1908 World Series

1908 World Series

Team (Wins) Manager Season Chicago Cubs (4) Frank Chance (player/manager) 99–55, .643, GA: 1 Detroit Tigers (1) Hughie Jennings 90–63, .588, GA:  1⁄2
Dates:	October 10–14
Umpires:	Jack Sheridan (AL), Hank O'Day (NL), odd-numbered games; Bill Klem (NL), Tommy Connolly (AL), even-numbered games
Hall of Famers:	Umpires: Tommy Connolly, Bill Klem, Hank O'Day. Cubs: Mordecai Brown, Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker. Tigers: Sam Crawford, Ty Cobb.
< 1907 World Series 1909 >  Baseball portal

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 five games for their second consecutive title.

The 1908 World Series is significant for being the last World Championship the Cubs have won to date. The Cubs would go on to appear in seven World Series in the years 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945, losing each time. The Cubs had one of baseball's most dominant teams in the early 1900s. This was the year of the infamous "Merkle's 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.

For the first time, four umpires were used in the series, in alternating two-man teams.

Summary

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

Matchups

Game 1

Saturday, October 10, 1908 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

With Detroit leading 6–5 in the top of the ninth after finally coming from behind with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, the Cubs broke out with six straight one-out singles against Ed Summers, scoring five times and winning the first game just as they had forced a tie in the first game of the 1907 Series by coming from behind with two runs in the ninth.

Game 2

Sunday, October 11, 1908 at West Side Grounds in Chicago, Illinois

Game 3

Monday, October 12, 1908 at West Side Grounds in Chicago, Illinois

It was in this game that Ty Cobb enjoyed the finest World Series outing he ever had. The 21-year-old Georgian rapped three singles and a double in five at-bats, and stole two bases. In the top of the ninth, he singled and promptly stole second and third, but then the hyped-up boy wonder pressed his luck and was thrown out trying to steal home. This was the only Tiger win in their back-to-back first two World Series losses to the Cubs.

Game 4

Tuesday, October 13, 1908 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Game 5

Wednesday, October 14, 1908 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

The attendance during this last game of the 1908 World Series (6,210) was the smallest crowd in Series history.

Cub hurler Orval Overall became the first pitcher in Series history to strike out four batters in one inning (the bottom of the first) in a complete game 2–0 shutout. In the 2013 ALCS Aníbal Sánchez of the Detroit Tigers struck out four batters (also in the bottom of the first).

Boss Schmidt, who made the last out of the 1907 Series with a popup to short, also made the last out of this Series with a feeble catcher-to-first groundout.

This was also the first World Series game in which neither team committed an error.

Composite line score

1908 World Series (4–1): Chicago Cubs (N.L.) over Detroit Tigers (A.L.)

Notes

References

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990). The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 23–26. ISBN 0-312-03960-3. 
• Reichler, Joseph (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2116. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. 

External links

• 1908 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1908 World Series at Baseball Almanac
• 1908 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• The 1908 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1908 at The SportingNews. Archived from the original on 2008.

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