# 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 28th season for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, during which they won the National League pennant with a record of 110–42 and their first World Series over the Detroit Tigers. Led by shortstop Honus Wagner and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke, the Pirates scored the most runs in the majors. Wagner led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and runs batted in. Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss opened the Pirates' new ballpark, named Forbes Field, on June 30, 1909.
The Pirates' 110 wins remain a team record, a record they set in the last game of the season by beating the Cincinnati Reds 7–4 in muddy conditions on October 5. It is in fact the best regular season win percentage by any World Series winning team.

## Regular season
### Season standings

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 |

### Record vs. opponents

1909 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 11–11 | 1–21 | 5–17 | 8–14–2 | 10–12 | 1–20 | 9–13 |
| Brooklyn | 11–11 | — | 5–16 | 5–17–1 | 7–15 | 11–11 | 4–18 | 12–10–1 |
| Chicago | 21–1 | 16–5 | — | 16–6 | 11–11–1 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 15–7–1 |
| Cincinnati | 17–5 | 17–5–1 | 6–16 | — | 9–13–1 | 9–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 12–10 |
| New York | 14–8–2 | 15–7 | 11–11–1 | 13–9–1 | — | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 16–5 |
| Philadelphia | 12–10 | 11–11 | 6–16 | 12–9–1 | 10–12 | — | 7–15 | 16–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 20–1 | 18–4 | 13–9 | 15–7–1 | 11–11–1 | 15–7 | — | 18–3 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 10–12 | 5–16 | 6–16 | 3–18 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 28, 1909: Ward Miller and cash were traded by the Pirates to the Cincinnati Reds for Blaine Durbin.

### 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 | George Gibson | 150 | 510 | 135 | .265 | 2 | 52 |
| 1B | Bill Abstein | 137 | 512 | 133 | .260 | 1 | 70 |
| 2B | Dots Miller | 151 | 560 | 156 | .279 | 3 | 87 |
| 3B | Jap Barbeau | 91 | 350 | 77 | .220 | 0 | 25 |
| SS | Honus Wagner | 137 | 495 | 168 | .339 | 5 | 100 |
| OF | Tommy Leach | 151 | 587 | 153 | .261 | 6 | 43 |
| OF | Fred Clarke | 152 | 550 | 158 | .287 | 3 | 68 |
| OF | Chief Wilson | 154 | 569 | 155 | .272 | 4 | 59 |

#### Other batters

Note: 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 |
| 3B | Bobby Byrne | 46 | 168 | 43 | .256 | 0 | 7 |
| 1B, 3B | Alan Storke | 37 | 118 | 30 | .254 | 0 | 12 |
| 2B, SS | Ed Abbaticchio | 36 | 87 | 20 | .230 | 1 | 16 |
| 1B | Ham Hyatt | 49 | 67 | 20 | .299 | 0 | 7 |
| OF | Ward Miller | 15 | 56 | 8 | .143 | 0 | 4 |
| C | Mike Simon | 12 | 18 | 3 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| C | Paddy O'Connor | 9 | 16 | 5 | .313 | 0 | 3 |
| PR | Blaine Durbin | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Vic Willis | 39 | 289.2 | 22 | 11 | 2.24 | 95 |
| Howie Camnitz | 41 | 283.0 | 25 | 6 | 1.62 | 133 |
| Nick Maddox | 31 | 203.1 | 13 | 8 | 2.21 | 56 |
| Lefty Leifield | 32 | 201.2 | 19 | 8 | 2.37 | 43 |

#### Other 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 |
| Deacon Phillippe | 22 | 131.2 | 8 | 3 | 2.32 | 38 |
| Babe Adams | 25 | 130.0 | 12 | 3 | 1.11 | 65 |
| Sam Leever | 19 | 70.0 | 8 | 1 | 2.83 | 23 |
| Chick Brandom | 13 | 40.2 | 1 | 0 | 1.11 | 21 |
| Sam Frock | 8 | 36.1 | 2 | 1 | 2.48 | 11 |
| Bill Powell | 3 | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 3.68 | 2 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Harry Camnitz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
| Charlie Wacker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Gene Moore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 2 |

## Awards and honors
### League top five finishers

Howie Camnitz
* #2 in NL in wins (25)
* #4 in NL in ERA (1.62)
Fred Clarke
* #2 in NL in runs scored (97)
* #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.384)
Tommy Leach
* MLB leader in runs scored (126)
Dots Miller
* #3 in NL in RBI (87)
Honus Wagner
* NL leader in batting average (.339)
* NL leader in RBI (100)
* NL leader in on-base percentage (.420)
* NL leader in slugging percentage (.489)
* #3 in NL in runs scored (92)
Vic Willis
* #4 in NL in wins (22)

## 1909 World Series

In the World Series, Pittsburgh faced the American League champion Detroit Tigers, led by triple crown winner Ty Cobb. The matchup was largely billed as one between the major leagues' two superstars. Wagner thoroughly outplayed Cobb, and rookie Babe Adams won all three of his starts, as the Pirates won in seven games.

### Game 1

October 8, 1909, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Detroit (AL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| W: Babe Adams (1–0) L: George Mullin (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: PIT – Fred Clarke (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 9, 1909, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| W: Bill Donovan (1–0) L: Howie Camnitz (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 11, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 |
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 5 |
| W: Nick Maddox (1–0) L: Ed Summers (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 12, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| W: George Mullin (1–1) L: Lefty Leifield (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 5

October 13, 1909, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Detroit (AL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | X | 8 | 10 | 2 |
| W: Babe Adams (2–0) L: Ed Summers (0–2) |||||||||||||
| HR: DET – Davy Jones (1), Sam Crawford (1) PIT – Fred Clarke (2) |||||||||||||

### Game 6

October 14, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Detroit (AL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 10 | 2 |
| W: George Mullin (2–1) L: Vic Willis (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 7

October 16, 1909, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Pittsburgh (NL) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| W: Babe Adams (3–0) L: Bill Donovan (1–1) |||||||||||||