The 1920 Brooklyn Robins, also known as the Dodgers, won 16 of their final 18 games to pull away from a tight pennant race and earn a trip to their second World Series against the Cleveland Indians. They lost the series in seven games. The team featured four Hall of Famers: manager Wilbert Robinson, pitchers Burleigh Grimes and Rube Marquard, and outfielder Zack Wheat. Grimes anchored a pitching staff that allowed the fewest runs in the majors.

Offseason January 1920: Frank O'Rourke was purchased from the Robins by the Washington Senators.Frank O'Rourke page at Baseball Reference January 12, 1920: Mack Wheat was purchased from the Robins by the Philadelphia Phillies.Mack Wheat page at Baseball Reference March 1920: Bill Lamar was purchased by the Robins from the Boston Red Sox.Bill Lamar page at Baseball Reference

Regular season On May 1, Brooklyn and the Boston Braves played what remains the longest major league baseball game, tied 1 to 1 at the end of nine innings and then going scoreless for 17 more until the 26-inning game was called because of darkness "5 of the longest, strangest games in MLB history", MLB.com

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 22, 1920: Bill McCabe was purchased by the Robins from the Chicago Cubs.Bill McCabe page at Baseball Reference July 1920: Wally Hood was purchased from the Robins by the Pittsburgh Pirates.Wally Hood page at Baseball Reference July 27, 1920: Doug Baird was purchased from the Robins by the New York Giants.Doug Baird page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1920 Brooklyn Robins Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases Pos Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB C 90 301 16 87 .289 0 33 0 1B 131 497 62 153 .308 5 63 3 2B 141 478 62 130 .272 0 58 2 3B 155 635 87 185 .291 1 52 19 SS 143 637 71 162 .254 1 46 4 OF 154 582 83 177 .304 4 80 9 OF 148 583 89 191 .328 9 73 8 OF 93 334 41 87 .260 2 30 3

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB 95 249 38 63 .253 2 22 9 52 146 21 42 .288 1 17 2 41 112 13 27 .241 1 13 0 19 71 7 11 .155 0 4 1 41 68 10 10 .147 0 3 1 28 63 7 15 .238 0 7 1 24 44 5 12 .273 0 4 0 7 14 4 2 .143 0 1 2 9 13 3 5 .385 0 5 0 6 6 1 2 .333 0 1 0 3 5 0 2 .400 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 .000 0 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games Player G GS CG IP W L ERA BB SO 40 33 25 303.2 23 11 2.22 67 131 35 30 16 254.1 15 14 2.62 56 79 30 28 20 215.0 16 9 3.01 45 80 28 26 10 189.2 10 7 3.23 35 89

Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games Player G GS CG IP W L ERA BB SO 41 18 9 190.2 12 8 2.69 63 101 33 12 6 136.1 11 9 1.85 27 33 19 7 3 78.2 5 2 3.09 23 18

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L SV ERA BB SO 13 35.2 0 1 0 1.77 7 13 9 23.1 1 0 0 3.09 4 9

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers Burleigh Grimes #2 in NL in strikeouts (131) #3 in NL in wins (23) #3 in NL in ERA (2.22)

Zack Wheat #4 in NL in batting average (.328) #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.385)

1920 World Series

On October 10, 1920, which was the fifth game of the World Series, Elmer Smith of the Indians hit the first grand slam in World Series history. On the same day, Bill Wambsganss of the Indians had an unassisted triple play. He caught a liner, touched second base, and tagged the runner coming from first base. During that same game, Indians pitcher Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in World Series history.

Game 1 October 5, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York Team123456789RHECleveland020100000350Brooklyn000000100151W: Stan Coveleski (1–0)  L: Rube Marquard (0–1)

Game 2 October 6, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York Team123456789RHECleveland000000000071Brooklyn10101000x370W: Burleigh Grimes (1–0)  L: Jim Bagby (0–1)

Game 3 October 7, 1920, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York Team123456789RHECleveland000100000131Brooklyn20000000x261W: Sherry Smith (1–0)  L: Ray Caldwell (0–1)

Game 4 October 9, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio Team123456789RHEBrooklyn000100000151Cleveland20200100x5121W: Stan Coveleski (2–0)  L: Leon Cadore (0–1)

Game 5 October 10, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio Team123456789RHEBrooklyn0000000011131Cleveland40031000x8122W: Jim Bagby (1–1)  L: Burleigh Grimes (1–1)HR: CLE – Elmer Smith (1), Jim Bagby (1)

Game 6 October 11, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio Team123456789RHEBrooklyn000000000030Cleveland00001000x173W: Duster Mails (1–0)  L: Sherry Smith (1–1)

Game 7 October 12, 1920, at Dunn Field in Cleveland, Ohio Team123456789RHEBrooklyn000000000052Cleveland00011010x373W: Stan Coveleski (3–0)  L: Burleigh Grimes (1–2)

References

External links Baseball-Reference season page Baseball Almanac season page 1920 Brooklyn Robins uniform Brooklyn Dodgers reference site Acme Dodgers page Retrosheet