The 1920

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

season was the 20th season in franchise history. The Indians won the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pennant and proceeded to win their first World Series title in the history of the franchise. Pitchers Jim Bagby,

Stan Coveleski Stanley Anthony Coveleski (born Stanislaus Kowalewski, July 13, 1889 – March 20, 1984) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for four American League (AL) teams between and , primarily the Cleveland Indians. ...

and

Ray Caldwell Raymond Benjamin Caldwell (April 26, 1888 – August 17, 1967) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Cleveland Indians from 1910 to 1921. He was known f ...

combined to win 75 games. Despite the team's success, the season was perhaps more indelibly marked by the death of starting

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

Ray Chapman Raymond Johnson Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American baseball player. He spent his entire career as a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians. Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by pitcher Carl Mays and died 1 ...

, who died after being hit by a pitch on August 16.

Regular season

During the season, Jim Bagby became the last pitcher to win 30 games in one season for the Indians in the 20th century. On August 17, shortstop

died after being hit by a pitch in a game against the

Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, becoming the second of only two

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

players to have died as a result of an injury received in a game (the first was Mike "Doc" Powers in 1909).

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

1920 World Series

On October 10, 1920, which was the fifth game of the World Series,

Bill Wambsganss William Adolf Wambsganss (March 19, 1894 – December 8, 1985) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1914 in baseball, 1914 through 1926 in baseball, 1926, Wambsganss played for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia ...

of the Indians executed an

unassisted triple play In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes all three outs by himself in one continuous play, without his teammates making any assists. Neal Ball was the first to achieve this in Major League Baseball (MLB) under ...

. He caught a line drive, touched second base, and tagged the runner coming from first base. On the same day, Elmer Smith hit the first

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in World Series history. During that same game, Indians pitcher Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in World Series history. AL Cleveland Indians (5) vs. NL

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

(2)

Game 1

October 5, 1920, at

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five p ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Game 2

October 6, 1920, at

Game 3

October 7, 1920, at

Game 4

October 9, 1920, at Dunn Field in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Game 5

October 10, 1920, at Dunn Field in

Game 6

October 11, 1920, at Dunn Field in

Game 7

October 12, 1920, at Dunn Field in

Composite box

1920 World Series (5–2):

(A.L.) over

(N.L.)

References

External links

1920 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference1920 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com1920 WS page at Baseball Reference
{{Cleveland Guardians Cleveland Guardians seasons

American League champion seasons World Series champion seasons