1908 New York Giants
LeagueNational League
BallparkPolo Grounds
CityNew York City
OwnersJohn T. Brush
ManagersJohn McGraw
← 1907 Seasons 1909 →

The 1908 New York Giants season was the 26th season of the franchise. The team finished in second place in the National League with a 98–56 record, one game behind the Chicago Cubs.

Paced by Turkey Mike Donlin, the offense scored the most runs in the league. Donlin led the team in nearly all batting categories and was second in batting to Honus Wagner.

Giants' pitching shut out the opposition 25 times, a franchise record for 1901 onwards.[1] Future Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson earned the pitching triple crown with 37 wins, 259 strikeouts, and a 1.43 ERA. However, he lost the last game of the season to Three Finger Brown of the Chicago Cubs, and the Giants finished one game back in the pennant race.

That one-game playoff became necessary after Giants rookie Fred Merkle failed to touch second base at the end of a previous contest, costing them a win. In addition, they were beaten by another rookie, Phillies pitcher Harry Coveleski, three times in five days late in the season. Coveleski was subsequently nicknamed "The Giant Killer".

Regular season

Season summary

The Giants opened the season on the road with a 3–1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Giants took five of their first six games of the season. The home opener at the Polo Grounds was the biggest in club history, as the Giants attracted over 25,000 fans.[2] The Brooklyn Superbas took a 2–1 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Fred Merkle pinch hit for Christy Mathewson and got a ground rule double. Merkle safely advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt. Fred Tenney hit a grounder and Merkle was caught off third. Captain Donlin hit a two-run home run over the right field wall to win the home opener for the Giants by a score of 3–2.[2]

On July 4, Hooks Wiltse had a perfect game heading into the ninth inning. With two out in the ninth, the perfect game was still intact. George McQuillan was hit by a pitch and Wiltse lost the perfect game.[3] on August 27, the Giants won 18 of their last 23 (including four in a row versus the Pittsburgh Pirates) to take the lead in the National League for the first time since April.[4] During the Giants four-game sweep of the Pirates in late August, the electric scoreboard made its debut in New York. The first electric scoreboard was outside Madison Square Garden, and there was another near the Gotham Theatre on 125th Street.[5]

The Merkle Game

On Wednesday, September 23, against the Chicago Cubs, 19-year-old Fred Merkle committed a base running error that later became known as "Merkle's Boner", and earned Merkle the nickname of "Bonehead."

In the bottom of the 9th inning, he came up to bat with two outs, and the score tied 1–1. At the time, Moose McCormick was on first base. Merkle singled, and McCormick advanced to third. Al Bridwell, the next batter, followed with a single of his own. McCormick went home, apparently scoring the winning run of the game. The fans in attendance, under the impression that the game was over, ran onto the field to celebrate.

Meanwhile, Merkle, trying to escape the mob of people, ran to the Giants' clubhouse without touching second base. Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers noticed this, and after retrieving a ball and touching second base, he appealed to umpire Hank O'Day to call Merkle out. The validity of the ball was disputed – numerous accounts have Giants pitcher Joe McGinnity intercepting the real ball before Evers could get it. However, since Merkle had not touched the base, the umpire called him out on a force play, and McCormick's run did not count.

Since the run was nullified, the Giants' victory was erased, and the score of the game remained tied. Unfortunately, the thousands of fans on the field (as well as the growing darkness in the days before large electric light rigs made night games possible) prevented resumption of the game, and it was declared a tie. The Giants and the Cubs would end the season deadlocked atop the standings and would have a rematch at the Polo Grounds, on October 8. The Cubs won this makeup game, 4–2, and thus the National League pennant.

Giants manager John McGraw never blamed Merkle for the second-place finish. However, the rookie was hounded by the New York press and fans for years thereafter.

Season standings

National League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 99 55 0.643 — 47–30 52–25
New York Giants 98 56 0.636 1 52–25 46–31
Pittsburgh Pirates 98 56 0.636 1 42–35 56–21
Philadelphia Phillies 83 71 0.539 16 43–34 40–37
Cincinnati Reds 73 81 0.474 26 40–37 33–44
Boston Doves 63 91 0.409 36 35–42 28–49
Brooklyn Superbas 53 101 0.344 46 27–50 26–51
St. Louis Cardinals 49 105 0.318 50 28–49 21–56

Record vs. opponents

1908 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BKN CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT SLC
Boston — 12–10 6–16–2 8–14 6–16 10–12 7–15 14–8
Brooklyn 10–12 — 4–18 6–16 6–16 5–17 9–13 13–9
Chicago 16–6–2 18–4 — 16–6 11–11–1 9–13–1 10–12 19–3
Cincinnati 14–8 16–6 6–16 — 8–14–1 10–12 8–14 11–11
New York 16–6 16–6 11–11–1 14–8–1 — 16–6 11–11–1 14–8
Philadelphia 12–10 17–5 13–9–1 12–10 6–16 — 9–13 14–8
Pittsburgh 15–7 13–9 12–10 14–8 11–11–1 13–9 — 20–2
St. Louis 8–14 9–13 3–19 11–11 8–14 8–14 2–20 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1908 New York Giants
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 Roger Bresnahan 140 449 127 .283 1 54
1B Fred Tenney 156 583 149 .256 1 49
2B Larry Doyle 104 377 116 .308 0 33
3B Art Devlin 157 534 135 .253 2 45
SS Al Bridwell 147 467 133 .285 0 46
OF Cy Seymour 156 587 157 .267 5 92
OF Spike Shannon 77 268 60 .224 1 21
OF Mike Donlin 155 593 198 .334 6 106

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
Moose McCormick 73 252 76 .302 0 32
Buck Herzog 64 160 48 .300 0 11
Tom Needham 54 91 19 .209 0 11
Shad Barry 37 67 10 .149 0 5
Sammy Strang 28 53 5 .094 0 2
Fred Merkle 38 41 11 .268 1 7
Dave Brain 11 17 3 .176 0 1
Josh Devore 5 6 1 .167 0 2
Fred Snodgrass 6 4 1 .250 0 1
Steve Evans 2 2 1 .500 0 0
Jack Hannifin 2 2 0 .000 0 0
Art Wilson 1 0 0 ---- 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
Christy Mathewson 56 390.2 37 11 1.43 259
Hooks Wiltse 44 330.0 23 14 2.24 118
Doc Crandall 32 214.2 12 12 2.93 77
Red Ames 18 114.1 7 4 1.81 81
Rube Marquard 1 5.0 0 1 3.60 2

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
Joe McGinnity 37 186.0 11 7 2.27 55
Dummy Taylor 27 127.2 8 5 2.33 50

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
Bill Malarkey 15 0 2 2 2.57 12
Roy Beecher 2 0 0 1 7.94 0
Bull Durham 1 0 0 0 9.00 2

Awards and honors

"The Big Six": Christy Mathewson

League top five finishers

Roger Bresnahan

Mike Donlin

Larry Doyle

Christy Mathewson

Cy Seymour

Fred Tenney

References

  1. ^ "Team Pitching Game Finder: In the Regular Season, since 1901, For SFG, requiring Runs Allowed = 0, sorted by most games". Stathead Baseball. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Crazy '08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 64, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
  3. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.139, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  4. ^ Crazy '08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p.139, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
  5. ^ Crazy '08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 141, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
  6. ^ a b Bob Spade page at Baseball Reference

External links

1908 MLB season by team
San Francisco Giants
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