These days, a .694 OPS is rather pedestrian. It’s pretty bad and it would put a player well beyond the top 50 in either league. On the 2005 World Champion White Sox team, a rather weak offensive team in it’s own right, a .694 OPS would have put a player in dead last in OPS amongst the team’s starters. It would have fallen just below Scott Podsedniks’ .700, an OPS+ of 86.
On the 1906 White Sox, a .694 OPS led the team. Now you’re beginning to get a feel for why this team was labeled the hitless wonders. By 1906, Hall of Famer George Davis was near the end of a solid career and in a lot of ways, he was the offense for the White Sox in 1906. He led the team in doubles, RBI’s, batting average, and slugging percentage, but only finished in the top ten in the American League in one of those categories (he was seventh in doubles).
Keep in mind though, Davis played shortstop, a position in that day and age where a slick fielder was just as valuable as a solid hitter. George Davis combined both of those attributes. He finished his career with 66 fielding runs above average (adjusted for the season) although this number is skewed because of two horrible seasons late in his career. Throw in a career equivalent average of .289 over a 20 year career and you have a Hall of Fame shortstop. In Bill James’ Historical Baseball Abstract, Davis is listed as the fourteenth best shortstop of all time and only one of those, Honus Wagner (who tops the list for now) played in the same era as Davis. So for the the first couple of decades after the leagues unified, Davis was the second best shortstop of all time.
He also had a solid postseason. He hit .308 in three games and drove in six runs. In games five and the clincher in game six, he had nearly identical games. He had two hits, two runs and three RBIs.
Here are George Davis’ numbers in 1906:
Games 133
AB 484
Runs 63
Hits 134
Doubles 26
Triples 6
Homeruns 0
RBIs 80
Walks 41
Strikeouts ??
Stolen Bases 27
Caught Stealing ??
BA .277
OBA .338
SLG% .355
OPS .694
RC 72
RCAA 21
RCAP 22
RC/G 5.17
ISO .079
