The Pittsburgh Pirates destroyed the rest of the league, winning 103 games. Brooklyn was second, with 75 wins. Almost all of the best hitters in the league played for Pittsburgh; they scored 142 more runs than the Reds, the next best hitting team. As usual, the Pirates' best player was Honus Wagner.

         Wagner is usually regarded as the game's greatest shortstop, but it took him awhile to move there. When he began his career with Louisville, he played mostly in the outfield and at third base. Wagner moved to Pittsburgh after the Louisville team folded; the Pirates then began experimenting with him at different positions. This year, he played 44 games at short, 32 at first base, and 61 in the outfield. He didn't look much like a shortstop; it is hard to describe Wagner to someone who hasn't seen pictures of him, but his three most famous physical traits were his bow legs, his barrel chest and his huge hands. If anything, he looked like a catcher — but next season, he finally became a regular shortstop, and remained there for the rest of his career.
        Fred Clarke and Ginger Beaumont also played for the Pirates. Clarke is a Hall Of Famer, and had one of his best years, despite missing 25 games. Clarke was also the manager of the Pirates, and had great success (at least while Wagner was playing). As a player, he was similar to Robin Yount, except he batted left-handed.
        Ginger Beaumont had his first big year. This was his only batting title, though he led the league in hits four times. Beaumont was a good player for the Pirates; he played 12 seasons in total, had over 1700 career hits, and was regarded as one of the fastest players in the league.
         Tommy Leach played everywhere during his career; he started out as a shortstop, moved to third base, then finished in the outfield. The great story about Leach (recalled in The Glory Of Their Times) is about how he started off as a shortstop for Louisville; when the team folded, he was warned not to sign with Washington, where a guy named Wagner was the shortstop. So Leach signed with Pittsburgh, and was shocked to see Honus Wagner playing short. The guy in Washington turned out to be the great Albert (Butts) Wagner.
        Leach was a terrific player, played 19 years in the majors had collected over 2000 career hits. This year, Leach was one of his best seasons, and he ranks behind only Wagner and Clarke. I could have made a Top Four list with only Pirates on it, but I decided to give Cincinnati's power-hitting outfielder Sam Crawford a slight edge over Beaumont in the outfield.