PBR - Throughout the next few weeks the Review will unveil several portions of a new statistical study that ranks teams relative to league and decade. A formula using seven unique sabermetric categories, combined with regression, resulted in the ranking system. The full formula / study will be unveiled during the summer of 2012 and published on the Review.
This installment looks at the American League from 1901-1909 and ranked 72 teams.
Best: 1903 Boston Americans, 91-47, .659, World Series Champions
Led by hurlers Cy Young (28-9, 2.08) and Bill Dinneen (21-13, 2.26), the Americans coasted to the first American League pennant and finished 14.5 games ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics. Buck Freeman paced the offense with 13 home runs while driving in 104. Six of eight offensive starters reached double-digits in stolen bases. The Americans went on to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first ever World Series, five games to three.
Philadelphia (AL) in the 1900s (rank of 72 teams): 1901 - 18th, 1902 - 4th, 1903 - 10th, 1904 - 17th, 1905 - 2nd, 1906 - 20th, 1907 - 7th, 1908 - 45th, 1909 - 3rd.
Top Five AL Teams of the 1900s: 1903 Boston, 1905 Philadelphia, 1909 Philadelphia, 1902 Philadelphia, 1906 Cleveland.
Bottom Five AL Teams of the 1900s: 1904 Washington, 1908 New York, 1903 Washington, 1901 Cleveland, 1902 Detroit.
