Bases on Balls : 1908 National League Top 25

Finding the American or National League leader in virtually every hitting & pitching statistic is easy-to-do. Finding the top 25 players during any given season is far more challenging. Baseball Almanac has taken away that difficult problem and is pleased to present the data you requested:

"Maybe I missed my routine and my game so much that I was trying to rationalize reasons for getting it back. I wanted those 162 games. I wanted all the suspense of the playoff and home run races. And I honestly didn't believe baseball would bend far enough to allow the possibility of games in November. I was wrong. And baseball was right." - Paul White in USA Today Baseball Weekly (September 14, 2001)
 

1908 Bases on Balls Leaders

Top 25 in the National League

Roger Bresnahan 83 New York Giants 1
Fred Tenney 72 New York Giants 2
Johnny Evers 66 Chicago Cubs 3
Fred Clarke 65 Pittsburgh Pirates 4
Art Devlin 62 New York Giants 5
Jimmy Sheckard 62 Chicago Cubs  
Tim Jordan 59 Brooklyn Superbas 7
Ed Abbaticchio 58 Pittsburgh Pirates 8
Miller Huggins 58 Cincinnati Reds  
Tommy Leach 54 Pittsburgh Pirates 10
Honus Wagner 54 Pittsburgh Pirates  
Tommy Sheehan 53 Brooklyn Superbas 12
John Titus 53 Philadelphia Phillies  
Al Bridwell 52 New York Giants 14
Roy Thomas 51 Philadelphia Phillies 15
Pittsburgh Pirates  
Claude Ritchey 50 Boston Doves 16
Otto Knabe 49 Philadelphia Phillies 17
Sherry Magee 49 Philadelphia Phillies  
Hans Lobert 46 Cincinnati Reds 19
Mike Mitchell 46 Cincinnati Reds  
Bill Sweeney 45 Boston Doves 21
John Kane 43 Cincinnati Reds 22
Jimmy Slagle 43 Chicago Cubs  
Ginger Beaumont 42 Boston Doves 24
Ed Konetchy 38 St. Louis Cardinals 25



Future Hall of Famer Sammy Sosa is best known for wearing number twenty-one; however, when the young slugger played for the Chicago White Sox (1989-1991) he only wore number twenty-five.

The most recognizable Detroit Tiger to wear the number twenty-five was probably Norm Cash (who wore it from 1960 through 1974), but did you know that Hall of Famer Larry Doby also wore it during his single season with Detroit?

Jose Cruz of the Houston Astros had his number twenty-five retired on October 3, 1992, and became the first Major League player with that particular retired number.