1904 The Giants – A World Series That Wasn’t

1904 The Giants – A World Series That Wasn’t

There were two league champions crowned at the end of the 1904 regular season, both of which proved to be worthy of being called World Champions. The first ever World Series that took place in 1903 was a smashing success and it appeared to continue the following year.

Far and away the New York Giants ruled Major League Baseball in 1904, going 106-47 and winning the National League pennant by 13 games over the Chicago Cubs. The Giants went 11-11-2 against the Cubs in head-to-head play. The Giants went 56-26 at their home ballpark, the Polo Grounds, and went 50-21 on the road.

First baseman Dan McGann batted .286 with 6 home runs and 71 RBI’s off 148 hits, 22 doubles, 6 triples and 42 stolen bases. Right fielder George Browne batted .284 with 169 hits, 16 doubles, 5 triples and 24 stolen bases. Center fielder Roger Bresnahan batted .284 with 5 home runs, 114 hits, 22 doubles, 7 triples and 13 stolen bases in 109 games played. Third baseman Art Devlin batted .281 with 66 RBI’s, 133 hits, 16 doubles, 8 triples and 33 stolen bases. Left fielder Sam Mertes batted .276 with 4 home runs and 78 RBI’s off 147 hits, 28 doubles, 11 triples and an impressive 47 stolen bases. Shortstop Bill Dahlen had 80 RBI’s, 140 hits, 26 doubles and 47 stolen bases. Second baseman Billy Gilbert had 121 hits, 13 doubles and 33 stolen bases. Outfielder Harru “Moose” McCormick had 54 hits, 9 doubles and 13 stolen bases in 59 games played. Third baseman Jack Dunn had 11 stolen bases.

The Giants had a stellar pitching staff that easily got batters out. Joe McGinnity went 35-8 with 144 strikeouts and a 1.61 ERA, recording 38 complete games, 9 shutouts and 5 saves. Christy Mathewson went 33-12 with 212 strikeouts and a 2.03 ERA, recording 33 complete games and 4 shutouts. Luther “Dummy” Taylor went 21-15 with 138 strikeouts and a 2.34 ERA, recording 29 complete games and 5 shutouts. George “Hooks” Wiltse went 13-3 with a 2.84 ERA, recording 14 complete games, 2 shutouts and 3 saves. Red Ames had 93 strikeouts, a 2.27 ERA, 11 complete games and 1 shutout despite going 4-6.

The best regular season stretch for the Giants featured a big 18-game winning streak which began on June 16 with a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, and ended on July 4 with an 11-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The biggest regular season win for the Giants came on April 22 when they defeated the Phillies 18-3.

The team who won the American League pennant ended up being the Boston Americans, who went 95-59, edging out the New York Highlanders by 1.5 games to claim the pennant. The Americans went 12-10-2 against the Highlanders in head-to-head play. The Americans went 49-30 at their home ballpark, the very spacious Huntington Avenue Grounds, and they went 46-29 on the road.

Shortstop Freddy Parent batted .291 with 6 home runs and 77 RBI’s off 172 hits, 22 doubles, 9 triples and 20 stolen bases. Outfielder Charles “Chick” Stahl batted .290 with 67 RBI’s, 170 hits, 27 doubles, 19 triples and 11 stolen bases. Right fielder John “Buck” Freeman batted .280 with 7 home runs and 84 RBI’s off 167 hits, 20 doubles and 19 triples. Third baseman Jimmy Collins batted .271 with 67 RBI’s, 171 hits, 33 doubles, 13 triples and 19 stolen bases. Left fielder Albert “Kip” Selbach had 97 hits, 19 doubles, 8 triples and 10 stolen bases in 98 games played. First baseman George “Candy” LaChance had 130 hits and 19 doubles. Second baseman Albert “Hobe” Ferris had 63 RBI’s, 120 hits, 23 doubles and 10 triples. Reserve left fielder Patrick “Patsy” Dougherty had 53 hits and 10 stolen bases in 49 games played.

The Americans came prepared with some of the best pitching to ever grace the mound. “Cy” Denton Young is considered by many baseball historians to be the first elite pitcher in the game, and in 1904 he went 26-16 with 200 strikeouts and a 1.97 ERA, recording 40 complete games and 10 shutouts. However, Young was not alone in guiding the Americans to victories on the mound. Bill Dinneen went 23-14 with 153 strikeouts and a 2.20 ERA, recording 37 complete games and 5 shutouts. Jesse Tannehill went 21-11 with 116 strikeouts and a 2.04 ERA, recording 30 complete games and 4 shutouts, Norwood Gibson went 17-14 with 112 strikeouts and a 2.21 ERA, recording 29 complete games and 1 shutout. George Winter went 8-4 with a 2.32 ERA and recorded 12 complete games and 1 shutout.

The best stretch of the Americans featured an 8-game winning streak which began on July 2 with a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Athletics, and ended on July 9 with a 2-1 win over the New York Highlanders. The biggest regular season win for the Americans was a 13-0 shutout win over the Detroit Tigers on August 30.

The 1904 World Series would never be submitted in the record books since it would never be played. There were a multitude of reasons why the Giants and the Americans never played. One reason was that the National League and the American League, which the latter formed in 1901, were in a heated business rivalry for the hearts and loyalty of baseball fans everywhere. Another reason was a bit more personal as John McGraw, the manager of the Giants, and Ban Johnson, the American League President, had developed animosity between each other. McGraw himself went on record by saying that his Giants had already won the championship of the only real major league when he explained why he declined to play the Americans.

The 1903 World Series between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates was arranged by the two champion clubs, and not necessarily sanctioned by the National and American Leagues. The Giants believed that the official rules of the World Series were not defined well enough. At this point in time an authoritative body wasn’t governing the World Series event, which allowed the Giants to decline participation of the World Series. Giants owner John T. Brush helped form a new draft of rules for both leagues to follow regarding the World Series, which developed in January 1905, mandating for the two pennant-winning teams to determine the dates, playing sites, ticket prices and the division of total sales. The World Series has been played for every year except for 1994, ironically 90 years later.