1903 Cleveland Naps season
The 1903 Cleveland Naps season was the third Major League Baseball season for the Cleveland American League team. After two seasons as the Bluebirds – unofficially known as the Blues in 1901 and the Bronchos (or Broncos) in 1902 – the team was renamed for the 1903 season in honor of star second baseman Nap Lajoie. The team finished third in the league with a record of 77–63, 15 games behind the Boston Americans.
| 1903 Cleveland Naps | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Charles Somers |
| Manager(s) | Bill Armour |
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Offseason
- February 1903: Ollie Pickering was purchased from the Naps by the Philadelphia Athletics.[1]
Regular season

Season standings
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Americans | 91 | 47 | 0.659 | — | 49–20 | 42–27 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 75 | 60 | 0.556 | 14½ | 44–21 | 31–39 |
| Cleveland Naps | 77 | 63 | 0.550 | 15 | 49–25 | 28–38 |
| New York Highlanders | 72 | 62 | 0.537 | 17 | 41–26 | 31–36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 65 | 71 | 0.478 | 25 | 37–28 | 28–43 |
| St. Louis Browns | 65 | 74 | 0.468 | 26½ | 38–32 | 27–42 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 60 | 77 | 0.438 | 30½ | 41–28 | 19–49 |
| Washington Senators | 43 | 94 | 0.314 | 47½ | 29–40 | 14–54 |
Record vs. opponents
1903 American League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NY | PHI | STL | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 14–6 | 12–8 | 10–9–1 | 13–7 | 13–6 | 14–6 | 15–5–2 | |||||
| Chicago | 6–14 | — | 10–10 | 10–9 | 7–11–1 | 6–14 | 9–11 | 12–8 | |||||
| Cleveland | 8–12 | 10–10 | — | 9–11 | 14–6 | 9–11 | 11–9 | 16–4 | |||||
| Detroit | 9–10–1 | 9–10 | 11–9 | — | 10–9 | 11–9 | 6–14 | 9–10 | |||||
| New York | 7–13 | 11–7–1 | 6–14 | 9–10 | — | 10–8–1 | 15–5 | 14–5 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 6–13 | 14–6 | 11–9 | 9–11 | 8–10–1 | — | 11–8 | 16–3–1 | |||||
| St. Louis | 6–14 | 11–9 | 9–11 | 14–6 | 5–15 | 8–11 | — | 12–8 | |||||
| Washington | 5–15–2 | 8–12 | 4–16 | 10–9 | 5–14 | 3–16–1 | 8–12 | — | |||||
Roster
| 1903 Cleveland Naps | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders | Manager | ||||||
Player stats
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 | Fred Abbott | 77 | 255 | 60 | .235 | 1 | 25 |
| 1B | Charlie Hickman | 131 | 522 | 154 | .295 | 12 | 97 |
| 2B | Nap Lajoie | 125 | 485 | 167 | .344 | 7 | 93 |
| SS | John Gochnaur | 134 | 438 | 81 | .185 | 0 | 48 |
| 3B | Bill Bradley | 136 | 536 | 168 | .313 | 6 | 68 |
| OF | Elmer Flick | 140 | 523 | 155 | .296 | 2 | 51 |
| OF | Jack McCarthy | 108 | 415 | 110 | .265 | 0 | 43 |
| OF | Harry Bay | 140 | 579 | 169 | .292 | 1 | 35 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Bemis | 92 | 314 | 82 | .261 | 1 | 41 |
| Jack Thoney | 32 | 122 | 25 | .205 | 1 | 9 |
| Billy Clingman | 21 | 64 | 18 | .281 | 0 | 7 |
| Jack Hardy | 5 | 19 | 3 | .158 | 0 | 1 |
| Jack Slattery | 4 | 11 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Happy Iott | 3 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Hugh Hill | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Addie Joss | 32 | 283.2 | 18 | 13 | 2.19 | 120 |
| Earl Moore | 29 | 247.2 | 20 | 8 | 1.74 | 148 |
| Bill Bernhard | 20 | 165.2 | 14 | 6 | 2.12 | 60 |
| Red Donahue | 16 | 136.2 | 7 | 9 | 2.44 | 45 |
| Gene Wright | 15 | 101.2 | 3 | 10 | 5.75 | 42 |
| Ed Killian | 9 | 61.2 | 3 | 4 | 2.48 | 18 |
| Jesse Stovall | 6 | 57 | 5 | 1 | 2.05 | 12 |
| Bob Rhoads | 5 | 41 | 2 | 3 | 5.27 | 21 |
| Martin Glendon | 3 | 27.2 | 1 | 2 | 0.98 | 9 |
| Ed Walker | 3 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 5.25 | 4 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gus Dorner | 12 | 73.2 | 3 | 5 | 4.52 | 28 |
| Alex Pearson | 4 | 30.1 | 1 | 2 | 3.56 | 12 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Pounds | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 2 |