Series Wrapup

Story

The Chicago Cubs continued their domination of the National League in 1907, winning their second straight pennant with a record of 107-45.  Chicago finished 17 games in front of the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates.  Although the Cubs scored more than 100 fewer runs than they did one year earlier, their pitching staff remained unquestionably the best in all of baseball.  Mordecai Brown finished 20-6 with a 1.39 ERA, Orval Overall compiled a record of 23-7 and a 1.68 ERA, Jack Pfiester went 14-9 with a league-leading 1.15 ERA, and Carl Lundgren finished 18-7 with an ERA of 1.17.  Chicago pitchers occupied four of the top five spots on the ERA leader board, with Pfiester’s mark of 1.15 representing the fifth-lowest ERA in history and Lundgren’s 1.17 ERA representing the eighth-best ever.  The team allowed its opposition to score only 390 runs, just nine more than it surrendered to its opponents the previous season.  

Chicago hurlers continued to thwart opposing batsmen in the World Series, allowing the Detroit Tigers to cross the plate only six times en route to defeating Ty Cobb’s crew in five games.  The only blemish on Chicago’s record was a 3-3 tie in Game One of the Fall Classic.  Cubs third baseman Harry Steinfeldt led all Series hitters with a .471 batting average.

Meanwhile, the runner-up Pittsburgh Pirates featured the National League’s most potent offense and its best player.  Honus Wagner’s .350 batting average earned him his fifth batting title, and he also topped the senior circuit with 38 doubles, 61 stolen bases, a .403 on-base percentage, and a .513 slugging percentage.  Wagner excelled to such a degree that he outhit the entire National League by 107 points and his own team by a 96-point margin.      

The third-place Phillies, who finished 21 ½ games off the pace, had another of the league’s top players in Sherry Magee.  The outfielder batted .328 and led the N.L. with 85 runs batted in.  Philadelphia hurler Tully Sparks also had an outstanding year, finishing the campaign 22-8 with a 2.00 ERA.

Other outstanding performers and notable events from around the league follow:

• New York’s Christy Mathewson led the National League with 24 wins and 178 strikeouts.

• St. Louis Cardinals rookie Stoney McGlynn topped the senior circuit with 352 innings pitched, 33 complete games, and 25 losses.

• Pittsburgh’s league-leading .254 team batting average remains the lowest ever by a National League leader.

• After owning the National League’s Boston franchise since 1877, Arthur Soden sold the club to the Dovey brothers.

• Big Jeff Pfeffer of Boston threw a no-hitter against Cincinnati on May 8.

• Pittsburgh’s Nick Maddox no-hit Brooklyn on Sept. 20.

• Claude Ritchey topped National League second basemen in fielding average for a record sixth consecutive year.

• After being traded to the Braves by the Pirates, Ginger Beaumont returned to the National League’s top spot in hits (187).

• Cincinnati manager Ned Hanlon was fired after a sixth-place finish.  Hanlon never again managed in the major leagues.

• Boston outfielder Cozy Dolan died of typhoid fever.