves | Boston, Massachusetts | Braves Field | 40,000 | George Stallings |
| National League | Brooklyn Robins | New York, New York | Ebbets Field | 30,000 | Wilbert Robinson |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | Weeghman Park | 15,000 | Joe Tinker |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Redland Field | 20,696 | Buck Herzog |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Redland Field | 20,696 | Ivey Wingo |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Redland Field | 20,696 | Christy Mathewson |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Brush Stadium | 34,000 | John McGraw |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | National League Park | 18,000 | Pat Moran |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 25,000 | Jimmy Callahan |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Robison Field | 21,000 | Miller Huggins |

## Standings
### American League

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 91 | 63 | .591 | — | 49‍–‍28 | 42‍–‍35 |
| Chicago White Sox | 89 | 65 | .578 | 2 | 49‍–‍28 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Detroit Tigers | 87 | 67 | .565 | 4 | 49‍–‍28 | 38‍–‍39 |
| New York Yankees | 80 | 74 | .519 | 11 | 46‍–‍31 | 34‍–‍43 |
| St. Louis Browns | 79 | 75 | .513 | 12 | 45‍–‍32 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 77 | 77 | .500 | 14 | 44‍–‍33 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Washington Senators | 76 | 77 | .497 | 14½ | 49‍–‍28 | 27‍–‍49 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 36 | 117 | .235 | 54½ | 23‍–‍53 | 13‍–‍64 |

### National League

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 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | Boston Red Sox | 4 |
| NL | Brooklyn Robins | 1 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Baltimore Terrapins | Otto Knabe | Team folded |
| Brooklyn Tip-Tops | John Ganzel | Team folded |
| Buffalo Blues | Harry Lord | Team folded |
| Chicago Cubs | Roger Bresnahan | Joe Tinker |
| Chicago Whales | Joe Tinker | Team folded |
| Kansas City Packers | George Stovall | Team folded |
| Newark Peppers | Bill McKechnie | Team folded |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Fred Clarke | Jimmy Callahan |
| Pittsburgh Rebels | Rebel Oakes | Team folded |
| St. Louis Browns | Branch Rickey | Fielder Jones |
| St. Louis Terriers | Fielder Jones | Team folded |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Cincinnati Reds | Buck Herzog | Ivey Wingo |
| Cincinnati Reds | Ivey Wingo | Christy Mathewson |

## League leaders

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Tris Speaker (CLE) | .386 |
| OPS | Tris Speaker (CLE) | .972 |
| HR | Wally Pipp (NYY) | 12 |
| RBI | Del Pratt (SLB) | 103 |
| R | Ty Cobb (DET) | 113 |
| H | Tris Speaker (CLE) | 211 |
| SB | Ty Cobb (DET) | 68 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 25 |
| L | Bullet Joe Bush (PHA) | 24 |
| ERA | Babe Ruth (BRS) | 1.75 |
| K | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 228 |
| IP | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 369.2 |
| SV | Bob Shawkey (NYY) | 8 |
| WHIP | Reb Russell (CWS) | 0.942 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Hal Chase (CIN) | .339 |
| OPS | Cy Williams (CHC) | .831 |
| HR | Dave Robertson (NYG) Cy Williams (CHC) | 12 |
| RBI | Heinie Zimmerman (NYG/CHC) | 128 |
| R | George Burns (NYG) | 105 |
| H | Hal Chase (CIN) | 184 |
| SB | Max Carey (PIT) | 63 |
$^1$ National League Triple Crown pitching winner
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Grover Alexander$^1$ (PHP) | 33 |
| L | Lee Meadows (SLC) | 23 |
| ERA | Grover Alexander$^1$ (PHP) | 1.55 |
| K | Grover Alexander$^1$ (PHP) | 167 |
| IP | Grover Alexander (PHP) | 389.0 |
| SV | Red Ames (SLC) | 8 |
| WHIP | Grover Alexander (PHP) | 0.959 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Chicago White Sox | 89 | −4.3% | 679,923 | 26.0% | 8,830 |
| Detroit Tigers | 87 | −13.0% | 616,772 | 29.5% | 8,010 |
| New York Giants | 86 | 24.6% | 552,056 | 40.9% | 7,078 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 91 | 1.1% | 515,365 | 14.6% | 6,524 |
| Boston Red Sox | 91 | −9.9% | 496,397 | −8.1% | 6,364 |
| Cleveland Indians | 77 | 35.1% | 492,106 | 208.9% | 6,309 |
| New York Yankees | 80 | 15.9% | 469,211 | 83.3% | 5,939 |
| Chicago Cubs | 67 | −8.2% | 453,685 | 109.0% | 5,743 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 94 | 17.5% | 447,747 | 50.4% | 5,740 |
| St. Louis Browns | 79 | 25.4% | 335,740 | 123.3% | 4,250 |
| Boston Braves | 89 | 7.2% | 313,495 | −16.7% | 4,019 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 65 | −11.0% | 289,132 | 28.1% | 3,707 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 60 | −15.5% | 255,846 | 16.9% | 3,366 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 60 | −16.7% | 224,308 | −11.2% | 2,951 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 36 | −16.3% | 184,471 | 26.2% | 2,427 |
| Washington Senators | 76 | −10.6% | 177,265 | 5.9% | 2,188 |

## Notable events

* July 28 – In the course of an 8–6 defeat to the St Louis Browns, Philadelphia Athletics second baseman Nap Lajoie plays his lone game in center field.