| 1903 Washington Senators | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| League | American League | |
| Ballpark | American League Park I | |
| City | Washington, D.C. | |
| Owners | Ban Johnson and Fred Postal | |
| Managers | Tom Loftus | |
| ||
The 1903 Washington Senators won 43 games, lost 94, and finished in eighth place in the American League. They were managed by Tom Loftus and played home games at the American League Park I.
Washington had finished in sixth place in each of the previous two seasons (the first two seasons of the American League's existence). However, they fell to eighth and last in 1903. Their only star player, Big Ed Delahanty, got drunk and fell off a bridge into Niagara Falls midway through the season.
The Senators' pitching had always been bad, and indeed, they would allow the most runs in the AL, but without Delahanty the offense sputtered to a halt. Their collective batting average was .231, bad even for the dead-ball era, and no one drove in more than 49 runs.
Regular season
Season standings
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Americans | 91 | 47 | 0.659 | — | 49–20 | 42–27 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 75 | 60 | 0.556 | 14½ | 44–21 | 31–39 |
| Cleveland Naps | 77 | 63 | 0.550 | 15 | 49–25 | 28–38 |
| New York Highlanders | 72 | 62 | 0.537 | 17 | 41–26 | 31–36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 65 | 71 | 0.478 | 25 | 37–28 | 28–43 |
| St. Louis Browns | 65 | 74 | 0.468 | 26½ | 38–32 | 27–42 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 60 | 77 | 0.438 | 30½ | 41–28 | 19–49 |
| Washington Senators | 43 | 94 | 0.314 | 47½ | 29–40 | 14–54 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- June 13, 1903: The Senators traded Ducky Holmes to the Chicago White Stockings for a player to be named later. The White Stockings completed the deal by sending Davey Dunkle to the Senators on July 20.[1]
Roster
| 1903 Washington Senators | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers
Catchers |
Infielders | Outfielders | Manager | ||||||
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 | Malachi Kittridge | 60 | 192 | 41 | .214 | 0 | 16 |
| 1B | Boileryard Clarke | 126 | 465 | 111 | .239 | 2 | 38 |
| 2B | Barry McCormick | 63 | 219 | 47 | .215 | 0 | 23 |
| 3B | Bill Coughlin | 125 | 473 | 116 | .245 | 1 | 31 |
| SS | Charles Moran | 98 | 373 | 84 | .225 | 1 | 24 |
| OF | Watty Lee | 75 | 231 | 48 | .208 | 0 | 13 |
| OF | Jimmy Ryan | 114 | 437 | 109 | .249 | 7 | 46 |
| OF | Kip Selbach | 140 | 533 | 134 | .251 | 3 | 49 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rabbit Robinson | 103 | 373 | 79 | .212 | 1 | 20 |
| Scoops Carey | 48 | 183 | 37 | .202 | 0 | 23 |
| Ed Delahanty | 42 | 156 | 52 | .333 | 1 | 21 |
| Lew Drill | 51 | 154 | 39 | .253 | 0 | 23 |
| Joe Martin | 35 | 119 | 27 | .227 | 0 | 27 |
| Jack Hendricks | 32 | 112 | 20 | .179 | 0 | 4 |
| Ducky Holmes | 21 | 71 | 16 | .225 | 1 | 8 |
| Gene DeMontreville | 12 | 44 | 12 | .273 | 0 | 3 |
| Champ Osteen | 10 | 40 | 8 | .200 | 0 | 4 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casey Patten | 36 | 300.0 | 11 | 22 | 3.60 | 133 |
| Al Orth | 36 | 279.2 | 10 | 22 | 4.34 | 88 |
| Highball Wilson | 30 | 242.1 | 7 | 18 | 3.31 | 56 |
| Watty Lee | 22 | 166.2 | 8 | 12 | 3.08 | 70 |
| Davey Dunkle | 14 | 108.1 | 5 | 9 | 4.24 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Townsend | 20 | 126.2 | 2 | 11 | 4.76 | 54 |
Awards and honors
League top five finishers
- AL leader in earned runs allowed (135)
- #2 in AL in losses (22)
- #2 in AL in hits allowed (326)
- AL leader in home runs allowed (11)
- #2 in AL in losses (22)
- #3 in AL in earned runs allowed (120)
- #4 in AL in hits allowed (313)
- #4 in AL in walks allowed (80)