In all of the games in all of the history of Major League Baseball, no MLB team has ever put together a seven-game stretch at the plate like the 1921 St. Louis Browns.
How good were these Browns, a team that included the likes of Hall of Famer “Gorgeous George” Sisler and Baby Doll Jacobson? As a team between August 24 and the first game of a doubleheader on August 31, the 1921 Browns slashed as a team .446/.482/.619 with an OPS of 1.101. No team before or since has put together seven games as a team hotter with the bat than those Browns.
The irony is that the words “good” and the Browns rarely went hand in hand, but these seven games in late August pushed St. Louis over the .500 mark for the season for the first time since mid-April. The Browns would eventually finish with an 81-73 record and third place in the American League. It would also mark their best winning percentage since the 1902 campaign.
Those wins, by the way, would make a financial impact for each of the Browns players. St. Louis finished the 1921 campaign a half-game ahead of the Washington Senators for third place, meaning players would be rewarded with a $750 pool from the World Series, given only to teams finishing in the top three in each league.
A look inside the St. Louis Browns and the best seven-game stretch at the plate in MLB history
During this seven-game stretch, the Browns would go 6-1, beating the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Athletics in five consecutive home games before splitting a pair of games in Chicago against the White Sox. The Browns registered between 14 and 20 hits in every game, totaling 116 in all, 27 of which would go for extra bases.
Pacing that incredible slash line from the Browns was Jacobson, a lifetime .311 hitter but in the middle of his best two-year stretch of his 11-year career (he would slash .355/.402/.501 in 1920 and follow it up with a .352/.398/.487 slash line in 1921. During those seven games, Jacobson went 17-for-31 at the plate, striking out just one time. His slash line during the time was .567/.567/.700 with an OPS of 1.267.
His best game was a 3-for-5 performance with 4 RBI in an 11-5 win over the White Sox on August 30.
Sisler, meanwhile, posted an ever higher OPS at 1.396 while slashing .529/.543/.853. He went 18-for-34 at the plate, including a double, two triples, and two home runs with 10 RBI. His best game was the opening one of the stretch, going 3-for-6 with a double and a homer while plating four runs in a 12-11, 10-inning win over the Red Sox at Sportsman’s Park.
Let’s also not overlook the production from catcher Hank Severeid during the stretch. He slashed .455/.500/.591 with an OPS of 1.091. His 10-for-22 line included three doubles.
In 1953, the Browns would leave St. Louis and become the Baltimore Orioles. The 1944 World Series against the crosstown rival Cardinals would be the team’s only postseason appearance before heading to Baltimore.