1908 World Series
From BR Bullpen
| 1908 World Series | ||
 |  |  |
| Chicago Cubs 99 - 55 in the NL | 4 - 1 Series Summary | Detroit Tigers 90 - 63 in the AL |
The 1908 World Series matched the defending champion Chicago Cubs against the Detroit Tigers in a rematch of the 1907 Series. In this first-ever rematch of this young event, the Cubs won in 5 games for their second consecutive title.
The 1908 World Series is significant for being the last World Championship for the Cubs (as of 2006). The Cubs would go on to appear in the World Series in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945 losing the Series all seven times. The Cubs had one of baseball's most dominant teams in the early 1900s, but unbeknownst to their fans in 1908 (the year "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" debuted) this would be the end of it, for nearly a century so far.
This was the year of the infamous "Merkle Boner" play that allowed the Chicago Cubs to reach the World Series after beating the New York Giants in a one-game "playoff", actually the makeup game for the tie that the Merkle play had caused.
The Series was anti-climactic after tight pennant races in both leagues. Ty Cobb had a much better Series than in 1907, as did the rest of his team. The final two games, in Detroit, were shutouts. This was also the most poorly attended Series in history, with the final game drawing a record-low 6,210 fans. Attendance in Chicago was harmed by a ticket-scalping scheme that fans accused the club's owner of participating in, and the Series was boycotted to some degree.
Records: Chicago Cubs (W: 99, L: 55, Pct: .643, GA: 1) - Detroit Tigers (W: 90, L: 63, Pct: .588, GA: ½)
Managers: Frank Chance (Chicago), Hughie Jennings (Detroit)
Umpires: Jack Sheridan (AL), Hank O'Day (NL), odd-numbered games; Bill Klem (NL), Tommy Connolly (AL), even-numbered games
For the first time, four umpires were used in the series, in alternating two-man teams.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
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 |
[edit] Matchups
[edit] Game 1
October 10, 1908 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago (NL) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 2 |
| Detroit (AL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 3 |
| W: Mordecai Brown (1-0) L: Ed Summers (0-1) | ||||||||||||
[edit] Game 2
October 11, 1908 at West Side Park in Chicago, Illinois
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Chicago (NL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | x | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Orval Overall (1-0) L: Bill Donovan (0-1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: CHC – Joe Tinker (1) | ||||||||||||
[edit] Game 3
October 12, 1908 at West Side Park in Chicago, Illinois
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit (AL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 4 |
| Chicago (NL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| W: George Mullin (1-0) L: Jack Pfiester (0-1) | ||||||||||||
[edit] Game 4
October 13, 1908 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago (NL) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| Detroit (AL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| W: Mordecai Brown (2-0) L: Ed Summers (0-2) | ||||||||||||
[edit] Game 5
October 14, 1908 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago (NL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Orval Overall (2-0) L: Bill Donovan (0-2) | ||||||||||||
The attendance during Game 5 (6,210) was the smallest World Series crowd in history.
Boss Schmidt, who made the last out of the 1907 Series with a popup to shortstop, also made the last out of this series by grounding out catcher to first.
[edit] Composite Box
1908 World Series (4-1): Chicago Cubs (N.L.) over Detroit Tigers (A.L.)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 48 | 3 | |
| Detroit Tigers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 32 | 9 | |
| Total Attendance: 62,232 Average Attendance: 12,446 | |||||||||||||
| Winning Player’s Share: – $1,318 Losing Player’s Share – $870 | |||||||||||||
[edit] Stats
[edit] Chicago Cubs
[edit] Batting
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 |
|---|
[edit] Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|
[edit] Detroit Tigers
[edit] Batting
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 |
|---|
[edit] Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|
[edit] Further Reading
- Cait Murphy: The Crazy '08: How a cast of cranks, rogues, boneheads and magnates created the greatest year in baseball history, Smithsonian Books, Washington, DC, 2007.
- Bruce A. Rubenstein: Chicago in the World Series, 1903-2005: The Cubs and White Sox in Championship Play, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2006.
| |||
| Modern Major League Baseball World Series
Pre-1903 Postseason Series |
