The 1922 St. Louis Browns season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Browns winning 93 games, the only time in franchise history that the Browns topped the 90 win plateau. In the American League standings, the Browns finished in second place behind the New York Yankees. The Browns set a franchise record with 712,918 fans coming to watch the games.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p.11, David Alan Heller, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2003, This was approximately 100,000 higher than the previous high. The franchise would never approach this figure again in the St. Louis portion of franchise history; it would remain the franchise record for attendance until 1954, their first year in Baltimore. The 93 wins would remain a franchise record until the 1961 Orioles won 95 games.
Regular season
The Browns of 1922 had one of the best seasons in the history of the franchise. As a team, the Browns had a batting average of .310, which led the entire Major Leagues.
George Sisler had a batting average of .420, which was the third highest batting average in the 20th century. Sisler led the league with 246 hits, 18 triples, 134 runs scored and 51 stolen bases.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 10 It was the only time that a Brown would lead the American League in triples and runs scored. It would also be the last time that a Brown led the American League in batting average.
Ken Williams became the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season. The feat would not be accomplished again until Willie Mays did it in 1957. Williams batted .332 and led the American League with 39 home runs and 155 runs batted in. He also stole 37 bases, finishing second in the league to Sisler.
The Browns were in first place for 69 days but the New York Yankees overtook them on September 8. The Browns could have regained first place but lost two of three games to New York in a later September series. In the last game of the series, the Browns had a 2–0 lead in the eighth inning. New York scored once in the eighth and then scored two more runs in the ninth inning to win the game.
On the second to last day of the season, the Boston Red Sox sent rookie pitcher Alex Ferguson to pitch against New York. The Yankees countered with Waite Hoyt who allowed only one run over eight innings. The win clinched the pennant for the Yankees.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day lineup Jack Tobin RF Frank Ellerbe 3B George Sisler 1B Ken Williams LF Baby Doll Jacobson CF Hank Severeid C Wally Gerber SS Marty McManus 2B Urban Shocker P
Roster 1922 St. Louis Browns Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader Batting
Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 137 517 166 .321 3 78 1B 142 586 246 .420 8 105 2B 154 606 189 .312 11 109 SS 153 604 161 .267 1 51 3B 91 342 84 .246 1 33 OF 153 585 194 .332 39 155 OF 146 625 207 .331 13 66 OF 145 555 176 .317 9 102
Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI 37 144 44 .306 0 12 55 131 36 .275 2 16 63 127 29 .307 8 23 23 64 18 .281 0 2 15 31 9 .290 0 1 18 27 8 .296 0 1 15 12 4 .333 0 0 5 7 3 .429 0 1
Pitching
Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 48 348.0 24 17 2.97 149 43 245.0 19 13 3.42 63 25 174.1 11 6 4.08 65
Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 32 169.2 14 4 3.93 54 31 154.0 9 7 2.92 44 39 119.2 7 7 2.33 70 26 92.2 4 5 4.56 38 20 79.2 5 2 3.28 48 Note: Hub Pruett was team leader in saves with 7.
Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO 4 0 0 0 5.40 3 1 0 0 0 4.50 0
Notes
References 1922 St. Louis Browns team page at Baseball Reference 1922 St. Louis Browns season at baseball-almanac.com