The 1915 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Phillies winning the National League, then going on to lose the World Series to the Boston Red Sox.

This was the team's first pennant since joining the league in 1883. It would have to wait another thirty-five years for its second — and another sixty-five years for its first World Championship.

Offseason

February 14, 1915: Sherry Magee was traded by the Phillies to the Boston Braves for Oscar Dugey, Possum Whitted, and cash.Oscar Dugey page at Baseball Reference

Regular season The pitching staff allowed the fewest runs in the NL. It was led by Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander, who had one of the greatest seasons in history and won the pitching triple crown.

Outfielder Gavvy Cravath, aided by the small Baker Bowl park, led the majors in home runs, runs batted in, and slugging percentage.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster 1915 Philadelphia Phillies Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Player stats

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 105 320 76 .238 0 24 1B 141 499 157 .315 7 62 2B 148 529 126 .238 2 49 3B 105 387 81 .209 0 21 SS 153 563 143 .254 7 30 OF 150 522 149 .285 24 115 OF 112 338 83 .246 11 35 OF 128 448 126 .281 1 43

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 109 328 80 .244 3 39 69 227 59 .260 1 15 67 174 42 .241 0 16 37 64 9 .141 0 8 42 39 6 .154 0 0 24 27 3 .111 0 2

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 49 376.1 31 10 1.22 241 43 274.2 21 15 2.36 114 32 209.2 14 11 3.05 69 29 176.2 11 12 2.39 88 26 170.1 8 9 2.48 82 9 63.2 4 3 2.12 13

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 6 23.2 1 0 3.42 8

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 16 0 2 0 2.42 27 10 0 0 0 2.03 10

Awards and honors

League top five finishers Grover Cleveland Alexander MLB leader in wins (31) MLB leader in ERA (1.22) MLB leader in strikeouts (241) MLB leader in shutouts (12)

Dave Bancroft #3 in NL in runs scored (85)

Gavvy Cravath MLB leader in home runs (24) MLB leader in RBI (115) MLB leader in slugging percentage (.510) NL leader in runs scored (89) NL leader in on-base percentage (.393)

Fred Luderus #2 in NL in batting average (.315) #2 in NL in slugging percentage (.457)

Erskine Mayer #3 in NL in wins (21)

Postseason

1915 World Series

Game 1 The Phillies won 3 to 1, although The New York Times reporter Hugh Fullerton wrote, "Alexander pitched a bad game of ball. He had little or nothing." He titled his article, "Nothing but luck saved the Phillies." The Times also reported that 10,000 people gathered in New York City's Times Square to watch a real-time mechanical recreation of the game on a giant scoreboard sponsored by the newspaper.

October 8, 1915, at National League Park in Philadelphia Team123456789RHEBoston000000010181Philadelphia00010002x351W: Grover Cleveland Alexander (1–0)  L: Ernie Shore (0–1)

Game 2

October 9, 1915, at National League Park in Philadelphia Team123456789RHEBoston1000000012100Philadelphia00001000x131W: Rube Foster (1–0)  L: Erskine Mayer (0–1)

Game 3 October 11, 1915, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts Team123456789RHEPhiladelphia001000000130Boston000100001261W: Dutch Leonard (1–0)  L: Grover Cleveland Alexander (1–1)

Game 4 October 12, 1915, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts Team123456789RHEPhiladelphia000000010170Boston00100100x281W: Ernie Shore (1–1)  L: George Chalmers (0–1)

Game 5 October 13, 1915, at National League Park in Philadelphia Team123456789RHEBoston0110000215101Philadelphia200200000491W: Rube Foster (2–0)  L: Eppa Rixey (0–1)

Legacy On October 16, 1915, a testimonial dinner was given to honor the 1915 Phillies for the franchise's first pennant. The dinner took place at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. Speakers included Philadelphia mayor Rudolph Blankenburg, Phillies owner William Baker, National League president John Tener, and Phillies manager Pat Moran.

The team marked its 25th anniversary in 1940 when the pennant remained the club's lone to date. Gerry Nugent announced in April 1940 that the organization would welcome back the players from the 1915 team to celebrate the anniversary. Bill Killefer, Bert Neihoff, Milt Stock, and Ben Tincup all remained in organized baseball in 1940 as managers or coaches.

Notes

References Baseball Reference: 1915 Philadelphia Phillies season

External links

Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society: 1915 Phillies