The American League announced itself as a major league in 1901. It was formerly a minor league known as the Western League.

The league formed with 8 teams: the Chicago White Sox, the Boston Americans, the Baltimore Orioles, the Cleveland Indians, the Detroit Tigers, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Washington Senators, and the Philadelphia Athletics.

The Philadelphia Athletics (now the Oakland Athletics) lured Nap Lajoie from the NL's Philadelphia Phillies and he went on to win the triple crown in the AL's first season with a .426 batting average, 14 home runs, and 125 RBI. Lajoie lead the league in almost every hitting stat: AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, OPS+, Batter Wins, Adj. Batter Runs, Runs, Hits, Doubles, Home Runs, Total Bases, and RBI. The only categories he did not lead the league in were triples, walks, and stolen bases.

As incredible as Lajoie was in this first AL season it was not enough to carry the A's to the title. They finished in 4th place.

The Chicago White Sox won the first AL championship with an 83-53 record.

Cy Young, who also moved from the NL (St. Louis Cardinals) to the new AL (Boston Americans), was the top pitcher in the league with a league leading 33 wins, 158 strikeouts, and 1.62 ERA. If there had been a Cy Young Award at the time, Cy Young surely would have won it.

Interesting Tidbitty: Saves were not an official stat at the time but baseball historians have gone back to count up the saves that were accumulated. A pitcher named Bill Hoffer of the Cleveland Indians lead the AL with 3 saves. During this period starting pitchers completed nearly all of their games. For example Cy Young completed 38 of the 41 games he started.


Cy Young and Lefty Grove Framed 16x20 Brearly Collection Photograph

Labels: baseball history