# 1917 Major League Baseball season

The 1917 major league baseball season began on April 11, 1917. The regular season ended on October 4, with the New York Giants and Chicago White Sox as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 14th World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 6 on October 15. The White Sox defeated the Giants, four games to two, capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1906. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Boston Red Sox from the 1916 season.

## Schedule

The 1917 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 11, featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend which started with the 1912 season. The final day of the regular season was on October 4. The World Series took place between October 7 and October 12.

## Rule changes

The 1917 season saw earned run statistics and definitions added to the rules.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 35,000 | Jack Barry |
| 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 | 36,000 | 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 | Fred Mitchell |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Redland Field | 20,696 | Christy Mathewson |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Brush Stadium | 36,000 | 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 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 25,000 | Honus Wagner |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 25,000 | Hugo Bezdek |
| 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 |
| Chicago White Sox | 100 | 54 | .649 | — | 56‍–‍21 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Boston Red Sox | 90 | 62 | .592 | 9 | 45‍–‍33 | 45‍–‍29 |
| Cleveland Indians | 88 | 66 | .571 | 12 | 44‍–‍34 | 44‍–‍32 |
| Detroit Tigers | 78 | 75 | .510 | 21½ | 34‍–‍41 | 44‍–‍34 |
| Washington Senators | 74 | 79 | .484 | 25½ | 42‍–‍35 | 32‍–‍44 |
| New York Yankees | 71 | 82 | .464 | 28½ | 35‍–‍40 | 36‍–‍42 |
| St. Louis Browns | 57 | 97 | .370 | 43 | 31‍–‍46 | 26‍–‍51 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 55 | 98 | .359 | 44½ | 29‍–‍47 | 26‍–‍51 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 50‍–‍28 | 48‍–‍28 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 65 | .572 | 10 | 46‍–‍29 | 41‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 82 | 70 | .539 | 15 | 38‍–‍38 | 44‍–‍32 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 78 | 76 | .506 | 20 | 39‍–‍38 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 74 | 80 | .481 | 24 | 35‍–‍42 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Boston Braves | 72 | 81 | .471 | 25½ | 35‍–‍42 | 37‍–‍39 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 70 | 81 | .464 | 26½ | 36‍–‍38 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 51 | 103 | .331 | 47 | 25‍–‍53 | 26‍–‍50 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | Chicago White Sox | 4 |
| NL | New York Giants | 2 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Boston Red Sox | Bill Carrigan | Jack Barry |
| Chicago Cubs | Joe Tinker | Fred Mitchell |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Jimmy Callahan | Honus Wagner |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Honus Wagner | Hugo Bezdek |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Ty Cobb (DET) | .383 |
| OPS | Ty Cobb (DET) | 1.014 |
| HR | Wally Pipp (NYY) | 9 |
| RBI | Bobby Veach (DET) | 110 |
| R | Donie Bush (DET) | 112 |
| H | Ty Cobb (DET) | 225 |
| SB | Ty Cobb (DET) | 55 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Eddie Cicotte (CWS) | 28 |
| L | Bob Groom (SLB) Allen Sothoron (SLB) | 19 |
| ERA | Eddie Cicotte (CWS) | 1.53 |
| K | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 188 |
| IP | Eddie Cicotte (CWS) | 346.2 |
| SV | Dave Danforth (CWS) | 9 |
| WHIP | Eddie Cicotte (CWS) | 0.912 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Edd Roush (CIN) | .341 |
| OPS | Rogers Hornsby (SLC) | .868 |
| HR | Gavvy Cravath (PHP) Dave Robertson (NYG) | 12 |
| RBI | Heinie Zimmerman (NYG) | 100 |
| R | George Burns (NYG) | 103 |
| H | Heinie Groh (CIN) | 182 |
| SB | Max Carey (PIT) | 46 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Grover Alexander (PHP) | 30 |
| L | Jesse Barnes (BSB) Eppa Rixey (PHP) | 21 |
| ERA | Fred Anderson (NYG) | 1.44 |
| K | Grover Alexander (PHP) | 200 |
| IP | Grover Alexander (PHP) | 388.0 |
| SV | Slim Sallee (NYG) | 4 |
| WHIP | Fred Anderson (NYG) | 0.963 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Chicago White Sox | 100 | 12.4% | 684,521 | 0.7% | 8,665 |
| New York Giants | 98 | 14.0% | 500,264 | −9.4% | 6,253 |
| Cleveland Indians | 88 | 14.3% | 477,298 | −3.0% | 6,119 |
| Detroit Tigers | 78 | −10.3% | 457,289 | −25.9% | 6,017 |
| Boston Red Sox | 90 | −1.1% | 387,856 | −21.9% | 4,848 |
| Chicago Cubs | 74 | 10.4% | 360,218 | −20.6% | 4,678 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | −4.4% | 354,428 | −31.2% | 4,664 |
| New York Yankees | 71 | −11.3% | 330,294 | −29.6% | 4,404 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 82 | 36.7% | 288,491 | 28.6% | 3,699 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 78 | 30.0% | 269,056 | 5.2% | 3,363 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 70 | −25.5% | 221,619 | −50.5% | 2,841 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 55 | 52.8% | 221,432 | 20.0% | 2,914 |
| St. Louis Browns | 57 | −27.8% | 210,486 | −37.3% | 2,699 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 51 | −21.5% | 192,807 | −33.3% | 2,441 |
| Boston Braves | 72 | −19.1% | 174,253 | −44.4% | 2,263 |
| Washington Senators | 74 | −2.6% | 89,682 | −49.4% | 1,121 |