1921 Debut League Results

Eddie Rommel of the Philadelphia Athletics.

1921

The 1921 Debut League season is in the books, as the Philadelphia Athletics bounced back in a major way, after a disappointing 72-82 1920 season, they found themselves improving by 28 games, while edging the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox by 4 games.

The National League saw a repeat with their pennant as the 99-55 New York Giants look to avenge their 1920 World Series choke, surrendering a 4-1 series lead to lose to the Red Sox, now they will have to face a tough Athletics team led by Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Collins & Herb Pennock.

Pennock posted a 26-11 record with a 2.73 ERA, 136 K, 1.27 WHIP & 6.9 WAR in 362.2 innings, while the Athletics plugged Eddie Rommel into the stopper role, which he went 9-3 with a 2.08 ERA & 12 Saves.

The Boston Red Sox had a lot of pitching problems outside of starters Dutch H Leonard (25-12) & Carl Mays (25-13), especially their non-existent pen. Their lineup basically carried them with Babe Ruth (11.1) and Tris Speaker (12.3) each putting up seasons with 10+ WAR. Ruth's 48 home runs, gives him a combined 91 HR the past two seasons, while he now has 140 career home runs.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates each won 96 games, while losing the pennant by only 3 games. Rogers Hornsby (.383, 33, 127) had a huge season for the Cardinals, while his teammate Austin McHenry gave him excellent support by hitting .374 with 19 HR & 122 RBI.

The Detroit Tigers slid in 1921 due to bad pitching (4.44 Starters ERA - Ranking 5th), while they were the worst fielding team in the American League. They ranked in the top half of the league on offense, as they were led by Harry Heilmann (.406, 20, 124) and Ty Cobb (.395, 10, 101).

The two worst teams in the Majors were the Brooklyn Dodgers (45-109) & St. Louis Browns (50-104). The Cincinnati Reds improved by 24 wins, but still finished with only 64 wins.

1921 World Series

The World Series was once again a best-of-nine, did we have as much drama this season, like we did last season? We'll have to see...

In a back-and-forth affair, the New York Giants avenge their 1920 collapse by defeating the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-4. 

Season Awards

A.L. MVP - Babe Ruth - OF (BOS-A)
N.L. MVP - Rogers Hornsby - 2B (CHI-N)
A.L. Cy Young - Herb Pennock (PHI-A)
N.L. Cy Young - Waite Hoyt (NY-N)
A.L. Rookie of the Year - Lu Blue (DET)
N.L. Rookie of the Year - Lew Fonseca - 2B (CIN)
A.L. Reliever of the Year - Eddie Rommel (PHI-A)
N.L. Reliever of the Year - George Mohart (BRO)

For Ruth and Mohart, it is their 2nd awards.