The Philadelphia Athletics

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

 season involved the A's finishing 4th in the American League

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 with a record of 74 wins and 62 losses. The franchise that would become the modern Athletics originated in 1901 as a new franchise in the American League.

Before the 1901 season

The Western League

Western League (defunct minor league)

The Western League is a name given to several circuits in American minor league baseball. Its earliest progenitor, which existed from 1885 to 1899, was the predecessor of the American League...

 had been renamed the American League in 1900 by league president Bancroft (Ban) Johnson

Ban Johnson

Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson , was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League ....

, and declared itself the second major league in 1901.

In 1901, Johnson created new franchises in the east and eliminated some franchises in the West. Philadelphia seems to have been a new franchise created to compete with the National League’s Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

. Former catcher Connie Mack

Connie Mack

Connie Mack may refer to:* Connie Mack I , Hall of Fame baseball manager, player, owner* Connie Mack III , U.S. Representative , U.S. Senator from Florida * Connie Mack IV , U.S...

 was recruited to manage the club. Mack in turn persuaded Phillies minority owner Ben Shibe

Ben Shibe

Benjamin Franklin Shibe was an American sporting goods and baseball executive who, along with his sons John and Tom, was half-owner of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League from 1901 until his death. He is credited with the invention of the automated stitching machinery to make...

 as well as others to invest in the team, which would be called the Philadelphia Athletics. He himself bought a 25 percent interest.

Regular season

In , Nap Lajoie

Nap Lajoie

Napoléon "Nap" Lajoie , also known as Larry Lajoie, was an American Major League Baseball second baseman. He was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island...

 jumped from the Phillies to the crosstown Philadelphia Athletics

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

, owned by Connie Mack

Connie Mack

Connie Mack may refer to:* Connie Mack I , Hall of Fame baseball manager, player, owner* Connie Mack III , U.S. Representative , U.S. Senator from Florida * Connie Mack IV , U.S...

. Lajoie's batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 that year was .426, still a league record. The same year Lajoie became the second major leaguer to be intentionally walked with the bases loaded after Abner Dalrymple

Abner Dalrymple

Abner Frank Dalrymple was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who hit 43 home runs and batted .288 during his 12-season career spent primarily with the Chicago White Stockings, for whom he starred as the leadoff hitter on five National League pennant winners...

 in .

Notable transactions

• June 1901: Tom Leahy
  Tom Leahy (baseball)
  Thomas Joseph Leahy was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of four seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1897 and 1905, for five different teams, primarily as a catcher.-Sources:...
  
   was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
• July 1901: Tom Leahy was acquired from the Athletics by the Providence Grays
  Providence Grays (minor league)
  The minor league Providence Grays was the name of several minor league baseball teams between and . These teams were unconnected to the Major League Baseball Providence Grays....
  
  .
• July 20, 1901: Snake Wiltse
  Snake Wiltse
  Lewis DeWitt "Snake" Wiltse was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Highlanders from 1901 to 1903. His brother was fellow major league pitcher George "Hooks" Wiltse.-Career:Lewis Wiltse was born in...
  
   was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.

Roster

1901 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
valign="top" | Pitchers		valign="top" | Catchers Infielders		valign="top" | Outfielders		valign="top" | Manager

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		116	431	108	.251	1	47
1B		117	496	152	.306	8	76
2B		131	544	232	.426	14	125
3B		100	424	139	.328	2	73
SS		98	338	73	.216	1	38
OF		114	449	150	.334	8	90
OF		132	561	164	.292	0	52

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
	51	211	56	.265	0	17
	45	171	37	.216	0	16
	27	88	23	.261	0	7
	11	34	11	.324	0	3
	9	28	6	.214	0	6
	5	15	5	.333	0	1
	2	8	1	.125	0	0
	2	8	1	.125	0	0
	2	2	0	.000	0	0

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
	40	331	22	16	3.81	110
	33	260.2	17	13	3.31	90
	31	257	17	10	4.52	58
	19	166	13	5	3.58	40
	18	140	5	12	4.63	45
	1	6	0	1	10.50	1
	1	4	0	1	11.25	0
	1	1	0	1	27.00	0

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	33	0	3	4.36	5

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
	1	0	0	0	0.00	1