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 for the Cubs as of 2009. 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 at least a full century.

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.

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

[edit] Summary

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

[edit] Matchups

[edit] Game 1

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

WP: Mordecai Brown (1–0)  LP: Ed Summers (0–1)  

[edit] Game 2

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

WP: Orval Overall (1–0)  LP: Wild Bill Donovan (0–1)  
HRs:  CHC – Joe Tinker (1)

[edit] Game 3

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

WP: George Mullin (1–0)  LP: Jack Pfiester (0–1)  

[edit] Game 4

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

WP: Mordecai Brown (2–0)  LP: Ed Summers (0–2)  

[edit] Game 5

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

WP: Orval Overall (2–0)  LP: Wild 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.)

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 23–26)
• Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2116. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2.
• Forman, Sean L.. "1908 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information.. http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1908_WS.shtml. Retrieved 2007-12-07. 

[edit] External links

• 1908 World Series History 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