1903 Philadelphia Athletics

1903 Philadelphia Athletics / Franchise: Oakland Athletics / BR Team Page

Record: 75-60, Finished 2nd in American League (1903 AL)

Managed by Connie Mack

Ballpark: Columbia Park

History, Comments, Contributions

The 1903 Philadelphia Phillies rode the arm of ace pitcher Rube Waddell, acquired halfway through their pennant-winning season in 1902, to an early lead in the American League standings. They were slightly ahead of the Boston Americans on June 17th when Waddell went into a slump, losing his next five decisions, and never recovered. He had another five-game losing streak in August, including a pair of losses against Boston, that in effect clinched the pennant for their opponents. Boston finished well ahead of the A's with a lead of 14 1/2 games. Waddell finished the year at 21-16, being bested by teammate Eddie Plank, who went 23-16 with a slightly better ERA (2.38 to 2.44) in a handful more innings, although both men easily topped 300 innings that year. The third wheel was another future Hall of Famer, Chief Bender, who 17-14 at age 19, logging 270 innings with an ERA of 3.07. Weldon Henley was clearly a cut below the top three, with a record of 12-10 but an ERA of 3.91. The rest of the staff combined for just 2 wins and hardly saw any action all year.

Standings

American League	W	L	T	GB	Pct.
Boston Pilgrims	91	47	3	--	.659
Philadelphia Athletics	75	60	2	14½	.556
Cleveland Naps	77	63	0	15	.550
New York Highlanders	72	62	2	17	.537
Detroit Tigers	65	71	1	25	.478
St. Louis Browns	65	74	0	26½	.468
Chicago White Sox	60	77	1	30½	.438
Washington Senators	43	94	3	47½	.314