September 21, 1901: The 1st American League Pennant

Clark Griffith

September 21, 1901: The Chicago White Stockings lose to the Philadelphia Athletics, 10-4 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia. Bill Bernhard outpitches Roy Patterson, who falls to 20-15.

However, the Boston Americans lose to the Detroit Tigers, 3-1 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. This means that Chicago clinch the Pennant of the American League, in its 1st season.

The White Stockings were owned by Charles A. Comiskey, a former 1st baseman for the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, who joined the National League and later became the Cardinals. Comiskey had founded the AL with sportswriter Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson, who served as the League's 1st President.

The White Stockings were managed by Clark Griffith, who was also their ace pitcher. He had previously pitched in the city for the National League team, formerly named the White Stockings. Their outfielders included Fielder Jones (his actual birth name), who would manage them to win the 1906 World Series; and William "Dummy" Hoy, a sensational fielder and baserunner, who was deaf, but not mute, or "dumb" in the parlance of the time, yet didn't mind, as many deaf men were, being called "Dummy." They finished 83-53, and won the Pennant by 4 games.

In 1903, Griffith became the 1st manager and the 1st pitcher of the New York Highlanders, forerunners of the Yankees. In 1904, the White Stockings officially shortened their name to the "White Sox," presaging the 1908 decision by Boston to become the "Red Sox," rather than adopt the former National League name of "Red Stockings."

In 1910, Comiskey built the ballpark that would bear his name, where the White Sox would play until 1990. In 1912, Griffith bought the Washington Senators, and named their ballpark for himself. In 1955, the Athletics moved to Kansas City; in 1968, to Oakland.

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September 21, 1901 was a Saturday. These other baseball games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-1 at League Park in Cincinnati.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 and 7-2 at Oriole Park in Baltimore. These are not the teams we know by those names today. These Orioles went out of business after the 1902 season, and were replaced by a new franchise, which became the New York Yankees. These Brewers moved for the 1902 season, becoming the St. Louis Browns. In 1954, they moved again, becoming... the Baltimore Orioles.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 in 10 innings at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. Despite this, on September 27, the Pirates clinched the NL Pennant. There would be no World Series between the Leagues until a peace agreement was made in 1903.

* The Washington Senators swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Blues, 18-7 and 11-3 at American League Park in Washington. The Blues became the Naps, in honor of Napoleon Lajoie, in 1903; the Cleveland Indians after Lajoie left, in 1915; and the Cleveland Guardians in 2022. The Senators became the Minnesota Twins in 1961.

* The Chicago Orphans beat the Boston Beaneaters, 1-0 in 17 innings at the West Side Grounds in Chicago. Boston had already been known as Beantown for some time. They went through several name changes before becoming the Braves in 1912, and moving to Milwaukee in 1953 and Atlanta in 1966.

The original Chicago White Stockings had a 1st baseman and manager named Adrian Anson. Because he was the team captain, he became known as Cap. As he got older, he became known as Pop; and his team, because of their comparative youth, were known as the Colts. In 1898, their 1st season without him, the team was called the Orphans, because "they missed their Pop." In 1903, they became the Cubs.

* And the Brooklyn Superbas beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1 at Robison Field in St. Louis. The Superbas became the Dodgers in 1911.

This was also the opening week of the college football season. Few schools now recognized as being from "Power Five" conferences were in action. The most interesting games were 2 teams playing high school teams, which would certainly not be allowed now. Minnesota, generally agreed to be one of the top teams of the era, were held to a 0-0 tie, on home ground at Northrop Field, by Minneapolis Central High School. Nebraska, on the other hand, had no trouble with Lincoln High School, beating them 22-0 at Antelope Field in Lincoln.