1908 Detroit Tigers
American League Champions
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkBennett Park
CityDetroit, Michigan
OwnersWilliam H. Yawkey and Frank Navin
ManagersHughie Jennings
← 1907 Seasons 1909 →
Some members of the team, shown on baseball cards. Sheet of eight postcards featuring Detroit baseball players: Summers (Pitcher); Willett (Pitcher). McIntyre (Left Field); Downs (Second Base); Schmidt (Catcher); Schaefer (Third Base); Rossman (First Base) and O'Leary (Short Stop).

The 1908 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team won the American League championship by means of a scheduling quirk, finishing just one-half game ahead of the Cleveland Naps. The two teams won the same number of games, but the Tigers completed and lost one fewer. They then lost to the Chicago Cubs in the 1908 World Series.

Regular season

The early part of the season was defined in part by Ty Cobb's contract dispute with the team. He claimed that the owners have too much power. Eventually Cobb settled for a $4,800 contract.[1] After opening day, the Tigers averaged only 4,400 fans per game.

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

Record vs. opponents

1908 American League record

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 —

Roster

1908 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

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 Boss Schmidt 122 419 111 .265 1 38
1B Claude Rossman 138 524 154 .294 2 71
2B Red Downs 84 289 64 .221 1 35
SS Germany Schaefer 153 584 151 .259 3 52
3B Bill Coughlin 119 405 87 .215 0 23
OF Sam Crawford 152 591 184 .311 7 80
OF Matty McIntyre 151 569 168 .295 0 28
OF Ty Cobb 150 581 188 .324 4 108

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
Charley O'Leary 65 211 53 .251 0 17
Davy Jones 56 121 25 .207 0 10
Ira Thomas 40 101 31 .307 0 10
Red Killefer 28 75 16 .213 0 11
Donie Bush 20 68 20 .290 0 4
Fred Payne 20 45 3 .067 0 2
Clay Perry 7 17 2 .118 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
Ed Summers 40 301.0 24 12 1.64 103
George Mullin 39 290.2 17 13 3.10 121
Bill Donovan 29 242.2 18 7 2.08 141
Ed Willett 30 197.1 15 8 2.28 77
Ed Killian 27 180.2 12 9 2.99 47
Ed Siever 11 61.2 2 6 3.50 23
George Winter 7 56.1 1 5 1.60 25

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
George Suggs 6 27.0 1 1 1.67 8
Herm Malloy 3 17.0 0 2 3.71 8

1908 World Series

Main article: 1908 World Series

Game 1

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

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago (NL) 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 5 10 14 2
Detroit (AL) 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 6 10 3
W: Mordecai Brown (1–0)  L: Ed Summers (0–1)

Game 2

October 11, 1908, at West Side Park in Chicago, Illinois

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit (AL) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1
Chicago (NL) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 x 6 7 0
W: Orval Overall (1–0)  L: Bill Donovan (0–1)
HR: CHC – Joe Tinker (1)

Game 3

October 12, 1908, at West Side Park in Chicago, Illinois

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit (AL) 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 2 0 8 12 4
Chicago (NL) 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 0
W: George Mullin (1–0)  L: Jack Pfiester (0–1)

Game 4

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

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago (NL) 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 10 0
Detroit (AL) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
W: Mordecai Brown (2–0)  L: Ed Summers (0–2)

Game 5

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

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago (NL) 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
W: Orval Overall (2–0)  L: Bill Donovan (0–2)

Notes

  1. ^ Crazy '08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 71, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1

References

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