# 1909 Major League Baseball season

The 1909 major league baseball season began on April 12, 1909. The regular season ended on October 7, with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers as regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the sixth modern World Series on October 8 and ended with Game 7 on October 16. The Pirates defeated the Tigers, four games to three, capturing their first championship in franchise history. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Chicago Cubs from the 1908 season.
In the National League, the Chicago Cubs had a record of 104–49 but finished 6+1⁄2 games behind the Pirates, setting a record for the most wins in an MLB regular season without reaching the postseason, which has only been equaled once, by the 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers, who had a record of 104–50.

## Schedule

The 1909 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 took place on April 14 with all but the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals playing. The American League would see its final day of the regular season on October 3, while the National League would see its final day of the regular season was on October 7. The World Series took place between October 8 and October 16.

## Rule changes

The 1909 season saw the creation of a rule that a pitcher must face a minimum of one batter, due to a time-wasting trick to enable a team's intended pitcher to warmup for longer. This had previously occurred when one pitcher initially threw warmup pitches on the mound, before being taken out of the game (before facing a batter) to make way for a relief pitcher who now had extra warmup time.

## Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the departure from a ballpark mid-season.
| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Huntington Avenue Grounds | 11,500 | Fred Lake |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | South Side Park | 15,000 | Billy Sullivan |
| American League | Cleveland Naps | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Nap Lajoie |
| American League | Cleveland Naps | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Deacon McGuire |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Bennett Park | 8,500 | Hughie Jennings |
| American League | New York Highlanders | New York, New York | Hilltop Park | 16,000 | George Stallings |
| 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 | Jimmy McAleer |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | National Park | 9,000 | Joe Cantillon |
| National League | Boston Doves | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 9,800 | Harry Smith |
| National League | Boston Doves | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 9,800 | Frank Bowerman |
| National League | Brooklyn Superbas | New York, New York | Washington Park | 14,000 | Harry Lumley |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 16,000 | Frank Chance |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Palace of the Fans | 12,000 | Clark Griffith |
| 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 | Billy Murray |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park* | 16,000* | Fred Clarke |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 23,000 | Fred Clarke |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | League Park (St. Louis) | 21,000 | Roger Bresnahan |

## Standings
### American League

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 98 | 54 | .645 | — | 57‍–‍19 | 41‍–‍35 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 95 | 58 | .621 | 3½ | 49‍–‍27 | 46‍–‍31 |
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 63 | .583 | 9½ | 47‍–‍28 | 41‍–‍35 |
| Chicago White Sox | 78 | 74 | .513 | 20 | 42‍–‍34 | 36‍–‍40 |
| New York Highlanders | 74 | 77 | .490 | 23½ | 41‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Naps | 71 | 82 | .464 | 27½ | 39‍–‍37 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 61 | 89 | .407 | 36 | 40‍–‍37 | 21‍–‍52 |
| Washington Senators | 42 | 110 | .276 | 56 | 27‍–‍48 | 15‍–‍62 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 110 | 42 | .724 | — | 56‍–‍21 | 54‍–‍21 |
| Chicago Cubs | 104 | 49 | .680 | 6½ | 47‍–‍29 | 57‍–‍20 |
| New York Giants | 92 | 61 | .601 | 18½ | 44‍–‍33 | 48‍–‍28 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 77 | 76 | .503 | 33½ | 39‍–‍38 | 38‍–‍38 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 74 | 79 | .484 | 36½ | 40‍–‍37 | 34‍–‍42 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 55 | 98 | .359 | 55½ | 34‍–‍45 | 21‍–‍53 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 54 | 98 | .355 | 56 | 26‍–‍48 | 28‍–‍50 |
| Boston Doves | 45 | 108 | .294 | 65½ | 27‍–‍47 | 18‍–‍61 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | Detroit Tigers | 3 |
| NL | Pittsburgh Pirates | 4 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Boston Doves | Joe Kelley | Harry Smith |
| Brooklyn Superbas | Patsy Donovan | Harry Lumley |
| Chicago White Sox | Fielder Jones | Billy Sullivan |
| Cincinnati Reds | John Ganzel | Clark Griffith |
| New York Highlanders | Kid Elberfeld | George Stallings |
| St. Louis Cardinals | John McCloskey | Roger Bresnahan |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Boston Doves | Harry Smith | Frank Bowerman |
| Cleveland Naps | Nap Lajoie | Deacon McGuire |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Ty Cobb$^1$ (DET) | .377 |
| OPS | Ty Cobb (DET) | .947 |
| HR | Ty Cobb$^1$ (DET) | 9 |
| RBI | Ty Cobb$^1$ (DET) | 107 |
| R | Donie Bush (DET) Ty Cobb (DET) | 115 |
| H | Ty Cobb (DET) | 216 |
| SB | Ty Cobb (DET) | 76 |
$^1$ American League Triple Crown batting winner
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | George Mullin (DET) | 29 |
| L | Bob Groom (WSH) | 26 |
| ERA | Harry Krause (PHA) | 1.39 |
| K | Frank Smith (CWS) | 177 |
| IP | Frank Smith (CWS) | 365.0 |
| SV | Frank Arellanes (BRS) | 6 |
| WHIP | Ed Walsh (CWS) | 0.938 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Honus Wagner (PIT) | .339 |
| OPS | Honus Wagner (PIT) | .909 |
| HR | Red Murray (NYG) | 7 |
| RBI | Honus Wagner (PIT) | 100 |
| R | Tommy Leach (PIT) | 126 |
| H | Larry Doyle (NYG) | 172 |
| SB | Bob Bescher (CIN) | 54 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Mordecai Brown (CHC) | 27 |
| L | Cecil Ferguson (BSD) | 23 |
| ERA | Christy Mathewson (NYG) | 1.14 |
| K | Orval Overall (CHC) | 205 |
| IP | Mordecai Brown (CHC) | 342.2 |
| SV | Mordecai Brown (CHC) | 7 |
| WHIP | Christy Mathewson (NYG) | 0.828 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| New York Giants | 92 | -6.1% | 783,700 | -13.9% | 10,178 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 95 | 39.7% | 674,915 | 48.3% | 8,880 |
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 17.3% | 668,965 | 41.4% | 8,920 |
| Chicago Cubs | 104 | 5.1% | 633,480 | -4.8% | 8,227 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 110 | 12.2% | 534,950 | 39.9% | 6,772 |
| New York Highlanders | 74 | 45.1% | 501,000 | 64.0% | 6,506 |
| Detroit Tigers | 98 | 8.9% | 490,490 | 12.4% | 6,288 |
| Chicago White Sox | 78 | -11.4% | 478,400 | -24.8% | 5,906 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 77 | 5.5% | 424,643 | 6.4% | 5,308 |
| St. Louis Browns | 61 | -26.5% | 366,274 | -40.8% | 4,636 |
| Cleveland Naps | 71 | -21.1% | 354,627 | -16.0% | 4,606 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 55 | 3.8% | 321,300 | 16.6% | 4,067 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 74 | -10.8% | 303,177 | -27.9% | 3,937 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 54 | 10.2% | 299,982 | 46.2% | 3,947 |
| Washington Senators | 42 | -37.3% | 205,199 | -22.3% | 2,665 |
| Boston Doves | 45 | -28.6% | 195,188 | -23.1% | 2,568 |

## Events

* August 28 – Dolly Gray of the Washington Senators walks eight batters in an inning.