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1903 Philadelphia Athletics season

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1903 Philadelphia Athletics
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkColumbia Park
CityPhiladelphia
OwnersBenjamin Shibe, Tom Shibe, John Shibe, Connie Mack, Sam Jones, Frank Hough
ManagersConnie Mack
← 1902
1904 →

The 1903 Philadelphia Athletics season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 75 wins and 60 losses, 14½ games behind the Boston Americans.

Offseason

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Preseason

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1903 Philadelphia City Series

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The 1903 Philadelphia Athletics

The A's had begun play in 1901 but National League and American League teams did not play each other in 1901 or 1902 as the leagues battled to expand their markets and customers.

After the leagues made peace after 1902, the Phillies and Athletics scheduled a preseason series for the local championship. The Player League’s Philadelphia Athletics and American Association Athletics had contested the local championship with the Phillies between 1883 and 1890.

Prior to the start of the series, the Athletics players threatened not to play unless they were paid a percentage of the gate receipts. Connie Mack refused his players on the grounds that while their contracts stipulated they receive gate receipts from mid-season exhibition games, the games against the Phillies would occur prior to the start of the official season and would be unpaid exhibition games as much as any preseason contest.

The Phillies and Athletics played five of nine scheduled games; the Phillies defeated the Athletics, 4 games to 1.

The series was scheduled to begin on April 4, 1903 at the Phillies’ Philadelphia Ball Park but was called off due to rain.[2] Games scheduled for April 7, 1903[3] at the Phillies’ park and April 8, 1903 at the Athletics’ Columbia Park were also canceled due to rain and wet grounds,[4] along with the final scheduled game of the series on April 14, 1903 at the Phillies’ park.[5]

AL Philadelphia Athletics (1) vs. NL Philadelphia Phillies (4)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 April 6, 1903 Philadelphia Phillies – 2, Philadelphia Athletics – 0 (10) Columbia Park 1:55 6,543[6] 
2 April 9, 1903 Philadelphia Athletics – 5, Philadelphia Phillies – 6 (10) Philadelphia Ball Park 2:10 6,640[7] 
3 April 10, 1903 Philadelphia Phillies – 6, Philadelphia Athletics – 3 Columbia Park 1:40 8,771[8] 
4 April 11, 1903 Philadelphia Athletics – 7, Philadelphia Phillies – 1 Philadelphia Ball Park 1:38 13,050[9] 
5 April 13, 1903 Philadelphia Phillies – 2, Philadelphia Athletics – 1 (10) Columbia Park 1:40 5,843[10]

Regular season

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Season standings

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Americans 91 47 .659 49‍–‍20 42‍–‍27
Philadelphia Athletics 75 60 .556 14½ 44‍–‍21 31‍–‍39
Cleveland Naps 77 63 .550 15 49‍–‍25 28‍–‍38
New York Highlanders 72 62 .537 17 41‍–‍26 31‍–‍36
Detroit Tigers 65 71 .478 25 37‍–‍28 28‍–‍43
St. Louis Browns 65 74 .468 26½ 38‍–‍32 27‍–‍42
Chicago White Stockings 60 77 .438 30½ 41‍–‍28 19‍–‍49
Washington Senators 43 94 .314 47½ 29‍–‍40 14‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYH PHA SLB WSH
Boston 14–6 12–8 10–9–1 13–7 13–6 14–6 15–5–2
Chicago 6–14 10–10 10–9 7–11–1 6–14 9–11 12–8
Cleveland 8–12 10–10 9–11 14–6 9–11 11–9 16–4
Detroit 9–10–1 9–10 11–9 10–9 11–9 6–14 9–10
New York 7–13 11–7–1 6–14 9–10 10–8–1 15–5 14–5
Philadelphia 6–13 14–6 11–9 9–11 8–10–1 11–8 16–3–1
St. Louis 6–14 11–9 9–11 14–6 5–15 8–11 12–8
Washington 5–15–2 8–12 4–16 10–9 5–14 3–16–1 8–12

Roster

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1903 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Postseason

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1903 Philadelphia City Series (Fall)

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The Philadelphia Phillies and Athletics played a postseason series for the local championship in addition to the preseason series played in April. The teams played seven of ten games scheduled;[11] games scheduled for October 8, 1903; October 9, 1903; and October 10, 1903 were canceled due to rain. The Athletics won the series, 4 games to 3.

All of the series games were played at the Athletics’ Columbia Park with each team alternating as the home team. The Phillies’ Philadelphia Ball Park’s had collapsed on August 8 1903 leaving four dead, and closing the ballpark for the balance of the season.

AL Philadelphia Athletics (4) vs. NL Philadelphia Phillies (3)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 September 30, 1903 Philadelphia Phillies – 3, Philadelphia Athletics – 7 Columbia Park 1:35 2,008[12] 
2 October 1, 1903 Philadelphia Athletics – 6, Philadelphia Phillies – 0 Columbia Park 1:45 2,439[13] 
3 October 2, 1903 Philadelphia Phillies – 5, Philadelphia Athletics – 1 Columbia Park 1:40 1,438[14] 
4 October 3, 1903 Philadelphia Athletics – 5, Philadelphia Phillies – 0 Columbia Park 1:35 3,896[15] 
5 October 5, 1903 Philadelphia Phillies – 1, Philadelphia Athletics – 6 Columbia Park 1:40 -[16] 
6 October 6, 1903 Philadelphia Athletics – 2, Philadelphia Phillies – 14 (8) Columbia Park 1:50 1,084[17] 
7 October 7, 1903 Philadelphia Phillies – 13, Philadelphia Athletics – 3 Columbia Park 2:00 992[18]

After the 1903 season, the Phillies had won 7 and the Athletics had won 5 of the 12 total games played in the city series.

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Ossee Schrecongost 92 306 78 .255 3 30
1B Harry Davis 106 420 125 .298 6 55
2B Danny Murphy 133 513 140 .273 1 60
SS Monte Cross 137 470 116 .247 3 45
3B Lave Cross 137 559 163 .292 2 90
OF Topsy Hartsel 98 373 116 .311 5 26
OF Ollie Pickering 137 512 144 .281 1 36
OF Socks Seybold 137 522 156 .299 8 84

Other batters

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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
Danny Hoffman 74 248 61 .246 2 22
Doc Powers 75 247 56 .227 0 23
Bert Daly 10 21 4 .190 0 4
John Callahan 1 5 0 .000 0 0
Ed Hilley 1 3 1 .333 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Eddie Plank 43 336.0 23 16 2.38 176
Rube Waddell 39 324.0 21 16 2.44 302
Chief Bender 36 270.0 17 14 3.07 127
Weldon Henley 29 186.1 12 10 3.91 86

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Andy Coakley 6 37.2 0 3 5.50 20
Jim Fairbank 4 24.0 1 1 4.88 10
Ed Pinnance 2 7.0 0 0 2.57 2

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Connie McGeehan 3 1 0 0 4.50 4
Tad Quinn 2 0 0 0 5.00 1
Danny Hoffman 1 0 0 0 3.00 0

Notes

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  1. ^ Ollie Pickering page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ "Athletics Will Be Good Fellows". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 5, 1903. p. 12.
  3. ^ "Phillies and Athletics To-Day". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 8, 1903. p. 10.
  4. ^ "Damp Day Diamond Dust". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 9, 1903. p. 10.
  5. ^ "National League Lines Up To-Day". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 14, 1903. p. 10.
  6. ^ "Athletics Lose First Game to Phillies, 2 to 0". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 7, 1903. p. 10.
  7. ^ "Monte Cross Benched; Athletics Lose 6-5". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 10, 1903. p. 6.
  8. ^ "Phillies Outplay Those Champions". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 11, 1903. p. 10.
  9. ^ "Athletics Finally Secure a Victory". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 12, 1903. p. 12.
  10. ^ "Nationals Cinch the Local Series". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April 14, 1903. p. 10.
  11. ^ "Passed Balls". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. September 30, 1903. p. 10.
  12. ^ "Athletics Bunch Hits in Eighth". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 1, 1903. p. 10.
  13. ^ "Henley Too Deep for the Phillies". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 2, 1903. p. 10.
  14. ^ "Sparks Ties Up Athletics Into Very Hard Knots". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 3, 1903. p. 10.
  15. ^ "The Phillies Are Again Shut Out". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 4, 1903. p. 12.
  16. ^ "Phillies at the Mercy of Plank". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 6, 1903. p. 10.
  17. ^ "Mitchell Again Downs Athletics". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 7, 1903. p. 10.
  18. ^ "Phillies Put The Game Away On Ice". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 8, 1903. p. 10.

References

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