George Stallings, “The Miracle Man”
The National League opened play in 1914 in mid-April, but with opening day starting earlier now, it seems like a good time to finish my look at how things stacked up in 1914. It’s important to remember it’s a different world in 1914. Black Americans couldn’t vote or play in the Major Leagues, most Americans still lived in rural settings (but that would change by 1920), the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was still alive (his death in June would spark World War I), the Braves were still in Boston and they were supposed to be bad.
The New York Giants were three-time defending NL champions and expected to repeat in 1914. They were led by Hall of Fame pitchers Christy Mathewson and Rube Marquard with Hall of Fame manager John McGraw at the helm. It was decent, but not great lineup with soon to be war casualty Eddie Grant available as a sub. By way of compensation, third pitcher Jeff Tesreau would have a career year.
Philadelphia finished second in 1913 and looked set for another run at a pennant in 1914. Grover Cleveland Alexander was the ace and would have more wins and strikeouts than any other NL pitcher. But the rest of the staff, minus Erskine Meyer, would have a down year. Gavvy Cravath would lead the league in home runs with 19 (he also led in OPS and OPS+, but those stats weren’t around in 1914), and Sherry Magee won the RBI total with a miniscule 103. But other than Beals Becker’s .325 average the rest of the team didn’t do much.
The Cubs and Pirates finished third and fourth in 1913. Cubs pitching, even with Three-Finger Brown moved to the Federal League was still good, but the hitting wasn’t even vaguely on par with the pitching. The Pirates were aging. Honus Wagner, their best player, had his first bad year and without him, Pittsburgh had no one to step up.
The Braves finished fifth in 1913. They were 69-82, which was best among teams with a losing record, but still fifth. But there had been a revolution in Boston. Of the 1913 infield, only Rabbit Maranville, the shortstop, remained with the team. The catcher was new, as was one outfielder. the new players included Hall of Fame second baseman Johnny Evers (who would win the NL’s 1914 Chalmers Award–the 1914 version of the MVP) and a clutch of players brought over during the season who would turn the team around. The pitching also came around. By the fourth of July they were still out of the running (last place), but that would change as manager George Stallings’ (I still try to call him “Gene Stallings” some times) platoon system, judicious use of pitchers, a great (for the era) fielding team, and timely hitting brought them all the way to first as the “Miracle Braves.”
Nothing much was expected of Brooklyn, St. Louis, or Cincinnati, but Brooklyn’s Jake Daubert won the batting title and the Cardinals Bill Doak took the ERA title. Doak’s pitching helped St. Louis more than Daubert’s hitting helped Brooklyn with the Card’s coming in third and Brooklyn fifth.
It was not a great year for rookies in the NL. In May 1914, the Braves brought Dolf Luque to the team. He got into two games, lost one of them, and ended up being a non-factor in the Braves’ sprint for the championship. He would make his mark a few years later.
Boston was a big underdog in the 1914 World Series, but ended up sweeping the Athletics away in four games. They hit .244 while Philly had an average of only .172. Boston’s ERA was 1.15 versus the A’s 3.41. They scored 16 runs (14 earned) while giving up only six (five earned).
It was a “one year wonder” team. Boston faded in 1915, finishing second, then proceeding downhill, finishing sixth by the time the United States joined World War I in 1917. You gotta admit, it was one heck of a year for them in 1914.
Tags: Beals Becker, Bill Doak, Chrity Mathewson, Dolf Luque, Eddie Grant, Erskine Meyer, Gavvy Cravath, George Stallings, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Honus Wagner, Jake Daubert, Jeff Tesreau, John McGraw, Johnny Evers, Rabbit Maranville, Rube Marquard, Sherry Magee
Verdun2's Blog 
March 30, 2014 at 11:12 am
Sherry Magee was a good one. Pretty nearly a HOF-caliber career. Died young, as so many players did in those days.
March 30, 2014 at 12:01 pm
Agree, a borderline Hall of Famer.
v
March 30, 2014 at 1:01 pm
Rabbit Maranville was on that Braves team! I forgot about that! I learned about Rabbit when I was in 7th grade; he was included in a book that I read called “Baseball’s Zaniest Stars” by Howard Liss. He was quite zany, allright, and was my favorite character in a book that includes Casey Stengel and others.
Glen
March 31, 2014 at 9:53 am
As I remember, Bill James once wrote that the Braves won that season with a bunch of Hurricane Hazles. Miracle, indeed!
April 4, 2014 at 8:10 am
You write this like 1914 is right now. That’s inspiring. Gets me thinking of the attendance. I wonder how interest in the Braves compared to the Red Sox. Cities supporting two teams always amaze me, especially considering how empty Tropicana in Tampa is.
The other thing about the Braves is yeh, they were bad; losing 100 games 11 times before moving to Milwaukee, but they did win the World Series. And Atlanta, as hyped as they are only won the 1995 Series.