1908
The early days of Major League Baseball. Only the 5th year that the pennant winners from the American League and National League played each other in a 7 game World Series. Pitchers still dominated…with starters routinely starting every third game…and very rarely leaving with a no decision. Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Walsh won 40 games in 1908…while his NL counterpart Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants, won 37. Today…if a pitcher wins 20 he’s considered top flight…and 30 wins is virtually impossible. Hitters in 1908 hit for some of the lowest batting averages of all time…yet two all-time great led their leagues with very impressive averages (Ty Cobb DET .324, Honus Wagner PIT .354). The Home Run had not yet become a regular occurrence…with the HR leaders in the AL and NL totaling only 7 and 12 respectively…a far cry from 50-60 HR’s Babe Ruth would achieve in the 20’s.
Mathewson strikes out another...
1908 was also witness to two of the tightest, closest pennant races ever. With only .5 of a game separating the Champion from 2nd place in the AL...and 3 teams within 1 game of the NL Title.
The game was very different…men in suit and tie (with bowler hat replacing baseball cap) filled wooden stands…many players often had to work other jobs in the winter to make ends meet…teams had names like like the 'Superbas' & 'Doves'...and the Yankees weren't even the Yankees yet (they were the Highlanders...and they sucked!) and yet, the game was probably remarkably the same to the one that’s played today. Goes to show that as much as things change…
American League Standings
Detroit Tigers 90-63 (--)
Cleveland Naps 90-64 (0.5)
Chicago White Sox 88-64 (1.5)
St. Louis Browns 83-69 (6.5)
Boston Red Sox 75-79 (15.5)
Philadelphia Athletics 68-85 (22)
Washington Senators 67-85 (22.5)
New York Highlands 51-103 (39.5)
National League Standings
Chicago Cubs 99-55 (--)
New York Giants 98-56 (1)
Pittsburgh Pirates 98-56 (1)
Philadelphia Phillies 83-71 (16)
Cincinnati Reds 73-81 (26)
Boston Doves 63-91 (36)
Brooklyn Superbas 53-101 (46)
St. Louis Cardinals 49-105 (50)
World Series
Chicago Cubs def Detroit Tigers 4-1 in their best of 7 series.
Ty Cobb slides into 3rd
*info/stats courtesy Wikipedia
Mathewson strikes out another...
1908 was also witness to two of the tightest, closest pennant races ever. With only .5 of a game separating the Champion from 2nd place in the AL...and 3 teams within 1 game of the NL Title.
The game was very different…men in suit and tie (with bowler hat replacing baseball cap) filled wooden stands…many players often had to work other jobs in the winter to make ends meet…teams had names like like the 'Superbas' & 'Doves'...and the Yankees weren't even the Yankees yet (they were the Highlanders...and they sucked!) and yet, the game was probably remarkably the same to the one that’s played today. Goes to show that as much as things change…
American League Standings
Detroit Tigers 90-63 (--)
Cleveland Naps 90-64 (0.5)
Chicago White Sox 88-64 (1.5)
St. Louis Browns 83-69 (6.5)
Boston Red Sox 75-79 (15.5)
Philadelphia Athletics 68-85 (22)
Washington Senators 67-85 (22.5)
New York Highlands 51-103 (39.5)
National League Standings
Chicago Cubs 99-55 (--)
New York Giants 98-56 (1)
Pittsburgh Pirates 98-56 (1)
Philadelphia Phillies 83-71 (16)
Cincinnati Reds 73-81 (26)
Boston Doves 63-91 (36)
Brooklyn Superbas 53-101 (46)
St. Louis Cardinals 49-105 (50)
World Series
Chicago Cubs def Detroit Tigers 4-1 in their best of 7 series.
Ty Cobb slides into 3rd
*info/stats courtesy Wikipedia
posted by neil at 11:17 PM
2 Comments:
The way things are going, it could be a preview of this year's series. Except the Tigers will be the Redsox.
Can't believe we traded Pudge! Ugh. Good bye pennant race.
yeah, there were some really weird moves made at the deadline. I guess the Tigers feel they've got the depth to make up for it, and really needed the arm?
I think it'll come down to the Angels and Yankees in the AL and Cubs or (sleeper) Brewers in the NL...
No Tigers...and no (f'n way) Jays.
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