1906 Postseason Awards
This article was written by Dennis Bingham
This article was published in Baseball in Chicago (SABR 16, 1986)
Cy Young was around but there wasn’t any award presented in his name. There were valuable players, slick fielders, top rookies and managerial masterminds but there were no awards to be presented in tribute.
All of which is unfortunate because a year’s listing of award winners provides a ready reference to the top performers for that particular season. To rectify the situation and to provide you more insight into the 1906 season, the following is offered.
AMERICAN LEAGUE AWARDS
ALL-STAR TEAM
- 1B: Harry Davis, Philadelphia Athletics
- 2B: *Napoleon Lajoie, Cleveland Naps
- 3B: Terry Turner, Cleveland Naps
- SS: Lave Cross, Washington Senators
- C: Billy Sullivan, Chicago White Sox
- OF: George Stone, St. Louis Browns
- OF: Elmer Flick, Cleveland Naps
- OF: Sam Crawford, Detroit Tigers
- P: Addie Joss, Cleveland Naps
- P: Doc White, Chicago White Sox
- P: Bob Rhoads, Cleveland Naps
- P: Al Orth, New York Highlanders
- P: Ed Walsh, Chicago White Sox
- Bench: Hal Chase, New York Highlanders (1B), George Davis, Chicago White Sox (SS), Charlie Hemphill, St. Louis Browns (OF), Ossee Schreckengost, Philadelphia Athletics (C), Chick Stahl, Boston Pilgrims (OF)
* Indicates member of Major League All-Star Team
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
- Napoleon Lajoie, Cleveland Naps
PLAYER OF YEAR
- George Stone, St. Louis Browns
CY YOUNG AWARD
- Addie Joss, Cleveland Naps
MANAGER OF YEAR
- Fielder Jones, Chicago White Sox
FIREMAN OF YEAR
- Nick Altrock, Chicago White Sox
ROOKIE OF YEAR
- Harry Niles, St. Louis Browns
Davis, the premier home run hitter of the decade, led in both homers and RBIs. Lajoie merely batted 100 points higher than the average player. Turner was adept with the leather and batted .291. Cross earned his spot only because the hot corner around the rest of the league was manned by the weak, incapacitated, one-dimensional or inexperienced; however, the honor is a fitting cap to a fine career for the 40-year-old Cross. George Stone ( who?) had himself a Hall of Fame caliber season. Flick and Crawford added yet another excellent season to their distinguished careers.
Not one catcher recorded more than 96 hits when few catchers caught more than 100 games, but Sullivan, a feeble hitter, provides excellent backstopping for the sterling pitching staff If you prefer a catcher who resembles more of a major leaguer at the plate, substitute back-up catcher Schreck, Rube Waddell’s old drinking buddy.
Joss may very well be the best pitcher in the league and White took the ERA crown. Rhoads, the first ball player of his name to be called “Dusty”, had his best year. Orth, known as “The Curveless Wonder”, earned a league-leading 27 wins, and Walsh came into his own with 10 shutouts. Chase had not yet perfected his dirty tricks and batted .323. Anyone who drives in 80 runs for a team called the “Hitless Wonders” deserves a spot, so Davis makes it. And Hemphill and Stahl serve as fine back-up outfielders.
A manager selecting only five pitchers for this team would have the same problems as a bachelor having his pick at one of Hugh Hefner’s pajama parties — both might end up in some padded room babbling names and statistics. Eddie Plank of the A’s and the Nap’s Otto Hess could have easily replaced Orth and Walsh had the selections been made a different week. Other top pitchers were John Pelty, Frank Owen, Nick Altrock and Casey Patten.
Other fine position players were shortstop Bobby Wallace, catcher Harry Bemis, second baseman Jimmy Williams, and outfielders Wee Willie Keeler, John Anderson, Socks Seybold, Topsy Hartzel and Fielder Jones.
MVP: It would have been unfair to single out any one member of the World Championship White Sox because it was indeed a collective team effort that took them to the top. And no player on the second-place New York Highlanders reaches out and grabs you. However, the Cleveland Naps, while a superb ballclub, would not have been in contention as long or have come so close without the presence of their star second-baseman manager Lajoie. The Frenchman led the league in hits and doubles and posted a .355 average.
PLAYER OF YEAR: Mark down a league-leading batting average (.358), slugging average (.501) and total base total (291), add 208 hits, 91 runs scored and 71 RBIs, throw in 35 stolen bases, six homers, 20 triples and 24 doubles, remember that this is a year in which the last rites were almost performed on the ball, and you have the Player of the Year in George Stone.
CY YOUNG: Several candidates lined up for this award, however the line didn’t include old Cy himself because the great one had an off-year. In a close call the winner is Joss who, while not leading in any category, was among the leaders in every important department. The curly haired rightie with the sheepish eyes baffled hitters all year by almost performing a complete spin on the mound (ala Luis Tiant) before whirling an assortment of sharp breaking balls and fastballs to the plate. He won 21 games (including nine shutouts), lost only nine and recorded a 1.72 ERA.
BEST SKIPPER: 1906 provided one of the best managerial performances in all of baseball history and it was accomplished by a man with the wonderful baseball name of Fielder Jones. He took a team whose batting and slugging averages and home run totals had dropped steadily downward the past five years and won a World’s Championship. While blessed with an excellent pitching staff and superb glovemen, Jones had to contend with a group of hitters who will never be confused with the ’61 Yankees. Yet Jones took this collection of powderpuff batsmen and pushed, encouraged, juggled, praised and formed them into a unit truly deserving to be called a team in the true sense of the word.
TOP FIREMAN: Altrock had a relief year that borders on perfection. He pitched eight relief games, winning seven and saving the other one, and registered an ERA of 0.63. One of his relief wins was earned without throwing a single pitch! In the top of the ninth, the bases loaded and two outs, Altrock was summoned to the mound and his first and only throw picked off the runner at first. When his team rallied for two runs in its at-bats, Altrock had himself the easiest win in baseball history.
BEST ROOKIE: Niles wins it, just barely, stealing 30 bases, leading all freshmen in runs scored, and leading all outfielders with 34 assists. Other rookies deserving a look were Frank LaPorte, Claude Rossman, Pete O’Brien, Branch Rickey and pitchers Colby Jack Coombs and Jimmy Dygert.
NATIONAL LEAGUE AWARDS
ALL-STAR TEAM
- 1B: *Frank Chance, Chicago Cubs
- 2B: Miller Huggins, Cincinnati Reds
- SS: *Honus Wagner, Pittsburgh Pirates
- 3B: *Harry Steinfeldt, Chicago Cubs
- C: *Roger Bresnahan, New York Giants
- OF: *Sherry Magee, Philadelphia Phillies
- OF: Harry Lumley, Brooklyn Dodgers
- OF: Cy Seymour, Cincinnati Reds/New York Giants
- P: *Three Finger Brown, Chicago Cubs
- P: Jack Pfiester, Chicago Cubs
- P: Ed Reulbach, Chicago Cubs
- P: Vic Willis, Pittsburgh Pirates
- P: Joe McGinnity, New York Giants
- Bench: Tim Jordan, Brooklyn Superbas (1B), Art Devlin, New York Giants (3B), Wildfire Schulte, Chicago Cubs (OF), Jimmy Sheckard, Chicago Cubs (OF), Johnny Kling, Chicago Cubs (C)
* Indicates member of Major League All-Star Team
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
- Frank Chance, Chicago Cubs
PLAYER OF YEAR
- Honus Wagner, Pittsburgh Pirates
CY YOUNG AWARD
- Three Finger Brown, Chicago Cubs
MANAGER OF YEAR
- Frank Chance, Chicago Cubs
FIREMAN OF YEAR
- Hooks Wiltse, New York Giants
ROOKIE OF YEAR
- Jack Pfiester, Chicago Cubs
Chance, leader in runs scored and stolen bases, was the only one of the poem-inspiring trio to make the squad. Huggins (yes, the same one) was an exceptional fielder and a valuable leadoff man. Wagner was his usual wondrous self at short. Steinfeldt led the league in hits and RBIs. Magee, Lumley and Seymour are three forgotten players who were all offensive stars of the day. Bresnahan, John McGraw’s general on the field, earns the catching spot.
Brown was the very best pitcher in the majors in a year dominated by pitchers. Pfiester was a new face that wasn’t welcomed by National League batters. Reulbach had the highest winning percentage. Willis, one of the most unrecognized pitchers you’ll ever find, won 22 games with a 1.73 ERA, and McGinnity led in endurance and games won with 26.
Jordon hit the most homers and drove in 79. Devlin stole 54, hit .299 and played a mean third base. And Schulte, Sheckard and Kling were three reasons the Cubs were such a great ballclub.
Other excellent players that year were first baseman Jim Nealon, middle infielders Claude Ritchey, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker, Bad Bill Dahlen and Mickey Doolan, outfielders Fred Clarke, Roy Thomas and Billy Maloney, and pitchers Carl Lundgren, Christy Mathewson, Sam Leever and Jake Weimer.
You may have noticed that the team doesn’t have a representative from either the St. Louis Cardinals or Boston Beaneaters. This is simply because the two clubs combined for a total of 200 losses and didn’t have anyone worthy of being called “All-Star.” For those who insist that every All-Star team have at least one player from each team in the league, here’s a few of the teams’ candidates: St. Louis had Jack Taylor for half a year before trading the eventual 20-game winner to Chicago; and Boston had pitcher Irv “Obviously I’m not Cy” Young who lost 25 games but won 33% of his team’s victories.
MVP: It’s extremely difficult to separate the player Frank Chance from the manager Frank Chance. But even if he wasn’t manager you can’t help but imagine Chance taking charge on the field and inspiring his teammates with his hustle and style of play. Although surrounded by MVP candidates, it was Chance who set the pace. There were others in the league with better overall statistics but it was Chance who, from an early season game in which he scored the winning run with a dramatic steal of home on through the last days of the season, led his team to the pennant not only as a manager but as a star player as well.
PLAYER OF YEAR: Wagner celebrated his 10th year in the majors with another batting title (.339); the league lead in total bases (237), runs (103) and doubles (38), 71 runs-batted-in, 53 stolen bases, and nine triples; and would have won the Gold Glove hands down at shortstop had the award existed.
CY YOUNG: Brown was talented enough in his own right to have been a star pitcher even if a farming accident had not chopped off one of his fingers, but the missing digit pushed him into the ranks of the greats because his unique grip caused by the deformity made the ball perform some cute tricks. This year Brown had his best season — indeed, one of the best of any pitcher ever — with a 26-6 record, .813 percentage and a microscopic ERA of 1.04.
MANAGER OF YEAR: The rest of the National League finished so far behind the Chicago Cubs they might as well have finished in another league. The Cubs steamrolled through the schedule winning more games than any other club before or since (116), finishing 20 games ahead of their nearest competitor and recording a mind-bending .763 percentage. A manager’s sole duty is to win ballgames and nobody did it better than Chance in 1906.
RELIEF KING: Wiltse had a respectable 16-11 record as a starter but it was as a relief man that he came through as the best in the league. Summoned to the mound for emergency duty 12 times, the lefty won four, saved five, lost none and had a 1.45 ERA.
TOP ROOKIE: Born John Theodore Pfiestenberger 28 years earlier, Jack Pfiester made a strong impact on the National League with his initial campaign. With the New York Giants picked as the favorites to win the pennant, Pfiester soon earned the nickname ”Jack the Giant Killer” for his penchant for defeating the former World Champions. No other rookie came close to his accomplishments — 19-9 record, 1.56 ERA and ranking third in both fewest hits and most strikeouts per nine innings.
GOLD GLOVE TEAMS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
- 1B: *Jiggs Donahue, Chicago White Sox
- 2B: *Napoleon Lajoie, Cleveland Naps
- SS: Terry Turner, Cleveland Naps
- 3B: *Lee Tannehill, Chicago White Sox
- OF: *Matty McIntyre, Detroit Tigers
- OF: *Fielder Jones, Chicago White Sox
- OF: Chick Stahl, Boston Puritans
- C: Billy Sullivan, Chicago White Sox
- P: Ed Walsh, Chicago White Sox
NATIONAL LEAGUE
- 1B: Fred Tenney, Boston Beaneaters
- 2B: Miller Huggins, Cincinnati Reds
- SS: *Honus Wagner, Pittsburgh Pirates
- 3B: Art Devlin, New York Giants
- OF: *Sherry Magee, Philadelphia Phillies
- OF: Billy Maloney, Brooklyn Superbas
- OF: John Titus, Philadelphia Phillies
- C: *Johnny Kling, Chicago Cubs
- P: *Elmer Stricklett, Brooklyn Superbas
* Indicates member of Major League Gold Glove Team