# 1928 Philadelphia Athletics season

The 1928 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing second in the American League with a record of 98 wins and 55 losses. The team featured seven eventual Hall-of-Fame players: Ty Cobb, Mickey Cochrane, Eddie Collins, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Al Simmons, and Tris Speaker.

## Offseason

* February 5, 1928: Tris Speaker was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.

## Regular season

By this time, the nucleus of the 1929–31 dynasty was in place for the A's. The team featured three starters who were later elected into the Hall of Fame: catcher Mickey Cochrane and outfielders Al Simmons and Ty Cobb. Cochrane was voted league MVP. Simmons led the team with a .351 batting average and 107 RBI. Cobb, in his last major league season, hit .323 in 95 games. Jimmie Foxx, Tris Speaker, and Eddie Collins also saw playing time for the 1928 team.
The pitching staff, led by 24-game winner Lefty Grove, allowed the fewest runs in the AL.
The A's were in a hard fought pennant race with the New York Yankees this season. After trailing the Yankees by 13.5 games on July 1, the A's caught fire with a 25-8 record in July and a 19-9 record in August. In September, the A's won the first 6 out of 8 games and on the 8th pulled into first place by 1/2 game by sweeping the Red Sox at Fenway Park in a doubleheader. However, on the very next day, the A's were swept by the Yankees in a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium to fall back into second place. The A's kept close on the Yankees heels, but couldn't overtake New York.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 101 | 53 | .656 | — | 52‍–‍25 | 49‍–‍28 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 98 | 55 | .641 | 2½ | 52‍–‍25 | 46‍–‍30 |
| St. Louis Browns | 82 | 72 | .532 | 19 | 43‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Washington Senators | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 37‍–‍43 | 38‍–‍36 |
| Chicago White Sox | 72 | 82 | .468 | 29 | 37‍–‍40 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 68 | 86 | .442 | 33 | 36‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Cleveland Indians | 62 | 92 | .403 | 39 | 28‍–‍49 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Boston Red Sox | 57 | 96 | .373 | 43½ | 26‍–‍47 | 31‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1928 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 10–12 | 9–13 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 3–18 | 9–13 | 13–9–1 |
| Chicago | 12–10 | — | 12–10–1 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 10–12 |
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | — | 10–12 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 7–15 | 10–12 |
| Detroit | 15–7 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — | 7–15 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| New York | 16–6 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 15–7 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | 13–9 |
| Philadelphia | 18–3 | 16–6 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 6–16 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 6–16 | — | 13–9 |
| Washington | 9–13–1 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — |

### 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 | Mickey Cochrane | 131 | 468 | 137 | .293 | 10 | 57 |
| 1B | Joe Hauser | 95 | 300 | 78 | .260 | 16 | 59 |
| 2B | Max Bishop | 126 | 472 | 149 | .316 | 6 | 50 |
| 3B | Sammy Hale | 88 | 314 | 97 | .309 | 4 | 58 |
| SS | Joe Boley | 132 | 425 | 112 | .264 | 0 | 49 |
| OF | Bing Miller | 139 | 510 | 168 | .329 | 8 | 85 |
| OF | Al Simmons | 119 | 464 | 163 | .351 | 15 | 107 |
| OF | Ty Cobb | 95 | 353 | 114 | .323 | 1 | 40 |

#### 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 |
| Jimmie Foxx | 118 | 400 | 131 | .328 | 13 | 79 |
| Mule Haas | 91 | 332 | 93 | .280 | 6 | 39 |
| Jimmy Dykes | 85 | 242 | 67 | .277 | 5 | 30 |
| Tris Speaker | 64 | 191 | 51 | .267 | 3 | 30 |
| Ossie Orwoll | 64 | 170 | 52 | .306 | 0 | 22 |
| Walter French | 48 | 74 | 19 | .257 | 0 | 7 |
| Joe Hassler | 28 | 34 | 9 | .265 | 0 | 3 |
| Eddie Collins | 36 | 33 | 10 | .303 | 0 | 7 |
| Cy Perkins | 19 | 29 | 5 | .172 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Lefty Grove | 39 | 261.2 | 24 | 8 | 2.58 | 183 |
| Rube Walberg | 38 | 235.2 | 17 | 12 | 3.55 | 112 |
| Jack Quinn | 31 | 211.1 | 18 | 7 | 2.90 | 43 |
| George Earnshaw | 26 | 158.1 | 7 | 7 | 3.81 | 117 |
| Howard Ehmke | 23 | 139.1 | 9 | 8 | 3.62 | 34 |

#### 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 |
| Eddie Rommel | 43 | 173.2 | 13 | 5 | 3.06 | 37 |
| Ossie Orwoll | 27 | 106.0 | 6 | 5 | 4.58 | 53 |
| Bill Shores | 3 | 14.0 | 1 | 1 | 3.21 | 5 |
| Carroll Yerkes | 2 | 8.2 | 0 | 1 | 2.08 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Bush | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5.09 | 15 |
| Ike Powers | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4.50 | 4 |
| Jing Johnson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.06 | 3 |
| Art Daney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Mickey Cochrane, AL Most Valuable Player

### League top five finishers

Max Bishop
* #4 in AL in on-base percentage (.435)
Lefty Grove
* AL leader in wins (24)
* AL leader in strikeouts (183)
* #3 in AL in ERA (2.58)
Joe Hauser
* #4 in AL in home runs (16)
Al Simmons
* #4 in AL in batting average (.351)