YEAR IN REVIEW : 1922 American League

Off the field...

On March 20th, at Norfolk, Virginia, the U.S.S. Langely was commissioned as the first United States Naval Aircraft Carrier. Originally a coaler christened the Jupiter, the mammoth vessel was refurbished for the purpose of conducting experiments in the new idea of seaborne aviation. At the outbreak of World War II, Langley was anchored off Cavite, Philippine Islands and was ordered to proceed to Balikpapan, Borneo, and Darv, in Australia, where she assisted the RAAF in running antisubmarine patrols out of Darwin. She was then assigned to American-British-Dutch-Australian forces assembling in Indonesia to challenge the Japanese thrust in that direction. Early in the morning of February 27th, 1942, Langley rendezvoused with her usual antisubmarine screen of Navy destroyers as nine twin-engine enemy bombers attacked her. The first and second Japanese strikes were unsuccessful; but during the third Langley took five hits igniting several planes on the flight deck. After an unsuccessful attempt to extinguish the flames, the order to abandon ship was passed. The escorting destroyers fired nine four-inch shells and two torpedoes into the old tender to insure her sinking and she went down about seventy-five miles south of Tjilatjap with a loss of sixteen.

In the American League...

During a 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers at League Park II on June 3rd, Cleveland Indians first baseman Stuffy McInnis committed his first error in an astounding one-hundred sixty-three games and one-thousand six-hundred twenty-five chances.

On April 30th, in just his fourth career start, Chicago White Sox pitcher Charlie Robertson pitches the fifth perfect game in Major League history. Chicago tops the Detroit Tigers, 2–0, at Navin Field in Detroit.

Chicago and Boston combined to set an American League record with thirty-five singles (Chicago, twenty-one and Boston, fourteen) during a 19-11 White Sox victory on August 15th.

In the National League...

Ten Pittsburgh Pirates collected two or more hits (twenty-two total) on August 7th to rally over the seventh place Philadelphia Phillies 17-10. The Phils were headed for a storybook comeback (after scoring six runs in two 2/3 innings), but the Buccos added eight of their own in the fourth to take the lead. The following day Pittsburgh set a Major League record with forty-six hits during a doubleheader against Philadelphia.

On August 25th, the Chicago Cubs managed to edge out the Philadelphia Phillies 26-23 in one of the worst combined pitching performances in baseball history. The game itself featured fifty-one hits, twenty-one walks, and nine errors with the Phillies stranding sixteen men on base and the Cubs leaving nine.

Rogers Hornsby completed the season with a .401 average making him the first .400-hitter in the National League since Ed Delahanty in 1899. He also set a National League record with two-hundred fifty hits, another with one-hundred two extra-base hits and was awarded the Triple Crown with one-hundred fifty-two runs batted in and forty-two home runs.

Around the League...

For the first time since 1900, there were no playing managers in the National League. It would be 1930 before the American League would follow suite and bench all of its managers.

Following a lawsuit brought by the Federal League's Baltimore franchise, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 9-0 that professional baseball (on any level) was not considered an interstate business.

In an effort to curb the rise of home run hitting (one-thousand fifty-four in the major leagues, up from nine-hundred thirty-six), several American League owners proposed a new zoning system that called for a minimum distance of three-hundred feet for a round-tripper to be "official". Although that motion was denied, another action that required all teams to furnish two uniforms per player was passed and at the National League meeting Charles Ebbets proposed the addition of numbers on players' sleeves or caps.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"They (the fans) can boo and hoot me all they want. That doesn't bother me, but when a fan calls insulting names from the grandstand and becomes abusive I don't intend to stand for it. This fellow today (May 25, 1922) `called me a 'low-down bum' and other names that got me mad." - Babe Ruth

1922 American League Player Review

1921 | 1922 Hitting Statistics League Leaders | 1923

Base on Balls Whitey Witt New York 89 Top 25
Batting Average George Sisler St. Louis .420 Top 25
Doubles Tris Speaker Cleveland 48 Top 25
Hits George Sisler St. Louis 246 Top 25
Home Runs Ken Williams St. Louis 39 Top 25
On Base Percentage Tris Speaker Cleveland .474 Top 25
RBI Ken Williams St. Louis 155 Top 25
Runs George Sisler St. Louis 134 Top 25
Slugging Average Babe Ruth New York .672 Top 25
Stolen Bases George Sisler St. Louis 51 Top 25
Total Bases Ken Williams St. Louis 367 Top 25
Triples George Sisler St. Louis 18 Top 25
1922 A.L. History | 1922 N.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1922 American League Pitcher Review

1921 | 1922 Pitching Statistics League Leaders | 1923

Complete Games Red Faber Chicago 31 Top 25
ERA Red Faber Chicago 2.81 Top 25
Games Eddie Rommel Philadelphia 51 Top 25
Saves Sam Jones New York 8 Top 25
Shutouts George Uhle Cleveland 5 Top 25
Strikeouts Urban Shocker St. Louis 149 Top 25
Winning Percentage Joe Bush New York .788 Top 25
Wins Eddie Rommel Philadelphia 27 Top 25
1922 A.L. History | 1922 N.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1922 American League Team Standings

1922 Team Standings | 1922 World Series

New York Yankees 94 60 .610 0
St. Louis Browns 93 61 .604 1
Detroit Tigers 79 75 .513 15
Cleveland Indians 78 76 .506 16
Chicago White Sox 77 77 .500 17
Washington Senators 69 85 .448 25
Philadelphia Athletics 65 89 .422 29
Boston Red Sox 61 93 .396 33
American League Team Standings

1922 American League Team Review

Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard

Base on Balls Cleveland 550
Batting Average St. Louis .310
Doubles Cleveland 320
Hits St. Louis 1,684
Home Runs Philadelphia 111
On Base Percentage Detroit .373
Runs St. Louis 867
Slugging Average St. Louis .453
Stolen Bases St. Louis 136
Triples St. Louis 94

1922 American League Team Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games New York 100
ERA St. Louis 3.38
Fewest Hits Allowed New York 1,402
Fewest Home Runs Allowed Boston 48
Fewest Walks Allowed St. Louis 419
Saves St. Louis 22
Shutouts Cleveland 14
Strikeouts St. Louis 534
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

Do you know which pitcher never had a winning season during his Major League career yet managed to throw a perfect game on April 30, 1922?

Ty Cobb hit .401 in 1922 yet lost the batting title to George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns who finished the season hitting .420. However, 1911 was actually the first instance in the American League were a .400 hitter (Ty Cobb again!) beat another .400 hitter (Joe Jackson) for the batting title.

On September 30, 1922, Babe Ruth was ejected by umpire Tom Connolly for abusive language. A heckler became Ruth's next target, but Connolly intercepted and told Ruth, "You should be ashamed of yourself." Ruth returned to the dugout and was never ejected from another baseball game during his career.