1908 Boston Red Sox
Cy Young's final Red Sox season
BostonRedSox1908logo.svg
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record75–79 (.487)
League place5th (15+1⁄2 GB)
Other information
Owner(s)John I. Taylor
Manager(s)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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Cy Young on July 23, the day of a home game against the St. Louis Browns.[1]
Cy Young on July 23, the day of a home game against the St. Louis Browns.[1]

The 1908 Boston Red Sox season was the eighth season for the Major League Baseball franchise previously known as the Boston Americans. The Red Sox finished fifth in the American League (AL) with a record of 75 wins and 79 losses, 15+1⁄2 games behind the Detroit Tigers. The team played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.

Regular season

Prior to the regular season, the team held spring training in Little Rock, Arkansas.[2]

Statistical leaders

The offense was led by Doc Gessler who had 63 RBIs, three home runs, and a .308 batting average. The pitching staff was led by Cy Young, who made 36 appearances (33 starts) and pitched 30 complete games with a 21–11 record and 1.26 ERA, while striking out 150 in 299 innings. Cy Morgan had a 14–13 record with 2.46 ERA in 30 games (26 starts). Smoky Joe Wood, who would go on to win 34 games in 1912, made his major league debut on August 24.[8]

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

The team had one game end in a tie; September 28 at Chicago White Sox.[9] Tie games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tie games are counted.[10]

Record vs. opponents

1908 American League Records

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYH PHA SLB WSH
Boston — 6–16–1 10–12 11–11 12–10 10–12 15–7 11–11
Chicago 16–6–1 — 8–14–1 9–13 16–6 13–9 11–10 15–6–2
Cleveland 12–10 14–8–1 — 13–9 16–6 16–6–1 11–11–1 8–14
Detroit 11–11 13–9 9–13 — 15–7 14–8–1 12–10 16–5
New York 10–12 6–16 6–16 7–15 — 8–14–1 5–17 9–13
Philadelphia 12–10 9–13 6–16–1 8–14–1 14–8–1 — 8–13–1 11–11
St. Louis 7–15 10–11 11–11–1 10–12 17–5 13–8–1 — 15–7–1
Washington 11–11 6–15–2 14–8 5–16 13–9 11–11 7–15–1 —

Opening Day lineup

Jack Thoney LF
Harry Lord 3B
Jim McHale CF
Doc Gessler RF
Frank LaPorte 2B
Bob Unglaub 1B
Heinie Wagner SS
Lou Criger C
Cy Young P

Source: [11]

Roster

1908 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Managers

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
C Lou Criger 84 237 45 .190 0 25
1B Jake Stahl 78 262 64 .244 0 23
2B Amby McConnell 140 502 140 .279 2 43
SS Heinie Wagner 153 526 130 .247 1 46
3B Harry Lord 145 560 145 .259 2 37
OF Jack Thoney 109 416 106 .255 2 30
OF Denny Sullivan 101 355 85 .239 0 25
OF Doc Gessler 128 435 134 .308 3 63

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
Gavvy Cravath 94 277 71 .256 1 34
Bob Unglaub 72 266 70 .263 1 25
Frank LaPorte 62 156 37 .237 0 15
Bill Carrigan 57 149 35 .235 0 14
Tris Speaker 31 116 26 .224 0 9
Pat Donahue 35 86 17 .198 1 6
Jim McHale 21 67 15 .224 0 7
Ed McFarland 19 48 10 .208 0 4
Jack Hoey 13 43 7 .163 0 3
Harry Niles 18 33 8 .242 1 3
Walter Carlisle 3 10 1 .100 0 0
Larry Gardner 3 10 3 .300 0 1
Jimmy Barrett 3 8 1 .125 0 1
Harry Ostdiek 1 3 0 .000 0 0
Deacon McGuire 1 1 0 .000 0 0

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
Cy Young 36 299 21 11 1.26 150
Eddie Cicotte 39 207+1⁄3 11 12 2.43 95
Cy Morgan 30 205 14 13 2.46 99
Fred Burchell 31 179+2⁄3 10 8 2.96 94
George Winter 22 147+2⁄3 4 14 3.05 55
Elmer Steele 16 118 5 7 1.83 37
Frank Arellanes 11 79 4 3 1.82 33
King Brady 1 9 1 0 0.00 3
Doc McMahon 1 9 1 0 3.00 3
Jesse Tannehill 1 5 0 0 3.60 2
Casey Patten 1 3 0 1 15.00 0

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
Tex Pruiett 13 58+2⁄3 1 7 1.99 28
Ralph Glaze 10 34+2⁄3 2 2 3.38 13
Smoky Joe Wood 6 22+2⁄3 1 1 2.38 11

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
Charlie Hartman 1 0 0 0 4.50 1
Jake Thielman 1 0 0 0 40.50 0

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "The 1908 Boston Red Sox Regular Season Game Log". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "Pilgrims Come Tomorrow". Arkansas Gazette. Little Rock, Arkansas. March 2, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Casey Patten". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  4. ^ "Boston Red Sox 8, New York Highlanders 0". Retrosheet. June 30, 1908. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  5. ^ "Deacon McGuire". Retrosheet. November 17, 2018.
  6. ^ "Fred Lake". Retrosheet. November 17, 2018.
  7. ^ "Cleveland Naps 2, Boston Red Sox 1". Retrosheet. September 18, 1908. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  8. ^ "Smoky Joe Wood". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  9. ^ "Chicago White Sox 2, Boston Red Sox 2". Retrosheet. September 28, 1908. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  10. ^ Hershberger, Richard (December 28, 2015). "Tie Games in Baseball". ordinary-times.com. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "Boston Red Sox 3, Washington Senators 1". Retrosheet. April 14, 1908. Retrieved November 11, 2018.

Further reading

External links

1908 MLB season by team
Boston Red Sox
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