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1914 Boston Braves season

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1914 Boston Braves
World Series Champion
National League Champion
LeagueNational League
BallparkSouth End Grounds (since 1871)
Fenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record94–59 (.614)
League place1st
OwnersJames Gaffney
ManagersGeorge Stallings
← 1913
1915 →

The 1914 Boston Braves season was the 44th season of the franchise. The team finished first in the National League, winning the pennant by 10½ games over the New York Giants after being in last place in the NL at midseason. The team, which became known as the 1914 Miracle Braves, went on to sweep the Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series.

Offseason

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Regular season

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The Braves performed one of the most memorable reversals in major league history, going from last place to first place in two months, becoming the first team to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July.[2] After finishing in fifth place in 1913 with a record of 69 wins and 82 losses, the Braves were not expected to be contenders. They spent the first part of the season in last place, posting a record of 26 wins and 40 losses in early July.[3] Led by three pitchers, Dick Rudolph, Bill James, and Lefty Tyler, the team began to win games, taking over first place for good on September 8.[4] Their record over their final 87 games was 68–19 for a winning percentage of .782.[4] Infielders Johnny Evers and Rabbit Maranville led the league in double plays. The Braves went on to sweep Connie Mack's heavily favored Athletics in four games in the 1914 World Series.[5] The team became known as the "Miracle" Braves and remain one of the most storied comeback teams in baseball history. The franchise would not win another pennant until 1948.

Season standings

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Braves 94 59 .614 51‍–‍25 43‍–‍34
New York Giants 84 70 .545 10½ 43‍–‍36 41‍–‍34
St. Louis Cardinals 81 72 .529 13 42‍–‍34 39‍–‍38
Chicago Cubs 78 76 .506 16½ 46‍–‍30 32‍–‍46
Brooklyn Robins 75 79 .487 19½ 45‍–‍34 30‍–‍45
Philadelphia Phillies 74 80 .481 20½ 48‍–‍30 26‍–‍50
Pittsburgh Pirates 69 85 .448 25½ 39‍–‍36 30‍–‍49
Cincinnati Reds 60 94 .390 34½ 34‍–‍42 26‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston 9–13 16–6 14–8–2 11–11–1 12–10 17–5–1 15–6–1
Brooklyn 13–9 10–12 11–11 9–13 11–11 16–6 5–17
Chicago 6–16 12–10 17–5 9–13 12–10 12–10 10–12–2
Cincinnati 8–14–2 11–11 5–17 9–13 9–13 8–14–1 10–12
New York 11–11–1 13–9 13–9 13–9 12–10 13–9–1 9–13
Philadelphia 10–12 11–11 10–12 13–9 10–12 12–10 8–14
Pittsburgh 5–17–1 6–16 10–12 14–8–1 9–13–1 10–12 15–7–1
St. Louis 6–15–1 17–5 12–10–2 12–10 13–9 14–8 7–15–1


Roster

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1914 Boston Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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

Pos. Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
C Hank Gowdy 128 366 42 89 .243 3 46 14
1B Butch Schmidt 147 537 67 153 .285 1 71 14
2B Johnny Evers 139 491 81 137 .279 1 40 12
3B Charlie Deal 79 257 17 54 .210 0 23 4
SS Rabbit Maranville 156 586 74 144 .246 4 78 28
OF Larry Gilbert 72 224 32 60 .268 5 25 3
OF Les Mann 126 389 44 96 .247 4 40 9
OF Joe Connolly 120 399 64 122 .306 9 65 12

Other batters

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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
Possum Whitted 66 218 57 .261 2 31
Red Smith 60 207 65 .314 3 37
Bert Whaling 60 172 36 .209 0 12
Herbie Moran 41 154 41 .266 0 4
Ted Cather 50 145 43 .297 0 27
Josh Devore 51 128 29 .227 1 5
Jim Murray 39 112 26 .232 0 12
Oscar Dugey 58 109 21 .193 1 10
Jack Martin 33 85 18 .212 0 5
Tommy Griffith 16 48 5 .104 0 1
Wilson Collins 27 35 9 .257 0 1
Fred Tyler 6 19 2 .105 0 2
Clarence Kraft 3 3 1 .333 0 0
Billy Martin 1 3 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dick Rudolph 42 336.1 26 10 2.35 138
Bill James 46 332.1 26 7 1.90 156
Lefty Tyler 38 271.1 16 13 2.69 140
Otto Hess 14 89.0 5 6 3.03 24
Hub Perdue 9 51.0 2 5 5.82 13
Tom Hughes 2 17.0 2 0 2.65 11
Ensign Cottrell 1 1.0 0 1 9.00 1

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dick Crutcher 33 158.2 5 7 3.46 58
George Davis 9 55.2 3 3 3.40 26
Paul Strand 16 55.1 6 2 2.44 33
Gene Cocreham 15 44.2 3 4 4.84 15
Dolf Luque 2 8.2 0 1 4.15 1

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1914 World Series

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Boston Braves (4) vs Philadelphia Athletics (0)

Game Score Date Location Attendance
1 Boston Braves – 7, Philadelphia Athletics – 1 October 9 Shibe Park 20,562
2 Boston Braves – 1, Philadelphia Athletics – 0 October 10 Shibe Park 20,562
3 Philadelphia Athletics – 4, Boston Braves – 5 (12 innings) October 12 Fenway Park 35,520
4 Philadelphia Athletics – 1, Boston Braves – 3 October 13 Fenway Park 34,365

Notes

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  1. ^ "Players: Guy Zinn". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  2. ^ "How Losing an Exhibition Sparked Miracle Braves, by Joseph M. Overfield, Baseball Digest, May 1961, Vol. 20, No. 4, ISSN 0005-609X".
  3. ^ "The 1914 Boston Braves at www.thisgreatgame.com". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Down To The Wire; Six Greatest Stretch Runs For The Pennant by George Vass, Baseball Digest, Sep 2001, Vol. 60, No. 9, ISSN 0005-609X".
  5. ^ "1914 World Series – Boston Braves over Philadelphia Athletics (4–0)". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  6. ^ "1914 Boston Braves Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 24, 2023.

References

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