1912 New York Giants

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1912 New York Giants / Franchise: San Francisco Giants / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 103-48-3, Finished 1st in National League (1912 NL)

Clinched Pennant: September 26, 1912, At Boston Braves

Managed by John McGraw

Coach: Wilbert Robinson

Ballpark: Polo Grounds IV

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 1912 New York Giants began the season by hitting 12 doubles in their first two games. This set a major league record that would not be matched until the 2015 Colorado Rockies opened their season with a similar barrage of two-base hits. However, they only really got going in May and June, when they put together two outstanding months back-to-back to run away with the National League pennant. They were 20-4 in May and 22-4 in June. By July 3rd, they were at 54-11 and had built a 16 1/2 game lead over the second-place Chicago Cubs. No major league team has ever done better over its first 65 games.

The 1912 season is best remembered as the year Rube Marquard was the best pitcher in the world, at least for the first half of the season, reeling off wins in his first 19 decisions. He lost for the first time on July 8th, then fell back to this mortal realm in the second half, going 7-11 the rest of the way as teammate Christy Mathewson reclaimed the title of King of the Hill, finishing at 23-12, 2.12. Marquard was no doubt helped by some tremendous run support over the first half, as the Giants scored 457 runs through 66 games, more than any other team in the Deadball Era. Three players, Chief Meyers, Larry Doyle and Fred Merkle hit over .370 in the first half, and as a team, they batted .308. The hitting fell down dramatically after that, as they went from scoring 6.92 runs per game to 4.16 in the second half. The whole league suffered a drop in hitting after Independence Day, but no team more than the Giants, who went from being historically good to slightly below average, with no injury to be blamed for the drop-off either.

By August 30th, the Giants' once huge lead had been cut to four games ahead of the Cubs. However, Matthewson and rookie Jeff Tesreau took over from there, being almost unbeatable over the final month to secure the pennant. Tesreau pitched a no-hitter over the Philadelphia Phillies on September 6th and ended up at 17-7 with the best ERA in the league at 1.98.

Awards and Honors[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • 2022 San Francisco Giants Media Guide, pg. 518

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