1912 Washington Senators

1912 Washington Senators / Franchise: Minnesota Twins / BR Team Page

Record: 91-61, Finished 2nd in American League (1912 AL)

Managed by Clark Griffith

Coach: Nick Altrock

Ballpark: Griffith Stadium

History, Comments, Contributions

The 1912 Washington Senators had a completely unexpected strong season, finishing with 91 wins in second place in the American League, behind the Boston Red Sox who set a franchise record that would stand until 2018 with 105 wins. They did not have a particularly good start, as they were in sixth place as May was ending - which would still have tied for their best finish since the inception of the league. That's when they started a major league record streak of 16 straight road wins that brought them into second place, just 1 1/2 games behind Boston on June 16th. However they then were swept in back-to-back doubleheaders by the Philadelphia Athletics, tumbling back to fourth place, but they never fell completely off the pace, eventually distancing every other team but the Red Sox.

In addition to P Walter Johnson, the Senators' best players during their winning streak were OF Clyde Milan who hit .354 with 15 stolen bases, and 2B Ray Morgan, who hit .364. Milan managed to keep it up, finishing at .308 with a league-leading 88 stolen bases, Morgan collapsed completely, hitting .191 the rest of the way to finish at .238. By the end of August, Frank LaPorte had taken over for him at second base. Johnson went 33-12 and led the league with 303 strikeouts. Other contributors to the very good season were Bob Groom, who won 24 games, and 3B Eddie Foster who hit .285 with 98 runs and 70 RBIs in his first full season.

Standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Boston Red Sox	105	47	.691	--
Washington Senators	91	61	.599	14
Philadelphia Athletics	90	62	.592	15
Chicago White Sox	78	76	.506	28
Cleveland Naps	75	78	.490	30½
Detroit Tigers	69	84	.451	36½
St. Louis Browns	53	101	.344	53
New York Highlanders	50	102	.329	55