# 1917 New York Giants season

The 1917 New York Giants season was the franchise's 35th season. It involved the Giants winning the National League pennant for the first time in four years. The team went on to lose to the Chicago White Sox in the World Series, four games to two.

## Regular season

New York had no real superstars, but they had a very balanced roster and led the league in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed.
Third baseman Heinie Zimmerman had a fine offensive season, pacing the circuit in runs batted in, but suffered through an embarrassment in the World Series. A third baseman, Zimmerman had the unfortunate task of chasing White Sox star Eddie Collins across home plate when there was no one to throw to. The Giants lost in six games.
Between July 31 and August 10, the Giants hit at least one triple in each of 11 consecutive games, the longest such streak in franchise history (considering records from 1914 onwards).

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 50‍–‍28 | 48‍–‍28 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 65 | .572 | 10 | 46‍–‍29 | 41‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 82 | 70 | .539 | 15 | 38‍–‍38 | 44‍–‍32 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 78 | 76 | .506 | 20 | 39‍–‍38 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 74 | 80 | .481 | 24 | 35‍–‍42 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Boston Braves | 72 | 81 | .471 | 25½ | 35‍–‍42 | 37‍–‍39 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 70 | 81 | .464 | 26½ | 36‍–‍38 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 51 | 103 | .331 | 47 | 25‍–‍53 | 26‍–‍50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1917 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 13–9–1 | 11–11 | 10–12–2 | 7–15 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 6–15–1 |
| Brooklyn | 9–13–1 | — | 7–15 | 10–12 | 9–13–2 | 9–11–1 | 16–6–1 | 10–11 |
| Chicago | 11–11 | 15–7 | — | 8–14–1 | 7–15–1 | 6–16–1 | 17–5 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 12–10–2 | 12–10 | 14–8–1 | — | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 9–13 |
| New York | 15–7 | 13–9–2 | 15–7–1 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 16–6–1 | 14–8 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11 | 11–9–1 | 16–6–1 | 14–8 | 8–14 | — | 14–8 | 13–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–14 | 6–16–1 | 5–17 | 10–12 | 6–16–1 | 8–14 | — | 8–14–1 |
| St. Louis | 15–6–1 | 11–10 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 14–8–1 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 23, 1917: Jim Thorpe was purchased from the Giants by the Cincinnati Reds.
* August 18, 1917: Jim Thorpe was returned to the Giants by the Cincinnati Reds.

### Roster
## Player stats
### 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 | Bill Rariden | 101 | 266 | 72 | .271 | 0 | 25 |
| 1B | Walter Holke | 153 | 527 | 146 | .277 | 2 | 55 |
| 2B | Buck Herzog | 114 | 417 | 98 | .235 | 2 | 31 |
| 3B | Heinie Zimmerman | 150 | 585 | 174 | .297 | 5 | 102 |
| SS | Art Fletcher | 151 | 557 | 145 | .260 | 4 | 62 |
| OF | Benny Kauff | 153 | 559 | 172 | .308 | 5 | 68 |
| OF | Dave Robertson | 142 | 532 | 138 | .259 | 12 | 55 |
| OF | George Burns | 152 | 597 | 180 | .302 | 5 | 45 |

#### 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 |
| Lew McCarty | 56 | 162 | 40 | .247 | 2 | 20 |
| Jimmy Smith | 36 | 96 | 22 | .229 | 0 | 8 |
| George Gibson | 35 | 82 | 14 | .171 | 0 | 5 |
| Pete Kilduff | 31 | 78 | 16 | .205 | 1 | 13 |
| Jim Thorpe | 26 | 57 | 11 | .193 | 0 | 4 |
| Hans Lobert | 50 | 52 | 10 | .192 | 1 | 4 |
| Joe Wilhoit | 34 | 50 | 17 | .340 | 0 | 9 |
| Ross Youngs | 7 | 26 | 9 | .346 | 0 | 1 |
| Ed Hemingway | 7 | 25 | 8 | .320 | 0 | 2 |
| Al Baird | 10 | 24 | 7 | .292 | 0 | 4 |
| Red Murray | 22 | 22 | 1 | .045 | 0 | 3 |
| José Rodríguez | 7 | 20 | 4 | .200 | 0 | 3 |
| Ernie Krueger | 8 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Onslow | 9 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| George Kelly | 11 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Ferdie Schupp | 36 | 272.0 | 21 | 7 | 1.95 | 147 |
| Slim Sallee | 34 | 215.2 | 18 | 7 | 2.17 | 54 |
| Pol Perritt | 35 | 215.0 | 17 | 7 | 1.88 | 72 |
| Rube Benton | 35 | 215.0 | 15 | 9 | 2.72 | 70 |
| Jeff Tesreau | 33 | 183.2 | 13 | 8 | 3.09 | 85 |
| Al Demaree | 15 | 78.1 | 4 | 5 | 2.64 | 23 |
| Ad Swigler | 1 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 6.00 | 4 |

#### 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 |
| Fred Anderson | 38 | 162.0 | 8 | 8 | 1.44 | 69 |

#### 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 |
| George Smith | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.84 | 16 |
| Jim Middleton | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2.75 | 9 |

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

Fred Anderson
* MLB leader in ERA (1.44)
George Burns
* NL leader in runs scored (103)
* #2 in NL in stolen bases (40)
* #3 in NL in on-base percentage (.380)
Benny Kauff
* #3 in NL in runs scored (89)
* #3 in NL in stolen bases (30)
* #4 in NL in batting average (.308)
Pol Perritt
* #3 in NL in ERA (1.88)
Dave Robertson
* MLB leader in home runs (12)
Ferdie Schupp
* #4 in NL in wins (21)
* #4 in NL in ERA (1.95)
* #4 in NL in strikeouts (147)
Heinie Zimmerman
* NL leader in RBI (102)

## 1917 World Series
### Game 1

October 6, 1917, at Comiskey Park in Chicago
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| W: Eddie Cicotte (1–0) L: Slim Sallee (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: CHI – Happy Felsch (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 7, 1917, at Comiskey Park in Chicago
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Chicago | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 7 | 14 | 1 |
| W: Red Faber (1–0) L: Fred Anderson (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 10, 1917, at the Polo Grounds in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| W: Rube Benton (1–0) L: Eddie Cicotte (1–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 11, 1917, at the Polo Grounds in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | x | 5 | 10 | 1 |
| W: Ferdie Schupp (1–0) L: Red Faber (1–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: NYG – Benny Kauff (1), Benny Kauff (2) |||||||||||||

### Game 5

October 13, 1917, at Comiskey Park in Chicago
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 3 |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | x | 8 | 14 | 6 |
| W: Red Faber (2–1) L: Slim Sallee (0–2) |||||||||||||

### Game 6

October 15, 1917, at the Polo Grounds in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| W: Red Faber (3–1) L: Rube Benton (1–1) |||||||||||||