1908 World Series

1908 World Series
Team (Wins) Manager(s) 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
Venue	Bennett Park(Detroit) West Side Grounds(Chicago)
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 Hughie Jennings(manager)
World Series

The1908World Serieswas the championship series inMajor League Baseballfor the1908 season.The fifth edition of the World Series, it matched the defendingNational LeaguechampionChicago Cubsagainst theAmerican LeaguechampionDetroit Tigersin a rematch of the1907 Series.In this first-ever rematch of this young event, the Cubs won in five games for their second straight World Series title.

The 1908 World Series was significant for being the last World Series championship the Cubs would win until2016(108 years later). That became the longest World Series victory drought in MLB history.Before the 2016 series, the team would go on to appear in seven World Series; in1910,1918,1929,1932,1935,1938,and1945,losing each time. The Cubs had been 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 theWorld Seriesafter beating theNew York Giants(now theSan Francisco Giants) in a one-game "playoff", actually the makeup game for the tie that the Merkle play had caused.

The Series was anticlimactic after tight pennant races in both leagues.Ty Cobbhad a much better World Series than in the previous year, as did the rest of his team. The final two games, held inDetroit,were shutouts. This was also the most poorly attended World Series in history, with the final game drawing a record-low 6,210 fans. Attendance inChicagowas harmed by a ticket-scalping scheme that fans accused the club's owner of participating in, and the World Series was boycotted to some degree.

For the first time, four umpires were used in the series, in alternating two-man teams. Games 1, 4, and 5 were played in Detroit, while Games 2 and 3 were played in Chicago. Had the series continued, Game 6 would have been played in Chicago, and the home team for Game 7 would have been decided randomly, "by lot".

Summary

NLChicago Cubs(4) vs. ALDetroit Tigers(1)

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 10	Chicago Cubs– 10, Detroit Tigers – 6	Bennett Park	2:10	10,812
2	October 11	Detroit Tigers – 1,Chicago Cubs– 6	West Side Grounds	1:30	17,760
3	October 12	Detroit Tigers– 8, Chicago Cubs – 3	West Side Grounds	2:10	14,543
4	October 13	Chicago Cubs– 3, Detroit Tigers – 0	Bennett Park	1:35	12,907
5	October 14	Chicago Cubs– 2, Detroit Tigers – 0	Bennett Park	1:25	6,210

Matchups

Game 1

Game 1 winning pitcherMordecai Brown

Saturday, October 10, 1908 atBennett ParkinDetroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago	0	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	10	14	2
Detroit	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	6	10	3
WP:Mordecai Brown(1–0)LP:Ed Summers(0–1) Attendance:10,812 Boxscore

The Tigers struck first in Game 1 whenMatty McIntyresingled to lead off the bottom of the first off ofEd Reulbach,stole second and scored onTy Cobb's two-out single, but the Cubs responded in the third off ofEd Killianwhen after a leadoff double and single,Frank Schulte's RBI single tied the game. After a bunt groundout,Harry Steinfeldt's RBI single put Chicago up 2–1. After a walk,Ed Summersrelieved Killian and allowed an RBI groundout toJoe TinkerandJohnny Klingreached on an error that allowed another run to score. The Cubs added another run in the seventh on Steinfedlt's sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the inning, with runners on second and third,Boss Schmidt's groundout,Red Downs's ground-rule double, and Summers's single scored a run each. Next inning,Claude Rossman's two-run single off ofMordecai Brownput the Tigers up 6–5. In the top of the ninth, three straight one-out singles loaded the bases beforeSolly Hofman's single scored two andJoe Tinker's bunt single scored another. After a double steal,Johnny King's two-run single put the Cubs up 10–6. Brown pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth despite allowing a single and walk as the Cubs went up 1–0 in the series.

Game 2

Game 2 winning pitcherOrval Overall

Sunday, October 11, 1908 atWest Side GroundsinChicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	1
Chicago	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	X	6	7	0
WP:Orval Overall(1–0)LP:Wild Bill Donovan(0–1) Home runs: DET: None CHC:Joe Tinker(1) Attendance:17,760 Boxscore

A scoreless tie in the bottom of the eighth came to an end whenJoe Tinker's two-run homer launched a six-run Cub outburst. After a ground-rule double and groundout, RBI singles byJimmy SheckardandJohnny Eversand an RBI triple byFrank Schulte(the last two hits coming off after stolen bases) scored a run each. A wild pitch toFrank Chancescored the Cubs' last run. The Tigers avoided a shutout in the ninth whenDavy Jonesdrew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a groundout and scored onTy Cobb's single.Orval Overall's complete-game win took just 90 minutes.

Game 3

Game 3 winning pitcherGeorge Mullin

Monday, October 12, 1908 atWest Side Grounds in Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit	1	0	0	0	0	5	0	2	0	8	12	4
Chicago	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	0
WP:George Mullin(1–0)LP:Jack Pfiester(0–1) Attendance:14,543 Boxscore

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. Detroit struck first in the top of the first whenCharley O'Learyhit a one-out single, moved to second on a groundout and scored onTy Cobb's single. The Cubs responded in the fourth onFrank Chance's RBI single. After stealing second, an error onHarry Steinfeldt's ground ball andSolly Hofman's triple scored a run each. In the top of the sixth, after a single and walk, singles bySam Crawford,Ty Cobb,andClaude Rossmanscored a run each. After a double play,Ira Thomas's RBI double made it 6–3 Tigers. They added two more runs in the eighth onBill Coughlin's bases loaded sacrifice fly followed byGeorge Mullin's RBI single.

Game 4

Cubs third basemanHarry Steinfeldt

Tuesday, October 13, 1908 atBennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	10	0
Detroit	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
WP:Mordecai Brown(2–0)LP:Ed Summers(0–2) Attendance:12,907 Boxscore

This one was over in 1 hour and 35 minutes. RBI singles byHarry SteinfeldtandSolly Hofmanin the third inning after two walks gaveMordecai Brownall the support he'd need. Brown allowed only four hits and walked none. The Cubs added another run in the ninth whenFrank Chancereached on an error with two on.

Game 5

Cubs second basemanJohnny Evers

Wednesday, October 14, 1908 atBennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago	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
WP:Orval Overall(2–0)LP:Wild Bill Donovan(0–2) Attendance:6,210 Boxscore

In the first inning, Overall registeredfour strikeouts,asClaude Rossmanreached on anuncaught third strike.This was the first, and to date only, instance of a four-strikeout inning in a World Series game.Overall allowed only three hits, walking four and striking out 10 for his second win of the series. In18+1⁄3innings pitched during the series, he allowed only seven hits and two runs for an ERA of 0.98.

The Cubs scored the game's first run in the first on three straight one-out singles, the last of which toFrank Chancescoring a run, then added another run in the fifth onJohnny Evers's double after two walks.

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 anerror.The Cubs did not win another World Series title until finally reclaiming the crown in2016,a drought of 108 years, which remains the longest in MLB history.

The attendance during this final game of the series, 6,210, was the smallest crowd in World Series history.It also remains the fastest postseason game in major-league history, at 1 hour 25 minutes.

Composite line score

1908 World Series(4–1):Chicago Cubs(N.L.)overDetroit 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	2
Detroit Tigers	2	0	0	0	0	5	3	4	1	15	33	9
Total attendance:62,232Average attendance:12,446 Winning player's share:$1,318Losing player's share:$870

Sources

• 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.ISBN0-312-03960-3.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982).The Baseball Encyclopedia(5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2116.ISBN0-02-579010-2.

External links

• 1908 World SeriesatWorldSeries.comviaMLB.com
• 1908 World SeriesatBaseball Almanac
• 1908 World SeriesatBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1908 Post-Season Games(box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1908atThe Sporting News.Archived fromthe originalin May 2006.