List of Major League Baseball batting champions
American League
Table:
Year

Winner

AVG

Team(s)

Runner-up

2nd AVG

Ref

1901

Nap Lajoie†

.426

Philadelphia Athletics

Mike Donlin

.340

[170]

1902

Ed Delahanty†

.376

Washington Senators

Charlie Hickman†

.361

[171]

1903

Nap Lajoie†

.344

Cleveland Naps

Sam Crawford†

.335

[172]

1904

Nap Lajoie†

.376

Cleveland Naps

Willie Keeler†

.343

[173]

1905

Elmer Flick†

.308

Cleveland Naps

Willie Keeler†

.302

[174]

1906

George Stone

.358

St. Louis Browns

Nap Lajoie†

.355

[175]

1907

Ty Cobb†

.350

Detroit Tigers

Sam Crawford†

.323

[176]

1908

Ty Cobb†

.324

Detroit Tigers

Sam Crawford†

.311

[177]

1909

Ty Cobb†

.377

Detroit Tigers

Eddie Collins†

.347

[178]

1910

Ty Cobb†

.385

Detroit Tigers

Nap Lajoie†

.384

[179]

1911

Ty Cobb†

.420

Detroit Tigers

Shoeless Joe Jackson

.408

[180]

1912

Ty Cobb†

.409

Detroit Tigers

Shoeless Joe Jackson

.395

[181]

1913

Ty Cobb†

.390

Detroit Tigers

Shoeless Joe Jackson

.373

[182]

1914

Ty Cobb†

.368

Detroit Tigers

Eddie Collins†

.344

[183]

1915

Ty Cobb†

.369

Detroit Tigers

Eddie Collins†

.332

[184]

1916

Tris Speaker†

.386

Cleveland Indians

Ty Cobb†

.371

[185]

1917

Ty Cobb†

.383

Detroit Tigers

George Sisler†

.353

[186]

1918

Ty Cobb†

.382

Detroit Tigers

George Burns

.352

[187]

1919

Ty Cobb†

.384

Detroit Tigers

Bobby Veach

.355

[188]

1920

George Sisler†

.407

St. Louis Browns

Tris Speaker†

.388

[189]

With reference to the table and the context paragraphs listed below.

Give the answer to the question: Who is the runner up of the team whose winner is the only Western League team still in its original city ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

The 1901 Major League Baseball season , involved the inaugural season of the American League . The eight franchises that comprised the AL that year were the original Baltimore Orioles , the Boston Americans , the Chicago White Stockings , the Cleveland Blues , the Detroit Tigers , the original Milwaukee Brewers , the Philadelphia Athletics and the original Washington Senators .
Napoleon Lajoie ( /ˈlæʒəweɪ/ ; September 5 , 1874 - February 7 , 1959 ) , also known as Larry Lajoie and nicknamed The Frenchman , was an American professional baseball second baseman and player-manager . He played in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) for the Philadelphia Phillies , Philadelphia Athletics ( twice ) , and Cleveland Naps between 1896 and 1916 . He managed the Naps from 1905 through 1909 . Lajoie was signed to the National League 's ( NL ) Phillies in 1896 . By the beginning of the twentieth century , however , the upstart American League ( AL ) was looking to rival the supremacy of the NL and in 1901 , Lajoie and dozens of former National League players joined the American League . National League clubs contested the legality of contracts signed by players who jumped to the other league but eventually , Lajoie was allowed to play for Connie Mack 's Athletics . During the season , Lajoie set the all-time American League single-season mark for the highest batting average ( .426 ) . : p.76 : p.88 One year later , Lajoie went to the Cleveland Bronchos where he would play until the 1915 season when he returned to play for Mack and the Athletics . While with Cleveland , Lajoie 's popularity led to locals electing to change the club 's team name from Bronchos to Napoleons ( Naps for short ) , which remained until after Lajoie departed Cleveland and the name was changed to Indians ( the team 's present-day name ) . Lajoie led the AL in batting average five times in his career and four times recorded the highest number of hits . During several of those years with the Naps he and Ty Cobb dominated AL hitting categories and traded batting titles with each other , most notably coming in 1910 , when the league 's batting champion was not decided until well after the last game of the season and after an investigation by American League President Ban Johnson . Lajoie in 1914 joined Cap Anson and Honus Wagner as the only major league players to record 3,000 career hits .
The Oakland Athletics , a current Major League Baseball franchise , originated in Philadelphia . This article details the history of the Philadelphia Athletics , from 1901 to 1954 , when they moved to Kansas City .
Michael Joseph Donlin ( May 30 , 1878 - September 24 , 1933 ) was an American Major League Baseball ( MLB ) outfielder and actor . As a professional baseball player , his MLB career spanned from 1899 to 1914 in which he played mainly in the National League for seven teams over 12 seasons . His most notable time was with the New York Giants , where he starred in the outfield for John McGraw 's 1904 pennant winners and 1905 World Series champions . One of the finest hitters of the dead-ball era , his .333 career batting average ranks 28th all time and he finished in the top three in batting five times . In each of those same seasons , he also finished in the top ten in the league in on-base percentage , slugging percentage , and home runs . A controversial character - Donlin , also known as Turkey Mike for his unique strut - his entertaining personality , flamboyant style of dress , and prodigious talent as a hitter caused him to be lionized as the baseball idol of Manhattan . However , alcoholism led to friction with club officials and incarceration . Donlin attempted to leverage his popularity as an athlete to launch a career in Broadway theatre where he met and married Vaudeville comedian Mabel Hite in 1906 . Together , they performed in the baseball-themed play Stealing Home for about three years . Between the waning popularity of the play in 1911 and Hite 's death the following year , Donlin attempted short-lived comebacks with the Giants , Boston Rustlers , and Pittsburgh Pirates . His forays into acting cut short an undeniable talent that could have been a much more successful major league career ; he reached 100 games in just five of his MLB seasons . After convincing McGraw to sign him for the last time in 1914 , Donlin endured a disappointing 35-game cameo with the Giants , leading him to devote his efforts to launch his acting career .
The 1902 Major League Baseball season , involved the Milwaukee Brewers moving to St. Louis and becoming the St. Louis Browns , and the Chicago Orphans were renamed as the Cubs .
Edward James Delahanty ( October 30 , 1867 - July 2 , 1903 ) , nicknamed Big Ed , was an American professional baseball player , who spent his Major League Baseball ( MLB ) playing career with the Philadelphia Quakers , Cleveland Infants , Philadelphia Phillies , and Washington Senators . He was renowned as one of the game 's early power hitters , and while primarily a left fielder , also spent time as an infielder . Delahanty won a batting title , batted over .400 three times , and has the fifth-highest career batting average in MLB history . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame , in 1945 . Delahanty died falling into Niagara Falls or the Niagara River , after being removed from a train while intoxicated . Delahanty 's biographer argues that :
The Washington Senators baseball team was one of the American League 's eight charter franchises . Now known as the Minnesota Twins , the club was founded in Washington , D.C. in 1901 as the Washington Senators . In 1905 , the team changed its official name to the Washington Nationals . The name Nationals appeared on the uniforms for only two seasons , and was then replaced with the W logo for the next 52 years . However , the names Senators , Nationals and shorter Nats were used interchangeably by fans and media for the next 60 years ; in 2005 , the latter two names were revived for the current National League franchise that had previously played in Montreal . For a time , from 1911 to 1933 , the Senators were one of the more successful franchises in Major League Baseball . The team 's rosters included Baseball Hall of Fame members Goose Goslin , Sam Rice , Joe Cronin , Bucky Harris , Heinie Manush and one of the greatest players and pitchers of all time , Walter Johnson . But the Senators are remembered more for their many years of mediocrity and futility , including six last-place finishes in the 1940s and 1950s . Joe Judge , Cecil Travis , Buddy Myer , Roy Sievers and Eddie Yost were other notable Senators players whose careers were spent in obscurity due to the team 's lack of success .
Charles Taylor Hickman ( March 4 , 1876 - April 19 , 1934 ) was a professional baseball player . He played all or part of twelve seasons in Major League Baseball as a utility player for the Boston Beaneaters ( 1897-99 ) , New York Giants ( 1900-01 ) , Boston Americans ( 1902 ) , Cleveland Bronchos/Naps ( 1902-04 and 1908 ) , Detroit Tigers ( 1904-05 ) , Washington Senators ( 1905-07 ) and Chicago White Sox ( 1907 ) . He died in Morgantown , West Virginia at the age of 57 .
The 1903 Major League Baseball season , saw the relocation of the original Baltimore Orioles to New York City , and become the Highlanders , the last relocation in MLB until 1953 , when the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee , along with the playing of the first modern World Series with the Boston Americans defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates .
The Cleveland Indians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland , Ohio . They compete in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) as a member club of the American League ( AL ) Central division . Since 1994 , they have played at Progressive Field . The team 's spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear , Arizona . Since their establishment as a major league franchise in 1901 , the team has won 10 Central Division titles , six American League pennants , and two World Series championships , ( in 1920 and 1948 ) . The team 's current 71-year World Series championship drought is the longest active among all 30 current Major League teams . The name Indians originated from a request by club owner Charles Somers to baseball writers to choose a new name to replace Cleveland Naps following the departure of Nap Lajoie after the 1914 season . It was a revival of the nickname that fans gave to the Cleveland Spiders while Louis Sockalexis , a Native American , was playing for the team . Common nicknames for the Indians include the Tribe and the Wahoos , the latter referencing their former logo , Chief Wahoo . The team 's mascot is named Slider . The franchise originated in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rustlers , a minor league team in the Western League . The team relocated to Cleveland in 1900 and was renamed the Cleveland Lake Shores .
Samuel Earl Crawford ( April 18 , 1880 - June 15 , 1968 ) , nicknamed Wahoo Sam , was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) . Crawford batted and threw left-handed , stood 6 ft 0 in ( 1.83 m ) tall and weighed 190 pounds ( 86 kg ) . Born in Wahoo , Nebraska , he had a short minor league baseball career before entering the majors with the Cincinnati Reds in 1899 . He played for the Reds until 1902 . Crawford then joined the Detroit Tigers and played for Detroit from 1903 to 1917 . He was one of the greatest sluggers of his era , leading his league in home runs twice and in runs batted in three times . He still holds the MLB record for most career triples , with 309 . While with the Tigers , Crawford played alongside superstar Ty Cobb , and the two had an intense rivalry while also helping Detroit win three American League championships from 1907 to 1909 . After his MLB career ended , Crawford moved to California , where he lived the rest of his life . He was a player and umpire in the Pacific Coast League and was a coach at the University of Southern California . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957 .
The 1904 Major League Baseball season . No World Series was held this season . The St. Louis Browns played eleven consecutive games against the Detroit Tigers at Bennett Park in Detroit - the longest regular season homestand in Major League history .
William Henry Keeler ( March 3 , 1872 - January 1 , 1923 ) , nicknamed Wee Willie , was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1892 to 1910 , primarily for the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn Superbas in the National League , and the New York Highlanders in the American League . Keeler , one of the best hitters of his time , was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame . One of the greatest contact hitters of all time and notoriously hard to strike out , Keeler has the highest career at bats-per-strikeout ratio in MLB history : throughout his career , on average he went more than 60 at bats between individual strikeouts .
The 1905 Major League Baseball season , had the second modern World Series . The New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Athletics to win the World Series .
Elmer Harrison Flick ( January 11 , 1876 - January 9 , 1971 ) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1898 to 1910 for the Philadelphia Phillies , Philadelphia Athletics , and Cleveland Bronchos/Naps . In 1,483 career games Flick recorded a .313 batting average while accumulating 164 triples , 1,752 hits , 330 stolen bases , and 756 runs batted in . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963 . Flick began his career in semi-professional baseball and played in minor league baseball for two years . He was noticed by George Stallings , the manager of the Phillies , who signed Flick as a reserve outfielder . Flick was pressed into a starting role in 1898 when an injury forced another player to retire . He excelled as a starter . Flick jumped to the Athletics in 1902 , but an court injunction prevented him from playing in Pennsylvania . He joined the Naps , where he continued to play for the remainder of his major league career , which was curtailed by a stomach ailment . Flick was known predominantly for his solid batting and speed . He led the National League in RBIs in 1900 , and led the American League in stolen bases in 1904 and 1906 , and in batting average in 1905 .
The 1906 Major League Baseball season .
George Robert Stone , nicknamed Silent George , ( September 3 , 1876 - January 3 , 1945 ) was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox ( 1903 ) and St. Louis Browns ( 1905-10 ) . Stone batted and threw left-handed . He was the 1906 American League batting champion .
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , as the Milwaukee Brewers . Charter member of the American League ( AL ) , the Brewers moved to St. Louis , Missouri , after the 1901 season , where they played for 52 years as the St. Louis Browns . This article covers the franchise 's time in St. Louis . After the 1953 season , the team relocated to Baltimore , Maryland , where it became the Baltimore Orioles . As of August 2019 , there are only 9 living former St. Louis Browns players . [ citation needed ]
The 1907 Major League Baseball season . The Chicago Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-0-1 to win the World Series . The Philadelphia Phillies set a Major League record for the fewest at bats by a team in a season - 4,725 .
Tyrus Raymond Cobb ( December 18 , 1886 - July 17 , 1961 ) , nicknamed The Georgia Peach , was an American Major League Baseball ( MLB ) outfielder . He was born in rural Narrows , Georgia . Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers , the last six as the team 's player-manager , and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics . In 1936 Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame ballot , receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes ( 98.2% ) ; no other player received a higher percentage of votes until Tom Seaver in 1992 . In 1999 , editors at the Sporting News ranked Ty Cobb third on their list of Baseball 's 100 Greatest Players . Cobb is widely credited with setting 90 MLB records during his career . His combined total of 4,065 runs scored and runs batted in ( after adjusting for home runs ) is still the highest ever produced by any major league player . He still holds several records as of the end of the 2019 season , including the highest career batting average ( .366 or .367 , depending on source ) and most career batting titles with 11 ( or 12 , depending on source ) . He retained many other records for almost a half century or more , including most career hits until 1985 ( 4,189 or 4,191 , depending on source ) , most career runs ( 2,245 or 2,246 depending on source ) until 2001 , most career games played ( 3,035 ) and at bats ( 11,429 or 11,434 depending on source ) until 1974 , and the modern record for most career stolen bases ( 892 ) until 1977 . He still holds the career record for stealing home ( 54 times ) and for stealing second base , third base , and home in succession ( 5 times ) , and as the youngest player ever to compile 4,000 hits and score 2,000 runs . Cobb ranks fifth all-time in number of games played and committed 271 errors , the most by any American League ( AL ) outfielder . Cobb 's legacy , which includes a large college scholarship fund for Georgia residents financed by his early investments in Coca-Cola and General Motors , has been somewhat tarnished by allegations of racism and violence , largely stemming from a couple of largely-discredited biographies that were released following his death .
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit , Michigan . They compete in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) as a member of the American League ( AL ) Central division . One of the AL 's eight charter franchises , the club was founded in Detroit as a member of the minor league Western League in 1894 and is the only Western League team still in its original city . They are also the oldest continuous one name , one city franchise in the AL . Since their establishment as a major league franchise in 1901 , the Tigers have won four World Series championships ( 1935 , 1945 , 1968 , and 1984 ) , 11 AL pennants ( 1907 , 1908 , 1909 , 1934 , 1935 , 1940 , 1945 , 1968 , 1984 , 2006 , 2012 ) , and four AL Central division championships ( 2011 , 2012 , 2013 , and 2014 ) . They also won division titles in 1972 , 1984 , and 1987 as a member of the AL East . The team currently plays its home games at Comerica Park in Downtown Detroit . The Tigers constructed Bennett Park at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue in Corktown ( just west of Downtown Detroit ) and began playing there in 1896 . In 1912 , the team moved into Navin Field , which was built on the same location . It was expanded in 1938 and renamed Briggs Stadium . It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961 and the Tigers played there until moving to Comerica Park in 2000 . From 1901 to 2019 , the Tigers ' overall win-loss record is 9,346-9,191 ( a winning percentage of .504 ) .
The 1908 Major League Baseball season . The Chicago Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-1 to win the World Series .
The 1909 Major League Baseball season . The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-3 to win the World Series .
Edward Trowbridge Collins Sr. ( May 2 , 1887 - March 25 , 1951 ) , nicknamed Cocky , was an American professional baseball player , manager and executive . He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from 1906 to 1930 for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox . A graduate of Columbia University , Collins holds major league career records in several categories and is among the top few players in several other categories . In 1925 , Collins became just the sixth person to join the 3,000 hit club - and the last for the next 17 seasons . His 47 career home runs are the fewest of anyone in it . Collins is the only non-Yankee to win five or more World Series titles with the same club . Collins coached and managed in the major leagues after retiring as a player . He also served as general manager of the Boston Red Sox . He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939 .
The 1910 Major League Baseball season .
The 1911 Major League Baseball season was the last season in which none of the current 30 MLB stadiums were in use . The oldest current ballpark is Fenway Park , opened in 1912 .
Joseph Jefferson Jackson ( July 16 , 1887 - December 5 , 1951 ) , nicknamed Shoeless Joe , was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball ( MLB ) in the early 1900s . He is remembered for his performance on the field and for his association with the Black Sox Scandal , in which members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series . As a result of Jackson 's association with the scandal , Kenesaw Mountain Landis , Major League Baseball 's first commissioner , banned Jackson from playing after the 1920 season despite his exceptional play in the 1919 World Series , in which he led both teams in several statistical categories and set a World Series record with 12 base hits . Since then , Jackson 's guilt has been fiercely debated with new accounts claiming his innocence and urging Major League Baseball to reconsider his banishment . As a result of the scandal , Jackson 's career was abruptly halted in his prime , ensuring him a place in baseball lore . Jackson played for three Major League teams during his 12-year career . He spent 1908-1909 as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics and 1910 with the minor league New Orleans Pelicans before joining the Cleveland Naps at the end of the 1910 season . He remained in Cleveland through the first part of 1915 ; he played the remainder of the 1915 season through 1920 with the Chicago White Sox . Later in life , Jackson played ball under assumed names throughout the south . Jackson , who played left field for most of his career , currently has the third-highest career batting average in major league history . In 1911 , Jackson hit for a .408 average . It is still the sixth-highest single-season total since 1901 , which marked the beginning of the modern era for the sport .
1912 Major League Baseball season . Harper 's Weekly conducted a detailed accounting of the expenses of Major League clubs , and came up with a figure of around $ 175,000 to $ 200,000 .
The 1913 Major League Baseball season .
The 1914 Major League Baseball season .
The 1915 Major League Baseball season .
The 1916 Major League Baseball season .
Tristram Edgar Speaker ( April 4 , 1888 - December 8 , 1958 ) , nicknamed The Gray Eagle , was an American professional baseball player . Considered one of the best offensive and defensive center fielders in the history of Major League Baseball ( MLB ) , he compiled a career batting average of .345 ( sixth all-time ) . His 792 career doubles represent an MLB career record . His 3,514 hits are fifth in the all-time hits list . Defensively , Speaker holds career records for assists , double plays , and unassisted double plays by an outfielder . His fielding glove was known as the place where triples go to die . After playing in the minor leagues in Texas and Arkansas , Speaker debuted with the Boston Red Sox in 1907 . He became the regular center fielder by 1909 and led the Red Sox to World Series championships in 1912 and 1915 . In 1915 , Speaker 's batting average dropped to .322 from .338 the previous season ; he was traded to the Cleveland Indians when he refused to take a pay cut . As player-manager for Cleveland , he led the team to its first World Series title . In ten of his eleven seasons with Cleveland , he finished with a batting average greater than .350 . Speaker resigned as Cleveland 's manager in 1926 after he and Ty Cobb faced game fixing allegations ; both men were later cleared .
The Cleveland Indians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland , Ohio . They compete in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) as a member club of the American League ( AL ) Central division . Since 1994 , they have played at Progressive Field . The team 's spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear , Arizona . Since their establishment as a major league franchise in 1901 , the team has won 10 Central Division titles , six American League pennants , and two World Series championships , ( in 1920 and 1948 ) . The team 's current 71-year World Series championship drought is the longest active among all 30 current Major League teams . The name Indians originated from a request by club owner Charles Somers to baseball writers to choose a new name to replace Cleveland Naps following the departure of Nap Lajoie after the 1914 season . It was a revival of the nickname that fans gave to the Cleveland Spiders while Louis Sockalexis , a Native American , was playing for the team . Common nicknames for the Indians include the Tribe and the Wahoos , the latter referencing their former logo , Chief Wahoo . The team 's mascot is named Slider . The franchise originated in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rustlers , a minor league team in the Western League . The team relocated to Cleveland in 1900 and was renamed the Cleveland Lake Shores .
The 1917 Major League Baseball season .
George Harold Sisler ( March 24 , 1893 - March 26 , 1973 ) , nicknamed Gorgeous George , was an American professional baseball first baseman and player-manager . He played in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) for the St. Louis Browns , Washington Senators and Boston Braves . He managed the Browns from 1924 through 1926 . Sisler played college baseball for the University of Michigan and was signed by the St. Louis Browns as a free agent in 1915 . He won the American League batting title in 1920 and 1922 . In 1920 he set the major league record for hits with 257 which stood for 84 years and had a batting average of .407 ( the seventh highest after 1900 ) . In 1922 he won the AL Most Valuable Player Award , he finished with a batting average of .420 which is the third highest batting average ever recorded after 1900 . An attack of sinusitis in 1923 caused Sisler 's play to decline , but he continued to play in the majors until 1930 . After Sisler retired as a player , he worked as a major league scout and aide . A two time batting champion , Sisler led the league in hits twice , triples twice , and stolen bases four times . He collected 200 or more hits six times in his career , and had a batting average of over .300 a total of 13 times throughout his career . His career batting average of .340 is the 16th highest of all time , Sisler was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939 .
The 1918 Major League Baseball season featured a reduced schedule due to American participation in World War I .
George Henry Burns ( January 31 , 1893 - January 7 , 1978 ) , nicknamed Tioga George , was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) who played for five American League ( AL ) teams from 1914 to 1929 . One of the league 's top right-handed batters of the 1920s , he was named the AL Most Valuable Player in 1926 with the Cleveland Indians after batting .358 and setting a major league record with 64 doubles . A career .307 hitter , he retired with 2,018 hits , then the third-highest total by an AL right-handed hitter . His 1,671 games at first base were the most by an AL right-handed player until 1940 ; he still ranks third in league history .
The 1919 Major League Baseball season , is best remembered for the Black Sox Scandal , in which the Chicago White Sox threw ( purposely lost ) the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds , 5-3 , in order to illegally gain money from gambling . This scandal resulted in commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banning eight players from baseball for life . The season began on April 19 , 1919 , when the Brooklyn Robins defeated the Boston Braves 5-2 at Braves Field in the first game of a double header . The regular season ended on September 29 with the New York Yankees defeating the Philadelphia Athletics 4-2 at Shibe Park , with the infamous 1919 World Series opening two days later in Cincinnati .
Robert Hayes Bobby Veach ( June 29 , 1888 - August 7 , 1945 ) was an American baseball player from 1910 to 1930 including 14 seasons in the major leagues . He was the starting left fielder for the Detroit Tigers from 1912 to 1923 and also played for the Boston Red Sox ( 1924-1925 ) , New York Yankees ( 1925 ) and Washington Senators ( 1925 ) . Veach hit for both power and average . He compiled a .310 career batting average and finished second to Ty Cobb for the 1919 American League batting title with a .355 average . He also led the American League in runs batted in ( RBIs ) three times ( 1915 , 1917 , and 1918 ) and was among the league leaders 10 times . Nobody in baseball had as many RBIs or extra base hits as Veach from 1915 to 1922 . Veach was also among the best defensive outfielders of his era , regularly ranking among the league leaders in putouts , range factor , and fielding percentage . Despite being one of the most productive hitters in baseball during his years in Detroit , Veach played in the shadows of three Detroit outfielders who won 16 batting titles and were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame : Cobb in center field and Sam Crawford followed by Harry Heilmann in right field . Detroit 's 1915 outfield consisting of Veach , Cobb , and Crawford has been ranked by baseball historian and statistician Bill James as the greatest outfield in history .
The 1920 Major League Baseball season , was the first to be presided over by the newly created office of Baseball Commissioner . In the wake of the Black Sox scandal , the credibility of baseball had been tarnished with the public and fans and the owners of the teams clamored for credibility to be restored . A three-person National Commission ran the major and minor leagues - composed of the American League President , National League President , and one team owner - but the owners felt that creating one position with near-unlimited authority was the answer . In the World Series , the Cleveland Indians triumphed over the Brooklyn Robins , 5-2 .