1908 New York Highlanders season

1908 New York Highlanders
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) William Devery and Frank Farrell
Manager(s) Clark Griffith, Kid Elberfeld
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The 1908 New York Highlanders season finished with the team in 8th place in the American League with a record of 51–103. Their home games were played at Hilltop Park.

The Highlanders finished in last place, 17 games out of seventh. It was the second-worst season in club history.[1] Starting first baseman Hal Chase left the team in September under allegations that he was throwing games. After Clark Griffith's departure, the Highlanders lost 70 of their last 98 games under new manager Kid Elberfeld.[2]

Regular season

On June 30, Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox threw a no-hitter against the Highlanders. In the game, Young had 3 hits and 4 RBI’s.[3] By now the alternate and equally unofficial nickname "Yankees" was being used frequently to refer to the Highlanders. The New York Times article about Young's no-hitter at "the American League Park" (Hilltop Park's formal name), referred to the club exclusively as "Yankees" throughout the article. Other newspapers continued to use the two nicknames interchangeably.

On September 4, 5 and 7, 1908, Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators shut out the Highlanders in three consecutive games.

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Detroit Tigers 90 63 0.588 — 44–33 46–30
Cleveland Naps 90 64 0.584 ½ 51–26 39–38
Chicago White Sox 88 64 0.579 1½ 51–25 37–39
St. Louis Browns 83 69 0.546 6½ 46–31 37–38
Boston Red Sox 75 79 0.487 15½ 37–40 38–39
Philadelphia Athletics 68 85 0.444 22 46–30 22–55
Washington Senators 67 85 0.441 22½ 43–32 24–53
New York Highlanders 51 103 0.331 39½ 30–47 21–56

Roster

1908 New York Highlanders
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders 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
1B Chase, HalHal Chase 106 405 104 .257 1 36

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
Elberfeld, KidKid Elberfeld 19 56 11 .196 0 5

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
Chesbro, JackJack Chesbro 45 288.2 14 20 2.93 124

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

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
Billiard, HarryHarry Billiard 6 0 0 0 2.65 70

Notes

  1. ↑ Crazy ’08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 151, 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. 159, 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. 98, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1

References