1898 Boston Beaneaters season

The 1898 Boston Beaneaters season was the 28th season of the franchise. The Beaneaters won their second straight National League pennant and their eighth overall. It was also their fifth, and last, of the decade. This team has been cited (along with the 1880s St. Louis Browns and the 1890s Baltimore Orioles) as one of the greatest of the 19th century. This was the end of a tremendous run of success for the team, which won four straight National Association titles (1872–1875) and eight National League pennants (1877–78, 1883, 1891–93, 1897-98).

1898 Boston Beaneaters
National League Champions
League	National League
Ballpark	South End Grounds
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Record	102–47 (.685)
League place	1st
Owners	Arthur Soden
Managers	Frank Selee

The starting line-up featured three Hall of Famers: third baseman Jimmy Collins and outfielders Billy Hamilton and Hugh Duffy. Collins led the league with 15 home runs, and Hamilton hit .369 with 54 stolen bases. The pitching staff was led by Hall of Famers Kid Nichols and Vic Willis. Nichols led the NL with 31 wins and had an ERA of 2.13.

Regular season

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Beaneaters	102	47	.685	—	62‍–‍15	40‍–‍32
Baltimore Orioles	96	53	.644	6	58‍–‍15	38‍–‍38
Cincinnati Reds	92	60	.605	11½	58‍–‍28	34‍–‍32
Chicago Orphans	85	65	.567	17½	58‍–‍31	27‍–‍34
Cleveland Spiders	81	68	.544	21	36‍–‍19	45‍–‍49
Philadelphia Phillies	78	71	.523	24	49‍–‍31	29‍–‍40
New York Giants	77	73	.513	25½	45‍–‍28	32‍–‍45
Pittsburgh Pirates	72	76	.486	29½	39‍–‍35	33‍–‍41
Louisville Colonels	70	81	.464	33	43‍–‍34	27‍–‍47
Brooklyn Bridegrooms	54	91	.372	46	30‍–‍41	24‍–‍50
Washington Senators	51	101	.336	52½	34‍–‍44	17‍–‍57
St. Louis Browns	39	111	.260	63½	20‍–‍44	19‍–‍67

Record vs. opponents

1898 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BLN	BSN	BRO	CHC	CIN	CLV	LOU	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL	WHS
Baltimore	—	5–7	8–5–1	9–5	8–6–1	8–6–1	9–5	10–3–1	10–3–1	10–4	12–2	7–7
Boston	7–5	—	11–2	9–5	9–4–1	6–7–1	8–6–1	10–4	10–4	9–5	12–2	11–3
Brooklyn	5–8–1	2–11	—	4–10	3–11	6–7	2–10–1	3–11	6–6	9–5–1	7–6–1	7–6
Chicago	5–9	5–9	10–4	—	6–8	7–7	9–5	9–5–1	6–7	7–4–1	10–4	11–3
Cincinnati	6–8–1	4–9–1	11–3	8–6	—	8–5–2	9–5	6–8–1	7–7	12–2	12–2	9–5
Cleveland	6–8–1	7–6–1	7–6	7–7	5–8–2	—	9–5	6–8	7–7	5–8	10–3–1	12–2–2
Louisville	5–9	6–8–1	10–2–1	5–9	5–9	5–9	—	6–8	4–10	4–9–1	10–4	10–4
New York	3–10–1	4–10	11–3	5–9–1	8–6–1	8–6	8–6	—	6–7	5–9–1	10–3–2	9–4–1
Philadelphia	3–10–1	4–10	6–6	7–6	7–7	7–7	10–4	7–6	—	6–8	9–5	12–2
Pittsburgh	4–10	5–9	5–9–1	4–7–1	2–12	8–5	9–4–1	9–5–1	8–6	—	9–4	9–5
St. Louis	2–12	2–12	6–7–1	4–10	2–12	3–10–1	4–10	3–10–2	5–9	4–9	—	4–10
Washington	7–7	3–11	6–7	3–11	5–9	2–12–2	4–10	4–9–1	2–12	5–9	10–4	—

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	Marty Bergen	120	446	125	.280	3	60
1B	Fred Tenney	117	488	160	.328	0	62
2B	Bobby Lowe	147	559	152	.272	4	94
3B	Jimmy Collins	152	597	196	.328	15	111
SS	Herman Long	144	589	156	.265	6	99
OF	Hugh Duffy	152	568	169	.298	8	108
OF	Chick Stahl	125	467	144	.308	3	52
OF	Billy Hamilton	110	417	154	.369	3	50

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
George Yeager	68	221	59	.267	3	24
General Stafford	37	123	32	.260	1	8
Jack Stivetts	41	111	28	.252	2	16
Charlie Hickman	19	58	15	.259	0	7
Dave Pickett	14	43	12	.279	0	3
Bill Keister	10	30	5	.167	0	4
Stub Smith	3	10	1	.100	0	0
Kitty Bransfield	5	9	2	.222	0	1
Hi Ladd	1	4	1	.250	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
Kid Nichols	50	388.0	31	12	2.13	138
Edward M. Lewis	41	313.1	26	8	2.90	72
Vic Willis	41	311.0	25	13	2.84	160
Fred Klobedanz	35	270.2	19	10	3.89	51

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
Charlie Hickman	6	33.0	1	2	2.18	9
Jack Stivetts	2	12.0	0	1	8.25	1
Jim Sullivan	3	12.0	0	1	12.00	1

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Jimmy Collins

• NL leader in home runs (15)
• #2 in NL in RBI (111)
• #2 in NL in slugging percentage (.479)

Hugh Duffy

• #4 in NL in RBI (108)

Sliding Billy Hamilton

• NL leader in on-base percentage (.480)
• #2 in NL in batting average (.369)
• #2 in NL in stolen bases (54)

Kid Nichols

• NL leader in wins (31)
• #3 in NL in ERA (2.13)
• #4 in NL in strikeouts (138)

Vic Willis

• #3 in NL in strikeouts (160)

References

• 1898 Boston Beaneaters season at Baseball Reference