Wikipedia

1908 Chicago Cubs season

The 1908 Chicago Cubs season was the 37th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 33rd in the National League, and the 16th at West Side Park. It involved the Cubs winning their third consecutive National League pennant, as well as the World Series for the second consecutive year. This team included four future Hall of Famers: manager / first baseman Frank Chance, second baseman Johnny Evers, shortstop Joe Tinker, and pitcher Mordecai Brown. In 1908, Brown finished second in the NL in wins and earned run average. This would be the last World Series victory for the Cubs until 2016.

1908 Chicago Cubs
World Series Champions
National League Champions
LeagueNational League
BallparkWest Side Park
CityChicago, Illinois
OwnersCharles Murphy
ManagersFrank Chance
← 1907 Seasons 1909 →

Regular season

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Season summary

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Composite image of post-season eligible players of the 1908 Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs started the season in Cincinnati. Orval Overall was the Cubs' Opening Day starting pitcher. Overall gave up five hits and committed an error in the first inning as the Reds took a 5–0 lead.[1] The Cubs tied the game in the sixth and won the game in the ninth. Cubs pinch hitter Heinie Zimmerman drove in Johnny Evers. Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown pitched in the ninth and got a save for the Cubs.[2]

The home opener was on April 22. Owner Charles Murphy had added several new seats to the stadium. Long-time Cub player-manager Cap Anson threw out the first pitch. Tinker, Evers, and Chance turned their second double play of the season as the Cubs beat the Reds by a score of 7–3.[3]

On June 30, the Pittsburgh Pirates took first place, as the Cubs lost to the Cincinnati Reds.[4] Starting on July 2, the Pirates started a critical five game series against the Cubs.[5] In the first game, Three Finger Brown threw a six hit, no walk shutout, winning the game 3–0. Brown was 10–1 on the season.

On September 26, starting pitcher Ed Reulbach became the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to pitch two shutouts on the same day. That day, the Cubs played a doubleheader against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Reulbach pitched both games to completion, which the Cubs won by scores of 5–0 and 3–0.[6]

The Merkle Game

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On Wednesday, September 23, 1908, while playing for the New York Giants in a game against the Cubs, 19-year-old Fred Merkle committed a base-running error that later became known as "Merkle's Boner" and earned him the nickname of "Bonehead."

In the bottom of the 9th inning, Merkle came to bat with two outs and the score tied 1–1. At the time, Moose McCormick was on first base. Merkle singled, and McCormick advanced to third. Al Bridwell followed with another single, and McCormick trotted home to score the apparent winning run. The New York fans in attendance, under the impression that the game was over, ran onto the field to celebrate.

Meanwhile, Merkle, thinking the game was over, ran to the Giants' clubhouse without touching second base (a gesture that was common at the time). Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers noticed this, and after retrieving a ball and touching second base, he appealed to umpire Hank O'Day to call Merkle out. Since Merkle had not touched the base, the umpire called him out on a force play, and McCormick's run did not count. The run was therefore nullified, the Giants' victory erased, and the score of the game remained tied.

Unfortunately, the thousands of fans on the field (as well as the growing darkness in the days before large electric light rigs made night games possible) prevented resumption of the game, and the game was declared a tie. The Giants and the Cubs would end the season tied for first place and would have a rematch at the Polo Grounds on October 8. The Cubs won this makeup game, 4–2, and thus the National League pennant.

Season standings

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 99 55 .643 — 47‍–‍30 52‍–‍25
New York Giants 98 56 .636 1 52‍–‍25 46‍–‍31
Pittsburgh Pirates 98 56 .636 1 42‍–‍35 56‍–‍21
Philadelphia Phillies 83 71 .539 16 43‍–‍34 40‍–‍37
Cincinnati Reds 73 81 .474 26 40‍–‍37 33‍–‍44
Boston Doves 63 91 .409 36 35‍–‍42 28‍–‍49
Brooklyn Superbas 53 101 .344 46 27‍–‍50 26‍–‍51
St. Louis Cardinals 49 105 .318 50 28‍–‍49 21‍–‍56

Record vs. opponents

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1908 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BKN CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT SLC
Boston — 12–10 6–16–2 8–14 6–16 10–12 7–15 14–8
Brooklyn 10–12 — 4–18 6–16 6–16 5–17 9–13 13–9
Chicago 16–6–2 18–4 — 16–6 11–11–1 9–13–1 10–12 19–3
Cincinnati 14–8 16–6 6–16 — 8–14–1 10–12 8–14 11–11
New York 16–6 16–6 11–11–1 14–8–1 — 16–6 11–11–1 14–8
Philadelphia 12–10 17–5 13–9–1 12–10 6–16 — 9–13 14–8
Pittsburgh 15–7 13–9 12–10 14–8 11–11–1 13–9 — 20–2
St. Louis 8–14 9–13 3–19 11–11 8–14 8–14 2–20 —


Notable transactions

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Roster

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1908 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Johnny Kling 126 424 117 .276 4 59
1B Frank Chance 129 452 123 .272 2 55
2B Johnny Evers 126 416 125 .300 0 37
3B Harry Steinfeldt 150 539 130 .241 1 62
SS Joe Tinker 157 548 146 .266 6 68
OF Jimmy Sheckard 115 403 93 .231 2 22
OF Frank Schulte 102 386 91 .236 1 43
OF Jimmy Slagle 104 352 78 .222 0 26

Other batters

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Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Solly Hofman 120 411 100 .243 2 42
Del Howard 96 315 88 .279 1 26
Pat Moran 50 150 39 .260 0 12
Heinie Zimmerman 46 113 33 .292 0 9
Jack Hayden 11 45 9 .200 0 2
Blaine Durbin 14 28 7 .250 0 0
Doc Marshall 12 20 6 .300 0 3
Vin Campbell 1 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Mordecai Brown 44 312.1 29 9 1.47 123
Ed Reulbach 46 297.2 24 7 2.03 133
Jack Pfiester 33 252.0 12 10 2.00 117
Orval Overall 37 225.0 15 11 1.92 167
Chick Fraser 26 162.2 11 9 2.27 66
Carl Lundgren 23 138.2 6 9 4.22 38
Andy Coakley 4 20.1 2 0 0.89 7

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Rube Kroh 2 12.0 0 0 1.50 11

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Bill Mack 2 0 0 0 3.00 2
Karl Spongberg 1 0 0 0 9.00 4

1908 World Series

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Main article: 1908 World Series

NL Chicago Cubs (4) vs AL Detroit Tigers (1)

Game Score Date Location Attendance
1 Cubs – 10, Tigers – 6 October 10 Bennett Park 10,812
2 Tigers – 1, Cubs – 6 October 11 West Side Park 17,760
3 Tigers – 8, Cubs – 3 October 12 West Side Park 14,543
4 Cubs – 3, Tigers – 0 October 13 Bennett Park 12,907
5 Cubs – 2, Tigers – 0 October 14 Bennett Park 6,210

Notes

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Inline citations

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  1. ^ Murphy 2007, p. 61
  2. ^ Murphy 2007, p. 62
  3. ^ Murphy 2007, p. 63
  4. ^ Murphy 2007, p. 95
  5. ^ Murphy 2007, p. 99
  6. ^ Baseball Almanac (2010). "Shutout Records". Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  7. ^ Doc Marshall page at Baseball Reference

References

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References

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