In 1920 , Babe Ruth play his first time of year as a New York Yankee . demonstrate the way for a Modern generation of upper - cutting mogul hitters , the Bambino post slugging numbers the biz had never seen .
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Besides hitting a Cobbian .376 , Ruth swatted 54 plate run , which not only surmount his own book of 29 but also each of the other seven American League team . The nearest individual hitter , St. Louis ' George Sisler , hit 19 . Ruth extend the league in laze at .847 , the highest mark recorded in either conference until 2001 . American League pitcher were no patsy – they walk Ruth 148 fourth dimension – but he still led the conference in RBI with 137 and runs score with 158 .
Where Ruth head , others soon follow , as offence in almost every class mount steady throughout the twenties . Runs in the American League increase by about 1,000 in 1921 . The National League followed the same pattern , although at a slower pace .
Sisler , who in 1920 actually collect 11 more total bases than Ruth at 399 , bat .407 , the 7th - practiced norm of all time . Sisler also banged out 257 bang – still a disc . In the National League , Cardinals 2d baseman Rogers Hornsby batted a league - go .370 and led in doubles with 44 , total bases with 329 , and RBI with 94 .
The baseball rule - manufacturer help the new home rivulet style of baseball by changing two rules . The first was the outlawing of trick pitches such as the refulgence testis , the emery testis , and specially the spitter . That this had an tremendous ( and underrated ) burden on major conference pitching can be examine from the subsequent careers of 17 spitter pitchers , who were allowed , under a " grandad clause , " to continue to throw the sales talk de jure . While era in both league shoot up in 1920 , the composite ERA of the 17 spitballers remained virtually unchanged .
The second variety was the young praxis of save clean baseballs in turn throughout the game . This made for a more racy orb that travel much farther in the air ; thus , more home outpouring . Baseball ’s justification for the change was the disastrous beaning of Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman by Yankee mound Carl Mays , which many fault on Chapman ’s inability to see a careworn , discolored bollock as it travel rapidly toward his skull .
Chapman ’s death greatly affected the American League pennant race , as New York pass off to third , one plot behind 2nd - position Chicago . Cleveland won the masthead thanks to Jim Bagby ( 31 wins ) and cub short Joe Sewell , who spark the Indians with a .329 batten average in August and September . The White Sox ' chances were ruined when , after calendar month of rumor , the squad suspend the eight players suspected of throw the 1919 World Series in the critical , final Clarence Shepard Day Jr. of the season .
In the 1920 World Series , the Indians foregather National League fighter Brooklyn , which was conduct by spitballer Burleigh Grimes ’s 23 win and 2.22 epoch . Cleveland advance the 1919 World Series five game to two . On the Indians ' side , the games were marked by several World Series firsts , admit Elmer Smith ’s grandslam , twirler Bagby ’s Winslow Homer , and Bill Wambsganss ’s unassisted ternary period of play .
Besides the passing of the utter - ball era , 1920 also saw the establishment of the solitary baseball commissionership under Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis . This supercede the old three - man commission , which had been dominate by American League president Ban Johnson since its inception in 1903 . One of Landis ’s first official human action was to banish for lifetime the eight member of the " Black Sox , " whose trial for fraud had result in a suspect acquittal that was rumour to have been engineered by knock-down White Sox owner Charles Comiskey .
Check out the next section for some of the major newspaper headline from the 1920 baseball game time of year .
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1920 Baseball Season Headlines
A variety of newfangled rules were lay down for the 1920 baseball time of year that had a major impact on the game . Read about some of the newspaper headline of the time of year below .
Ray Chapman Killed
Ray Chapman hugged the plate so intimately when he batted that his head was usually in the work stoppage zone . Carl Mays , to his dying mean solar day , insisted that the pitch that killed Chapman would have been call a smasher had he manage to skirt out of the fashion . Chapman had a .303 norm in 1920 , with 27 two-baser and 49 run batted in .
Indians Mourn Ray Chapman
The 1920 World Champion Cleveland Indians fag out bootleg armbands in memory of Ray Chapman , killed by a beaning . Joe Sewell was Chapman ’s substitute .
Eddie Cicotte Proves Dependable
Eddie Cicotte was one of the four 20 - plot victor on the 1920 White Sox . The quartet had a composite 87 - 46 record , while the residuum of the Sox staff was 9 - 12 . Manager Kid Gleason went with just six pitchers for most of the year , using Roy Wilkinson and George Payne primarily in easing . deep in the season , Cicotte was censor for his part in the Black Sox scandal . Eddie was sincerely no-good for dumping the 1919 World Series . His words dripped with irony when he say , " I ’d give a million dollar sign to unmake what I ’ve done . "
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis Takes Charge
In his early years as commissioner , Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was like a kid at his first carnival , now trying all the baseless ride . Landis was both fear and loathed by players , several of whom he banished for violation that in retrospect seem ridiculously petty . Landis later became know as a thespian ’s commissioner who was feared and loathed by many owners .
Rube Foster Forms NNL
The " Father of Black Baseball , " Rube Foster created the Negro National League , the first organized fateful major league , in 1920 . Although Foster was a ewer in the early part of the one C , by 1920 he functioned mainly as league decision maker and coach of the Chicago American Giants , winner of the first three NNL pennants .
Jim Bagby Leads AL in Wins
After netting an American League - gamy 31 victories in 1920 , Jim Bagby was good for only 21 more wins in his career . Ray Caldwell , a 20 - secret plan winner that class , collected just six more victories . And Duster Mails , a recent - season sensation , was back in the tyke two year later .
George Sisler Leads American League in Hitting
George Sisler was one of the greatest hitters in the game , though he seldom walked . He drew just 46 innocent passes as opposed to 257 hits in 1920 . Strong in all other respects , Sisler also come close that class to becoming the first role player to tally 20 or more doubles , triplet , and home runs in the same season .
Find highlights from the 1920 baseball time of year on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
1920 Baseball Season Highlights
During the 1920 baseball season , the sport undergo several changes in rules to prevent any further scandals like the 1919 World Series wasteyard . to boot , Babe Ruth continued to ready records , and Rube Foster started up the Negro National League . See more highlights of the 1920 baseball time of year below .
happen more highlights from the 1920 baseball game season on the next page .
