Although they were heavily advertised prior to the season opener in the newly formed American League, Cleveland did not fare well under first year manager Jimmy McAleer

Lacking a quality pitching staff and plagued by poor fielding, Cleveland finished the 1901 season at 54-82, a full 29 games behind the first place Chicago White Sox. McAleer's pitching staff was led by Earl Moore, 16-14, Pete Downing, 11-22, Bill Hoffer, 3-8, Ed Scott, 6-6, and an aging Bill Hart, 7-11.

Collectively Cleveland's pitchers posted the worst earned run average in the new league at 4.12, and the worst on-base-pct .358. Their batters were paced by Ollie Pickering, - .309,  Candy LaChance - .303 and power-hitting Erve Beck - .289, - however the team finished 7th in the then 8-team AL, hitting - just .271 in the then-scheduled 136 games. Second baseman Erve Beck drove in a team-leading 79 runs and hit six of the Indians twelve homeruns.

baseballhistorian.com - Cleveland Indians 1901