Tuesday, June 14, 2011

1908 Chicago Cubs

1908 Chicago Cubs season

 
 
1908 Chicago Cubs
1908 World Series Champions
1908 National League Champions
Major league affiliations
Location
1908 Information
Owner(s)Charles Murphy
Manager(s)Frank Chance
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The 1908 Chicago Cubs season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Cubs winning their third consecutive National League pennant, as well as the World Series. As of 2010, it is the most recent season in which the Cubs have won the World Series.
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 ERA.

Contents

 Regular season

 Season summary

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 take 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 gets 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 turn their second double play of the season as the Cubs beat the Reds by a score of 7-3.[3]
On June 30, the Pirates took first place, as the Chicago 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

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

National LeagueWLGBPct.
Chicago Cubs9955--.643
New York Giants98561.636
Pittsburgh Pirates98561.636
Philadelphia Phillies837116.539
Cincinnati Reds738126.474
Boston Doves639136.409
Brooklyn Superbas5310146.344
St. Louis Cardinals4910550.318

 Notable transactions

 Roster

1908 Chicago Cubs
Roster
PitchersCatchersInfielders
OutfieldersOther batters
Manager

 Player stats

 Batting

 Starters by position

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↓
CKling, JohnnyJohnny Kling126424117.276459
1BChance, FrankFrank Chance129452123.272255
2BEvers, JohnnyJohnny Evers126416125.300037
3BSteinfeldt, HarryHarry Steinfeldt150539130.241162
SSTinker, JoeJoe Tinker157548146.266668
OFSheckard, JimmyJimmy Sheckard11540393.231222
OFSchulte, FrankFrank Schulte10238691.236143
OFSlagle, JimmyJimmy Slagle10435278.222026

 Other batters

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↓
Hofman, SollySolly Hofman120411100.243242
Marshall, DocDoc Marshall12206.30003

 Pitching

 Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player↓G↓IP↓W↓L↓ERA↓SO↓
Brown, MordecaiMordecai Brown44312.12991.47123
Reulbach, EdEd Reulbach46297.22472.03133
Pfiester, JackJack Pfiester3325212102.00117
Overall, OrvalOrval Overall3722515111.92167
Fraser, ChickChick Fraser26162.21192.2766
Lundgren, CarlCarl Lundgren23138.2694.2238
Coakley, AndyAndy Coakley420.1200.897

 Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player↓G↓IP↓W↓L↓ERA↓SO↓
Kroh, RubeRube Kroh212001.5011

Relief pitchers

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

 1908 World Series

Main article: 1908 World Series
NL Chicago Cubs (4) vs AL Detroit Tigers (1)
GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1Cubs - 10, Tigers - 6October 10Bennett Park10,812
2Tigers - 1, Cubs - 6October 11West Side Park17,760
3Tigers - 8, Cubs - 3October 12West Side Park14,543
4Cubs - 3, Tigers - 0October 13Bennett Park12,907
5Cubs - 2, Tigers - 0October 14Bennett Park6,210

 Notes

  1. ^ Crazy ’08:How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 61, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
  2. ^ Crazy ’08:How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 62, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
  3. ^ Crazy ’08:How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p.63, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
  4. ^ Crazy ’08:How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 95, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
  5. ^ Crazy ’08:How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 99, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
  6. ^ Baseball Almanac (2010). "Shutout Records". http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_shut1.shtml. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  7. ^ Doc Marshall page at Baseball Reference

 References

Preceded by
Chicago Cubs
1907		National League Championship Season
1908		Succeeded by
Pittsburgh Pirates
1909
Preceded by
Chicago Cubs
1907		World Series Champions
Chicago Cubs
1908		Succeeded by
Pittsburgh Pirates
1909
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