1901 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates finished in first place in the National League, 7½ games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies. It was the first year that the American League operated as a major league, but there would be no World Series between the leagues until 1903.
The team was managed by Fred Clarke, who was also their starting left fielder. Clarke, in his fifth year as a manager at age 28, won his first pennant. The Pirates won the National League championship in the next two years as well.

Regular season

The Pirates were led offensively by Honus Wagner, who led the league in RBI and stolen bases. Although the "Flying Dutchman" had never played shortstop in the majors until 1901, he appeared 61 times at shortstop that year in addition to spending time at third base and the outfield.
In a league that batted.267 as a whole, the Pirates outfield was notable for its hitting. Ginger Beaumont hit.332, player-manager Fred Clarke hit.324, and Lefty Davis hit.313.
The pitching staff of the Pirates allowed the fewest runs in the league and was among the greatest ever. The four top starting pitchers – Deacon Phillippe, Jack Chesbro, Jesse Tannehill, and Sam Leever – were the four top pitchers in the National League in terms of winning percentage. All of them were in the top ten in the league in ERA. Future Hall of Famer Rube Waddell had pitched well in 1900 for the Pirates, but was sold in May 1901 to the Chicago Orphans.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Detailed records

Month	Games	Won	Lost	Win %
April	6	3	3		31	39
May	24	13	11		108	100
June	26	17	9		123	96
July	25	16	9		145	79
August	22	13	9		116	94
September	32	25	7		226	115
October	4	3	1		27	11
Total	139	90	49		776	534

Opening Day lineup

Chief Zimmer – C
Kitty Bransfield – 1B
Claude Ritchey – 2B
Tommy Leach – 3B
Bones Ely – SS
Fred Clarke – LF
Ginger Beaumont – CF
Lefty Davis – RF
Roster

Awards and honors

Ginger Beaumont

#3 in NL in runs scored

Deacon Phillippe

#2 in NL in ERA
#3 in NL in wins

Jesse Tannehill

NL leader in ERA

Honus Wagner

NL leader in RBI
NL leader in stolen bases
#4 in NL in batting average
#4 in NL in on-base percentage
Statistics

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		69	236	52	.220	0	21
1B		139	566	167	.295	0	91
2B		140	540	160	.296	1	74
SS		140	549	194	.353	6	126
3B		98	374	114	.305	2	44
OF		129	527	171	.324	6	60
OF		87	335	105	.313	2	33
OF		133	558	185	.332	8	72

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
	65	240	50	.208	0	28
	61	202	39	.193	0	22
	26	91	24	.264	0	10
	26	78	16	.205	1	4
	14	51	10	.196	0	4
	9	28	7	.250	0	4
	6	21	3	.143	0	0
	4	12	1	.083	0	2
	7	7	3	.429	0	1
	4	4	0	.000	0	0
	2	0	0	---	0	0

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
	37	296	22	12	2.22	103
	36	287.2	21	10	2.38	129
	35	252.1	18	10	2.18	118
	21	176	14	5	2.86	82
	12	80	5	4	3.60	26
	11	76.2	6	2	2.00	28
	3	24	3	0	4.88	5
	2	7.2	0	2	9.39	4

Other pitchers