I initially created Baseball Graphs to develop new and better ways of presenting baseball statistics. The 2003 season was my first full-season attempt, and it turned out pretty well. I now spend a lot of my time creating and formatting the baseball stats at The Hardball Times.

Along the way, I've also picked up the writing bug. I spend most of my energy writing for THT, but sometimes I like to write about more geeky stuff, baseball research and things like that. That's what this blog is for.

I'm very interested in graphics and other information display, so I'll probably post links to creative stuff like that. I also plan to write historical articles that complement the historical graphs. And I have inexplicably developed an interest in baseball win-related stats, such as Bill James's Win Shares and something called Win Probability Added. So you can expect a few posts about that stuff too.

If you're interested, I've created a complex spreadsheet full of WPA logic, which you can download at ftp.baseballgraphs.com/wpa. If you'd like to read more about Win Shares, try these links:

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The 1901 American League

January 05, 2006

I’m posting this article to the historical graphs section.  If you’d like to add anything, feel free to post comments.

In 1900, Ban Johnson’s Western League, a minor league feeder to the National League, changed its name to the American League and added a franchise in Chicago (the White Stockings).  That was just a warmup for 1901, when the League dropped its minor league status with the National, added franchises in major cities and basically announced it would sign National League players who didn’t have fresh contracts with their teams.

With Charles Comiskey, Connie Mack, Clark Griffith and John McGraw in his camp, as well as a willingness to pay players a decent salary, it didn’t take long for the junior league to acquire a major league glow.  In that first year, almost two-thirds of the AL’s players were former National Leaguers, including the biggest name of all, Nap Lajoie.  The AL attracted 1.7 million fans to its games, trailing the National by only 200 thousand.  The National League’s monopoly was at an end.

On the field, Philadelphia’s Lajoie led the league with a .422 average, 14 home runs and 42 Win Shares.  Boston’s Cy Young was 33-10 with a 1.62 ERA and 41 Win Shares.  But it was Chicago that took the pennant, led by Clark Griffiths’ 24-7 record and 2.67 ERA (27 Win Shares), and 39-year-old Dummy Hoy (25 Win Shares).  The White Sox were first for most of the year, though Young’s Boston Americans/Somersets (they wouldn’t be called the Red Sox until 1907) tied for first place in late August.

As you can see in the graphs, the difference between Chicago and Boston was offense, particularly On Base Percentage.  Hoy led the league in walks and being hit by pitches.  Fielder Jones also contributed a .412 OBP, second in the league to Lajoie.

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