# 1906 Major League Baseball season

The 1906 major league baseball season began on April 12, 1906. The regular season ended on October 7, with the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox as regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the third modern World Series on October 9 and ended with Game 6 on October 14. The White Sox defeated the Cubs, four games to two, capturing their first championship in franchise history. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Giants from the 1905 season.

## Schedule

The 1906 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.
National League Opening Day took place on April 12 with all teams playing, while American League Opening Day did not take place until April 14 with four teams playing. The final day of the regular season was on October 7. The World Series took place between October 9 and October 14.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Boston Americans | Boston, Massachusetts | Huntington Avenue Grounds | 11,500 | Jimmy Collins |
| American League | Boston Americans | Boston, Massachusetts | Huntington Avenue Grounds | 11,500 | Chick Stahl |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | South Side Park | 14,000 | Fielder Jones |
| American League | Cleveland Naps | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Nap Lajoie |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Bennett Park | 8,500 | Bill Armour |
| American League | New York Highlanders | New York, New York | Hilltop Park | 16,000 | Clark Griffith |
| American League | Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Columbia Park | 13,600 | Connie Mack |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 8,000 | Jimmy McAleer |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | National Park | 9,000 | Jake Stahl |
| National League | Boston Beaneaters | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 6,600 | Fred Tenney |
| National League | Brooklyn Superbas | New York, New York | Washington Park | 12,000 | Patsy Donovan |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 14,200 | Frank Chance |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Palace of the Fans | 12,000 | Ned Hanlon |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | John McGraw |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | National League Park | 18,000 | Hugh Duffy |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 16,000 | Fred Clarke |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | League Park (St. Louis) | 15,200 | John McCloskey |

## Standings
### American League

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago White Sox | 93 | 58 | .616 | — | 54‍–‍23 | 39‍–‍35 |
| New York Highlanders | 90 | 61 | .596 | 3 | 53‍–‍23 | 37‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Naps | 89 | 64 | .582 | 5 | 47‍–‍30 | 42‍–‍34 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 78 | 67 | .538 | 12 | 48‍–‍23 | 30‍–‍44 |
| St. Louis Browns | 76 | 73 | .510 | 16 | 40‍–‍34 | 36‍–‍39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 71 | 78 | .477 | 21 | 42‍–‍34 | 29‍–‍44 |
| Washington Senators | 55 | 95 | .367 | 37½ | 33‍–‍41 | 22‍–‍54 |
| Boston Americans | 49 | 105 | .318 | 45½ | 22‍–‍54 | 27‍–‍51 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago Cubs | 116 | 36 | .763 | — | 56‍–‍21 | 60‍–‍15 |
| New York Giants | 96 | 56 | .632 | 20 | 51‍–‍24 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 93 | 60 | .608 | 23½ | 49‍–‍27 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | 82 | .464 | 45½ | 37‍–‍40 | 34‍–‍42 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 66 | 86 | .434 | 50 | 31‍–‍44 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 64 | 87 | .424 | 51½ | 36‍–‍40 | 28‍–‍47 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 52 | 98 | .347 | 63 | 28‍–‍48 | 24‍–‍50 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 49 | 102 | .325 | 66½ | 28‍–‍47 | 21‍–‍55 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | Chicago White Sox | 4 |
| NL | Chicago Cubs | 2 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Brooklyn Superbas | Ned Hanlon | Patsy Donovan |
| Cincinnati Reds | Joe Kelley | Ned Hanlon |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Stanley Robison | John McCloskey |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Boston Americans | Jimmy Collins | Chick Stahl |

## 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 | George Stone (SLB) | .358 |
| OPS | George Stone (SLB) | .918 |
| HR | Harry Davis (PHA) | 12 |
| RBI | Harry Davis (PHA) | 96 |
| R | Elmer Flick (CLE) | 98 |
| H | Nap Lajoie (CLE) | 214 |
| SB | John Anderson (WSH) Elmer Flick (CLE) | 39 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Al Orth (NYH) | 27 |
| L | Joe Harris (BSA) Cy Young (BSA) | 21 |
| ERA | Doc White (CWS) | 1.52 |
| K | Rube Waddell (PHA) | 196 |
| IP | Al Orth (NYH) | 338.2 |
| SV | Charles Bender (PHA) Otto Hess (CLE) | 3 |
| WHIP | Doc White (CWS) | 0.903 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Honus Wagner (PIT) | .339 |
| OPS | Honus Wagner (PIT) | .875 |
| HR | Tim Jordan (BKN) | 12 |
| RBI | Joe Nealon (PIT) Harry Steinfeldt (CHC) | 83 |
| R | Frank Chance (CHC) Honus Wagner (PIT) | 103 |
| H | Harry Steinfeldt (CHC) | 176 |
| SB | Frank Chance (CHC) | 57 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 27 |
| L | Gus Dorner (BSB/CIN) | 26 |
| ERA | Mordecai Brown (CHC) | 1.04 |
| K | Fred Beebe (STL/CHC) | 171 |
| IP | Irv Young (BSB) | 358.1 |
| SV | Cecil Ferguson (NYG) | 7 |
| WHIP | Mordecai Brown (CHC) | 0.934 |

## Milestones

The Chicago Cubs won a record 116 games while losing only 36. Their .763 winning percentage remains the highest in the modern (two-league) era. They were led offensively by third baseman Harry Steinfeldt whose 176 hits, .327 batting average and 83 RBIs were all a team-best; Steinfeldt also had 29 stolen bases. The Cubs' pitching staff consisted of Ed Reulbach, Carl Lundgren, Mordecai Brown and left-hander Jack Pfiester.

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Chicago Cubs | 116 | 26.1% | 654,300 | 28.3% | 8,282 |
| Chicago White Sox | 93 | 1.1% | 585,202 | −14.9% | 7,408 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 78 | −15.2% | 489,129 | −11.8% | 6,700 |
| New York Highlanders | 90 | 26.8% | 434,700 | 40.6% | 5,720 |
| Boston Americans | 49 | −37.2% | 410,209 | −12.5% | 5,327 |
| New York Giants | 96 | −8.6% | 402,850 | −27.1% | 5,371 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 93 | −3.1% | 394,877 | 7.0% | 5,128 |
| St. Louis Browns | 76 | 40.7% | 389,157 | 14.8% | 5,120 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 64 | −19.0% | 330,056 | 5.1% | 4,231 |
| Cleveland Naps | 89 | 17.1% | 325,733 | 3.0% | 4,123 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | −14.5% | 294,680 | −7.3% | 3,827 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 52 | −10.3% | 283,770 | −3.1% | 3,685 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 66 | 37.5% | 277,400 | 21.7% | 3,650 |
| Detroit Tigers | 71 | −10.1% | 174,043 | −10.0% | 2,231 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 49 | −3.9% | 143,280 | −4.5% | 1,885 |
| Washington Senators | 55 | −14.1% | 129,903 | −48.5% | 1,732 |

## Events

* July 4 – Mordecai Brown of the Chicago Cubs defeats Lefty Leifield of the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1–0, in which both pitchers allowed only one hit. Leifield recorded the only hit for Pittsburgh. This was the first double one-hitter in MLB history in the modern era (since 1901), and one of four double one-hitters ever pitched.
* September 26 – After being held scoreless for 48 consecutive innings, the Philadelphia Athletics finally score on a two-run double by Harry Davis, but still lose to the Cleveland Naps, 5–3.