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 1901-1903 Pittsburg Pirates Photo Gallery
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Back Into the Dead Ball Era We Go!

The 1901 Pittsburg Pirates!

Thanks to our crack baseball researcher, Don Stokes, for uncovering this neat pic of the 1901 National League champion Pittsburg Pirates (without the “h”!). It exhibits remarkable clarity for a photo taken 119 years ago. With a little effort, I was able to identify all the players (see below). The 1901 Pirates played their games at Exposition Park located in Alleghany, Pennsylvania and were owned by Hall-of-Fame inductee, Barney Dreyfuss.

This was a great team. They finished with a 90-49 record (.647), 7 ½ games ahead of the Phillies, winning their first of three consecutive National League pennants. They were remarkably consistent both at home (45-25) and on the road (45-24). Most of the team was still intact when they played in the first World Series in 1903, losing to the Boston Americans (later the Red Sox), five games to three.

The Pirates were led by the great Dead Ball Era superstar, Honus Wagner, shown here in the center of the middle row. In addition to the “Flying Dutchman,” there were three other future Hall-of-Famers on the team: player/manager Fred Clarke, Rube Waddell, and Jack Chesbro.

Wagner had a great year. Playing shortstop for the first time in his career, he finished fourth in both batting average (.356), and on-base percentage (.417), and led the league in RBIs (126) and stolen bases (49). Tommy Leach, an outstanding ballplayer who many think should be in the Hall of Fame, played third; while Kitty Bransfield at first, and Claude Richey at second rounded out the infield.

While the National League hit for a .256 average, the Pirates had quite an outfield: Clarke in left (.324), speedster Ginger Beaumont in center (.332), and Lefty Davis in right (.313). Chief Zimmer, one of the finest defensive catchers of the Dead Ball Era, was behind the plate.

And what a pitching staff! It’s considered by many historians to be one of the best ever. The four top starters – Deacon Phillippe, Jack Chesbro, Jesse Tannehill, and Sam Leever – posted the top-four winning percentages in the National League. All four were in the top-ten in ERA. Plus the staff gave up the fewest runs in the league.

They were led by ace Deacon Phillippe (22-12, 2.22), who I’ve called the best pitcher very few have heard of (a descendant, actor Dean Phillippi, is one of our regular readers). He was second in the league in ERA, and third in wins. Tannehill (18-10, 2.18) lead the league in ERA. Chesbro went 21-10, 2.38, and Leever 14-5, 2.86. Rube Waddell had pitched well in 1900 for them, but was sold in May 1901 to the Chicago Orphans (later the Cubs).

So let’s take a moment to shine our baseball spotlight on a great Dead Ball Era team, the 1901 Pittsburg Pirates!

Player Identifications:

Top, L-R: Snake Wiltse, Kitty Bransfield, Fred Clarke, Chief Zimmer, George Yeager, Mike Smith, Jesse Tannehill. Middle, L-R; Jiggs Donohue, Ed Poole, Jack Chesbro, Deacon Phillippe, Honus Wagner, Bones Ely, Claude Richey, Tommy Leach. Front, L-R: Sam Leever, Rube Waddell, Ginger Beaumont, Jack O’Connor.

*Thanks to Ken Samoil for his help correcting three misidentifications.

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Gary Livacari 

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Information: Excerpts edited from 1901 Pirates Wikipedia page.

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