1919 Philadelphia Athletics season

1919 Philadelphia Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Shibe Park (since 1909)
Philadelphia (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Connie Mack, Benjamin Shibe, Tom Shibe and John Shibe
Manager(s)	Connie Mack
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The 1919 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing last in the American League with a record of 36 wins and 104 losses. It was their fifth consecutive season in the cellar after owner-manager Connie Mack sold off his star players.

Philadelphia led the AL in fewest runs scored and most runs allowed, and they did so by wide margins. Their team ERA was 4.26, nearly a full run higher than the second worst team in the league that year.^[1] The A's team batting average of .244 was the lowest in both leagues.^[1] The pitching staff pitched only one shutout in the entire season.^[1]

In July 1919, a newspaper reported, "Veteran Harry Davis has been coaxed out of his retirement and has been made assistant manager of the Athletics."^[2] Although Connie Mack was the team's manager, the report said, "Mack hereafter will devote most of his time to business affairs of the club" and that the understanding was that Davis "really is in full charge of the team."^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Sox	88	52	0.629	—	48–22	40–30
Cleveland Indians	84	55	0.604	3½	44–25	40–30
New York Yankees	80	59	0.576	7½	46–25	34–34
Detroit Tigers	80	60	0.571	8	46–24	34–36
St. Louis Browns	67	72	0.482	20½	40–30	27–42
Boston Red Sox	66	71	0.482	20½	35–30	31–41
Washington Senators	56	84	0.400	32	32–40	24–44
Philadelphia Athletics	36	104	0.257	52	21–49	15–55

Record vs. opponents

1919 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	9–11	4–15	9–11	10–9	14–6	9–10–1	11–9
Chicago	11–9	—	12–8	11–9	12–8	17–3	11–9	14–6
Cleveland	15–4	8–12	—	8–12	13–7	16–4	11–9	13–7
Detroit	11–9	9–11	12–8	—	8–12	14–6	14–6	12–8
New York	9–10	8–12	7–13	12–8	—	18–2	12–8	14–6–2
Philadelphia	6–14	3–17	4–16	6–14	2–18	—	7–13	8–12
St. Louis	10–9–1	9–11	9–11	6–14	8–12	13–7	—	12–8
Washington	9–11	6–14	7–13	8–12	6–14–2	12–8	8–12	—

Notable transactions

• June 13, 1919: Roy Grover was traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Harry Thompson.^[3]

Roster

1919 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Willie Adams Walter Anderson Dan Boone Charlie Eckert Bob Geary Bill Grevell Bob Hasty Jing Johnson Dave Keefe Walt Kinney Mike Kircher Pat Martin Rollie Naylor Win Noyes Scott Perry William Pierson Ray Roberts Tom Rogers Socks Seibold Harry Thompson Mule Watson Lefty York Jimmy Zinn		Catchers Wickey McAvoy Cy Perkins Lena Styles Johnny Walker Infielders George Burns Dick Burrus Snooks Dowd Joe Dugan Jimmy Dykes Art Ewoldt Chick Galloway Ivy Griffin Lew Groh Ray Grover Red Shannon Fred Thomas Terry Turner		Outfielders Bob Allen Charlie High Merlin Kopp Braggo Roth Amos Strunk Tilly Walker Frank Welch Al Wingo Whitey Witt		Manager Connie Mack

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Perkins, CyCy Perkins	101	305	77	.252	2	29
1B	Burns, GeorgeGeorge Burns	126	470	139	.296	8	57
2B	Shannon, RedRed Shannon	39	155	42	.271	0	14
3B	Thomas, FredFred Thomas	124	453	96	.212	2	23
SS	Dugan, JoeJoe Dugan	104	387	105	.271	1	30
OF	Walker, TillyTilly Walker	125	456	133	.292	10	64
OF	Kopp, MerlinMerlin Kopp	75	235	53	.226	1	12
OF	Witt, WhiteyWhitey Witt	122	460	123	.267	0	33

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Strunk, AmosAmos Strunk	60	194	41	.211	0	13
Grover, RoyRoy Grover	22	56	13	.232	0	2
Welch, FrankFrank Welch	15	54	9	.167	2	7
Allen, BobBob Allen	9	22	3	.136	0	0
Walker, JohnnyJohnny Walker	3	9	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Naylor, RollieRollie Naylor	31	204.2	5	18	3.34	68
Perry, ScottScott Perry	25	183.2	4	17	3.58	38
Hasty, BobBob Hasty	2	12	0	2	5.25	5
Keefe, DaveDave Keefe	1	9	0	1	4.00	5

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Seibold, SocksSocks Seibold	14	45.2	2	3	5.32	19
Geary, BobBob Geary	9	32.1	0	3	4.73	9
Eckert, CharlieCharlie Eckert	2	16	0	1	3.94	6
Boone, DanDan Boone	3	14.2	0	1	6.75	1
Grevell, BobBob Grevell	5	12	0	0	14.25	3

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Anderson, WalterWalter Anderson	3	1	0	0	3.86	10
Thompson, HarryHarry Thompson	3	0	1	0	6.75	1
Kircher, MikeMike Kircher	2	0	0	0	7.88	2
Adams, WillieWillie Adams	1	0	0	0	3.86	0

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Rollie Naylor

• #3 in AL in losses (18)

Scott Perry

• #4 in AL in losses (17)

See also

• List of worst Major League Baseball season records

References

1. Hollingsworth, Harry (1994). The Best & Worst Baseball Teams of All Time: From the '16 A's to the '27 Yanks to the Present!. United States: SPI Books. p. 187. ISBN 1561713082.
2. "Harry Davis Has Been Made Assistant Manager of Philadelphia Athletics". Iowa, Iowa City. Iowa City Press-Citizen. July 14, 1919. p. 5. Retrieved March 23, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Roy Grover page at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1919 Philadelphia Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1919 Philadelphia Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com