1920 Brooklyn Robins season

The 1920 Brooklyn Robins, also known as the Dodgers, won 16 of their final 18 games to pull away from a tight pennant race and earn a trip to their second World Series against the Cleveland Indians. They lost the series in seven games.

1920 Brooklyn Robins
1920 National League Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Location
Ebbets Field (since 1913) Brooklyn, New York (since 1883)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles Ebbets, Ed McKeever, Stephen McKeever
Manager(s)	Wilbert Robinson
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The team featured four Hall of Famers: manager Wilbert Robinson, pitchers Burleigh Grimes and Rube Marquard, and outfielder Zack Wheat. Grimes anchored a pitching staff that allowed the fewest runs in the majors.

Offseason

• January 1920: Frank O'Rourke was purchased from the Robins by the Washington Senators.[1]
• January 12, 1920: Mack Wheat was purchased from the Robins by the Philadelphia Phillies.[2]
• March 1920: Bill Lamar was purchased by the Robins from the Boston Red Sox.[3]

Regular season

On May 1, Brooklyn and the Boston Braves played what remains the longest major league baseball game, tied 1 to 1 at the end of nine innings and then going scoreless for 19 more until the game 26-inning game was called because of darkness [4]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Robins	93	61	0.604	—	49–29	44–32
New York Giants	86	68	0.558	7	45–35	41–33
Cincinnati Reds	82	71	0.536	10½	42–34	40–37
Pittsburgh Pirates	79	75	0.513	14	42–35	37–40
St. Louis Cardinals	75	79	0.487	18	38–38	37–41
Chicago Cubs	75	79	0.487	18	43–34	32–45
Boston Braves	62	90	0.408	30	36–37	26–53
Philadelphia Phillies	62	91	0.405	30½	32–45	30–46

Record vs. opponents

1920 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	8–14–1	7–15	9–12	10–12	10–11	7–15	11–11
Brooklyn	14–8–1	—	13–9	10–12	15–7	14–8	12–10	15–7
Chicago	15–7	9–13	—	9–13	7–15	14–8	11–11	10–12
Cincinnati	12–9	12–10	13–9	—	6–16–1	14–8	12–10	13–9
New York	12–10	7–15	15–7	16–6–1	—	12–10	13–9	11–11
Philadelphia	11–10	8–14	8–14	8–14	10–12	—	9–13	8–14
Pittsburgh	15–7	10–12	11–11	10–12	9–13	13–9	—	11–11–1
St. Louis	11–11	7–15	12–10	9–13	11–11	14–8	11–11–1	—

Notable transactions

• May 22, 1920: Bill McCabe was purchased by the Robins from the Chicago Cubs.[5]
• July 1920: Wally Hood was purchased from the Robins by the Pittsburgh Pirates.[6]
• July 27, 1920: Doug Baird was purchased from the Robins by the New York Giants.[7]

Roster

1920 Brooklyn Robins
Roster
Pitchers Leon Cadore Burleigh Grimes Al Mamaux Rube Marquard Johnny Miljus Clarence Mitchell George Mohart Jeff Pfeffer Sherry Smith		Catchers Rowdy Elliott Ernie Krueger Otto Miller Zack Taylor Infielders Doug Baird Jimmy Johnston Pete Kilduff Ed Konetchy Bill McCabe Ivy Olson Ray Schmandt Jack Sheehan Red Sheridan Chuck Ward		Outfielders Tommy Griffith Wally Hood Bill Lamar Hy Myers Bernie Neis Zack Wheat		Manager Wilbert Robinson

Player stats

Starters by position

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Otto Miller	90	301	16	87	.289	0	33	0
1B	Ed Konetchy	131	497	62	153	.308	5	63	3
2B	Pete Kilduff	141	478	62	130	.272	0	58	2
3B	Jimmy Johnston	155	635	87	185	.291	1	52	19
SS	Ivy Olson	143	637	71	162	.254	1	46	4
OF	Hy Myers	154	582	83	177	.304	4	80	9
OF	Zack Wheat	148	583	89	191	.328	9	73	8
OF	Tommy Griffith	93	334	41	87	.260	2	30	3

Other batters

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

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Bernie Neis	95	249	38	63	.253	2	22	9
Ernie Krueger	52	146	21	42	.288	1	17	2
Rowdy Elliott	41	112	13	27	.241	1	13	0
Chuck Ward	19	71	7	11	.155	0	4	1
Bill McCabe	41	68	10	10	.147	0	3	1
Ray Schmandt	28	63	7	15	.238	0	7	1
Bill Lamar	24	44	5	12	.273	0	4	0
Wally Hood	7	14	4	2	.143	0	1	2
Zack Taylor	9	13	3	5	.385	0	5	0
Doug Baird	6	6	1	2	.333	0	1	0
Jack Sheehan	3	5	0	2	.400	0	0	0
Red Sheridan	3	2	0	0	.000	0	0	0

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games

Player	G	GS	CG	IP	W	L	ERA	BB	SO
Burleigh Grimes	40	33	25	303.2	23	11	2.22	67	131
Leon Cadore	35	30	16	254.1	15	14	2.62	56	79
Jeff Pfeffer	30	28	20	215	16	9	3.01	45	80
Rube Marquard	28	26	10	189.2	10	7	3.23	35	89

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games

Player	G	GS	CG	IP	W	L	ERA	BB	SO
Al Mamaux	41	18	9	190.2	12	8	2.69	63	101
Sherry Smith	33	12	6	136.1	11	9	1.85	27	33
Clarence Mitchell	19	7	3	78.2	5	2	3.09	23	18

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	BB	SO
George Mohart	13	35.2	0	1	0	1.77	7	13
Johnny Miljus	9	23.1	1	0	0	3.09	4	9

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Burleigh Grimes

• #2 in NL in strikeouts (131)
• #3 in NL in wins (23)
• #3 in NL in ERA (2.22)

Zack Wheat

• #4 in NL in batting average (.328)
• #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.385)

1920 World Series

On October 10, 1920, which was the fifth game of the World Series, Elmer Smith of the Indians hit the first grand slam in World Series history. On the same day, Bill Wambsganss of the Indians had an unassisted triple play. He caught a liner, touched second base, and tagged the runner coming from first base.[8] During that same game, Indians pitcher Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in World Series history.[9]

Game 1

October 5, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	0
Brooklyn	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	1
W: Stan Coveleski (1–0)  L: Rube Marquard (0–1)

Game 2

October 6, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
Brooklyn	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	x	3	7	0
W: Burleigh Grimes (1–0)  L: Jim Bagby (0–1)

Game 3

October 7, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	1
Brooklyn	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	2	6	1
W: Sherry Smith (1–0)  L: Ray Caldwell (0–1)

Game 4

October 9, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
Cleveland	2	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	x	5	12	1
W: Stan Coveleski (2–0)  L: Leon Cadore (0–1)

Game 5

October 10, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	13	1
Cleveland	4	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	x	8	12	2
W: Jim Bagby (1–1)  L: Burleigh Grimes (1–1)
HR: CLE – Elmer Smith (1), Jim Bagby (1)

Game 6

October 11, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Cleveland	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	x	1	7	3
W: Duster Mails (1–0)  L: Sherry Smith (1–1)

Game 7

October 12, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2
Cleveland	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	x	3	7	3
W: Stan Coveleski (3–0)  L: Burleigh Grimes (1–2)

References

1. Frank O'Rourke page at Baseball Reference
2. Mack Wheat page at Baseball Reference
3. Bill Lamar page at Baseball Reference
4. "5 of the longest, strangest games in MLB history", MLB.com
5. Bill McCabe page at Baseball Reference
6. Wally Hood page at Baseball Reference
7. Doug Baird page at Baseball Reference
8. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats8.shtml
9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page
• 1920 Brooklyn Robins uniform
• Brooklyn Dodgers reference site
• Acme Dodgers page Archived September 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
• Retrosheet