# 1920 Cleveland Indians season

The 1920 Cleveland Indians season was the 20th season in franchise history. The Indians won the American League pennant and proceeded to win their first World Series title in the history of the franchise. Pitchers Jim Bagby, Stan Coveleski and Ray Caldwell combined to win 75 games. Despite the team's success, the season was perhaps more indelibly marked by the death of starting shortstop Ray Chapman, who died after being hit by a pitch on August 16.

## Regular season

During the season, Jim Bagby became the last pitcher to win 30 games in one season for the Indians in the 20th century.
On August 17, shortstop Ray Chapman died after being hit by a pitch in a game against the Yankees, becoming the second of only two Major League Baseball players to have died as a result of an injury received in a game (the first was Mike "Doc" Powers in 1909).

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cleveland Indians | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 51‍–‍27 | 47‍–‍29 |
| Chicago White Sox | 96 | 58 | .623 | 2 | 52‍–‍25 | 44‍–‍33 |
| New York Yankees | 95 | 59 | .617 | 3 | 49‍–‍28 | 46‍–‍31 |
| St. Louis Browns | 76 | 77 | .497 | 21½ | 40‍–‍38 | 36‍–‍39 |
| Boston Red Sox | 72 | 81 | .471 | 25½ | 41‍–‍35 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Washington Senators | 68 | 84 | .447 | 29 | 37‍–‍38 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Detroit Tigers | 61 | 93 | .396 | 37 | 32‍–‍46 | 29‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 48 | 106 | .312 | 50 | 25‍–‍50 | 23‍–‍56 |

### Record vs. opponents

1920 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 12–10 | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 13–9–1 | 9–13 | 10–11 |
| Chicago | 10–12 | — | 10–12 | 19–3 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 17–5 |
| Cleveland | 16–6 | 12–10 | — | 15–7 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 15–7 | 15–7 |
| Detroit | 9–13 | 3–19 | 7–15 | — | 7–15 | 12–10–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 |
| New York | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 15–7 | — | 19–3 | 12–10 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 9–13–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 10–12–1 | 3–19 | — | 8–14 | 6–16 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 8–14 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 14–8 | — | 12–9–1 |
| Washington | 11–10 | 5–17 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 9–12–1 | — |

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Steve O'Neill | 149 | 489 | 157 | .321 | 3 | 55 |
| 1B | Doc Johnston | 147 | 535 | 156 | .292 | 2 | 71 |
| 2B | Bill Wambsganss | 153 | 565 | 138 | .244 | 1 | 55 |
| 3B | Larry Gardner | 154 | 597 | 185 | .310 | 3 | 118 |
| SS | Ray Chapman | 111 | 435 | 132 | .303 | 3 | 49 |
| LF | Charlie Jamieson | 108 | 370 | 118 | .319 | 1 | 40 |
| CF | Tris Speaker | 150 | 552 | 214 | .388 | 8 | 107 |
| RF | Elmer Smith | 129 | 456 | 144 | .316 | 12 | 103 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Joe Evans | 56 | 172 | 60 | .349 | 0 | 23 |
| Jack Graney | 62 | 152 | 45 | .296 | 0 | 13 |
| Joe Wood | 61 | 137 | 37 | .270 | 1 | 30 |
| Harry Lunte | 23 | 71 | 14 | .197 | 0 | 7 |
| Joe Sewell | 22 | 70 | 23 | .329 | 0 | 12 |
| George Burns | 44 | 56 | 15 | .268 | 0 | 13 |
| Les Nunamaker | 34 | 54 | 18 | .333 | 0 | 14 |
| Pinch Thomas | 9 | 9 | 3 | .333 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Jim Bagby | 48 | 339.2 | 31 | 12 | 2.89 | 73 |
| Stan Coveleski | 41 | 315.0 | 24 | 14 | 2.49 | 133 |
| Ray Caldwell | 34 | 237.2 | 20 | 10 | 3.86 | 80 |
| Guy Morton | 29 | 137.0 | 8 | 6 | 4.47 | 72 |
| Duster Mails | 9 | 63.1 | 7 | 0 | 1.85 | 25 |
Note: Guy Morton was team leader in saves with 3.

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| George Uhle | 27 | 84.2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5.21 | 27 |
| Elmer Myers | 16 | 71.2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4.77 | 16 |
| Bob Clark | 11 | 42.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.43 | 8 |
| Dick Niehaus | 19 | 40.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.60 | 12 |
| Tony Faeth | 13 | 25.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.32 | 14 |
| Joe Boehling | 3 | 13.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.85 | 4 |
| Tim Murchison | 2 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Joe Wood | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.50 | 1 |
| George Ellison | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## 1920 World Series

On October 10, 1920, which was the fifth game of the World Series, Bill Wambsganss of the Indians executed an unassisted triple play. He caught a line drive, touched second base, and tagged the runner coming from first base. On the same day, Elmer Smith hit the first grand slam in World Series history. During that same game, Indians pitcher Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in World Series history.
AL Cleveland Indians (5) vs. NL Brooklyn Robins (2)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Indians – 3, Robins – 1 | October 5 | Ebbets Field | 23,759 |
| 2 | Indians – 0, Robins – 3 | October 6 | Ebbets Field | 22,559 |
| 3 | Indians – 1, Robins – 2 | October 7 | Ebbets Field | 25,088 |
| 4 | Robins – 1, Indians – 5 | October 9 | Dunn Field | 25,734 |
| 5 | Robins – 1, Indians – 8 | October 10 | Dunn Field | 26,884 |
| 6 | Robins – 0, Indians – 1 | October 11 | Dunn Field | 27,194 |
| 7 | Robins – 0, Indians – 3 | October 12 | Dunn Field | 27,525 |

### Game 1

October 5, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| W: Stan Coveleski (1–0) L: Rube Marquard (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 6, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Brooklyn | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Burleigh Grimes (1–0) L: Jim Bagby (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 7, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Brooklyn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| W: Sherry Smith (1–0) L: Ray Caldwell (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 9, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 12 | 1 |
| W: Stan Coveleski (2–0) L: Leon Cadore (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 5

October 10, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 8 | 12 | 2 |
| W: Jim Bagby (1–1) L: Burleigh Grimes (1–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: CLE – Elmer Smith (1), Jim Bagby (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 6

October 11, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| W: Duster Mails (1–0) L: Sherry Smith (1–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 7

October 12, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| W: Stan Coveleski (3–0) L: Burleigh Grimes (1–2) |||||||||||||

## Composite box

1920 World Series (5–2): Cleveland Indians (A.L.) over Brooklyn Robins (N.L.)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland Indians | 6 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 53 | 12 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 44 | 6 |
| Total Attendance: 236,928 Average Attendance: 29,616 |||||||||||||
| Winning Player's Share: – $5,207 Losing Player's Share – $3,254 |||||||||||||