# 1912 Major League Baseball season

The 1912 major league baseball season began on April 11, 1912. The regular season ended on October 6, with the New York Giants 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 ninth modern World Series on October 8 and ended with Game 8 on October 16. The Red Sox defeated the Giants, four games to three (with one tie), capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1903. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Philadelphia Athletics from the 1911 season.
This was the second of four seasons that the Chalmers Award, a precursor to the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (introduced in 1931), was given to a player in each league.
During the season, Harper's Weekly conducted a detailed accounting of the expenses of major league clubs, reaching a figure of approximately $175,000 to $200,000.
The Boston Rustlers renamed as the Boston Braves.

## Schedule

The 1912 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, only the second time every team has started their season on the same day (first being two years prior with the 1910 season). The final day of the regular season was on October 6. The World Series took place between October 8 and October 16.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 35,000 | Jake Stahl |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | White Sox Park | 28,000 | Jimmy Callahan |
| American League | Cleveland Naps | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park | 21,414 | Harry Davis |
| American League | Cleveland Naps | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park | 21,414 | Joe Birmingham |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Navin Field | 23,000 | Hughie Jennings |
| American League | New York Highlanders | New York, New York | Hilltop Park | 16,000 | Harry Wolverton |
| 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 | Bobby Wallace |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 18,000 | George Stovall |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Griffith Stadium | 27,000 | Clark Griffith |
| National League | Boston Braves | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 11,000 | Johnny Kling |
| National League | Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers | New York, New York | Washington Park | 16,000 | Bill Dahlen |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 16,000 | Frank Chance |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Redland Field | 20,696 | Hank O'Day |
| 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 | Red Dooin |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 23,000 | Fred Clarke |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Robison Field | 21,000 | Roger Bresnahan |

## Standings
### American League

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 105 | 47 | .691 | — | 57‍–‍20 | 48‍–‍27 |
| Washington Senators | 91 | 61 | .599 | 14 | 45‍–‍32 | 46‍–‍29 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 90 | 62 | .592 | 15 | 45‍–‍31 | 45‍–‍31 |
| Chicago White Sox | 78 | 76 | .506 | 28 | 34‍–‍43 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Cleveland Naps | 75 | 78 | .490 | 30½ | 41‍–‍35 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Detroit Tigers | 69 | 84 | .451 | 36½ | 37‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 53 | 101 | .344 | 53 | 27‍–‍50 | 26‍–‍51 |
| New York Highlanders | 50 | 102 | .329 | 55 | 31‍–‍44 | 19‍–‍58 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 103 | 48 | .682 | — | 49‍–‍25 | 54‍–‍23 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 93 | 58 | .616 | 10 | 44‍–‍31 | 49‍–‍27 |
| Chicago Cubs | 91 | 59 | .607 | 11½ | 46‍–‍30 | 45‍–‍29 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 75 | 78 | .490 | 29 | 45‍–‍32 | 30‍–‍46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 73 | 79 | .480 | 30½ | 34‍–‍41 | 39‍–‍38 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 63 | 90 | .412 | 41 | 37‍–‍40 | 26‍–‍50 |
| Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers | 58 | 95 | .379 | 46 | 33‍–‍43 | 25‍–‍52 |
| Boston Braves | 52 | 101 | .340 | 52 | 31‍–‍47 | 21‍–‍54 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | Boston Red Sox | 4 |
| NL | New York Giants | 3 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Boston Braves | Fred Tenney | Johnny Kling |
| Boston Red Sox | Patsy Donovan | Jake Stahl |
| Chicago White Sox | Hugh Duffy | Jimmy Callahan |
| Cincinnati Reds | Clark Griffith | Hank O'Day |
| Cleveland Naps | George Stovall | Harry Davis |
| New York Highlanders | Hal Chase | Harry Wolverton |
| Washington Senators | Jimmy McAleer | Clark Griffith |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Cleveland Naps | Harry Davis | Joe Birmingham |
| St. Louis Browns | Bobby Wallace | George Stovall |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Ty Cobb (DET) | .409 |
| OPS | Ty Cobb (DET) | 1.040 |
| HR | Home Run Baker (PHA) Tris Speaker (BRS) | 10 |
| RBI | Home Run Baker (PHA) | 130 |
| R | Eddie Collins (PHA) | 137 |
| H | Ty Cobb (DET) Joe Jackson (CLE) | 226 |
| SB | Clyde Milan (WSH) | 88 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Smoky Joe Wood (BRS) | 34 |
| L | Russ Ford (NYH) | 21 |
| ERA | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 1.39 |
| K | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 303 |
| IP | Ed Walsh (CWS) | 393.0 |
| SV | Ed Walsh (CWS) | 10 |
| WHIP | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 0.908 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Heinie Zimmerman$^1$ (CHC) | .372 |
| OPS | Heinie Zimmerman (CHC) | .989 |
| HR | Heinie Zimmerman$^1$ (CHC) | 14 |
| RBI | Heinie Zimmerman$^1$ (CHC) | 104 |
| R | Bob Bescher (CIN) | 120 |
| H | Heinie Zimmerman (CHC) | 207 |
| SB | Bob Bescher (CIN) | 67 |
$^1$ National League Triple Crown batting winner
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Larry Cheney (CHC) Rube Marquard (NYG) | 26 |
| L | Lefty Tyler (BSB) | 22 |
| ERA | Jeff Tesreau (NYG) | 1.96 |
| K | Grover Alexander (PHP) | 195 |
| IP | Grover Alexander (PHP) | 310.1 |
| SV | Slim Sallee (SLC) | 6 |
| WHIP | Hank Robinson (PIT) | 1.006 |

## Awards and honors

* Chalmers Award: Larry Doyle (NYG, National); Tris Speaker (BRS, American)

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| New York Giants | 103 | 4.0% | 638,000 | −5.5% | 8,395 |
| Chicago White Sox | 78 | 1.3% | 602,241 | 3.3% | 7,721 |
| Boston Red Sox | 105 | 34.6% | 597,096 | 18.5% | 7,655 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 90 | −10.9% | 517,653 | −14.5% | 6,723 |
| Chicago Cubs | 91 | −1.1% | 514,000 | −10.8% | 6,590 |
| Detroit Tigers | 69 | −22.5% | 402,870 | −16.9% | 5,301 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 93 | 9.4% | 384,000 | −11.1% | 5,120 |
| Washington Senators | 91 | 42.2% | 350,663 | 43.2% | 4,496 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 75 | 7.1% | 344,000 | 14.7% | 4,468 |
| Cleveland Naps | 75 | −6.3% | 336,844 | −17.1% | 4,375 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 73 | −7.6% | 250,000 | −39.9% | 3,333 |
| Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers | 58 | −9.4% | 243,000 | −9.7% | 3,197 |
| New York Highlanders | 50 | −34.2% | 242,194 | −19.9% | 3,187 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 63 | −16.0% | 241,759 | −46.0% | 3,140 |
| St. Louis Browns | 53 | 17.8% | 214,070 | 2.9% | 2,710 |
| Boston Braves | 52 | 18.2% | 121,000 | 4.3% | 1,532 |