1908 Detroit Tigers season
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.
1908 Detroit Tigers | |
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1908 American League Champions | |
Major League affiliations | |
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Location | |
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Other information | |
Owner(s) | William H. Yawkey and Frank Navin |
Manager(s) | Hughie Jennings |
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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 | โ | 44โ33 | 46โ30 |
Cleveland Naps | 90 | 64 | 0.584 | ยฝ | 51โ26 | 39โ38 |
Chicago White Sox | 88 | 64 | 0.579 | 1ยฝ | 51โ25 | 37โ39 |
St. Louis Browns | 83 | 69 | 0.546 | 6ยฝ | 46โ31 | 37โ38 |
Boston Red Sox | 75 | 79 | 0.487 | 15ยฝ | 37โ40 | 38โ39 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 68 | 85 | 0.444 | 22 | 46โ30 | 22โ55 |
Washington Senators | 67 | 85 | 0.441 | 22ยฝ | 43โ32 | 24โ53 |
New York Highlanders | 51 | 103 | 0.331 | 39ยฝ | 30โ47 | 21โ56 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
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Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NY | PHI | STL | WSH | |||||
Boston | โ | 6โ16โ1 | 10โ12 | 11โ11 | 12โ10 | 10โ12 | 15โ7 | 11โ11 | |||||
Chicago | 16โ6โ1 | โ | 8โ14โ1 | 9โ13 | 16โ6 | 13โ9 | 11โ10 | 15โ6โ2 | |||||
Cleveland | 12โ10 | 14โ8โ1 | โ | 13โ9 | 16โ6 | 16โ6โ1 | 11โ11โ1 | 8โ14 | |||||
Detroit | 11โ11 | 13โ9 | 9โ13 | โ | 15โ7 | 14โ8โ1 | 12โ10 | 16โ5 | |||||
New York | 10โ12 | 6โ16 | 6โ16 | 7โ15 | โ | 8โ14โ1 | 5โ17 | 9โ13 | |||||
Philadelphia | 12โ10 | 9โ13 | 6โ16โ1 | 8โ14โ1 | 14โ8โ1 | โ | 8โ13โ1 | 11โ11 | |||||
St. Louis | 7โ15 | 10โ11 | 11โ11โ1 | 10โ12 | 17โ5 | 13โ8โ1 | โ | 15โ7โ1 | |||||
Washington | 11โ11 | 6โ15โ2 | 14โ8 | 5โ16 | 13โ9 | 11โ11 | 7โ15โ1 | โ |
Roster
1908 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers | Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders | Manager |
Player stats
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 |
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 | 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 |
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George Suggs | 6 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 1.67 | 8 |
Herm Malloy | 3 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 3.71 | 8 |
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 |
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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 (1โ0) L: Ed Summers (0โ1) | ||||||||||||
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 (1โ0) L: Bill Donovan (0โ1) | ||||||||||||
HR: CHC โ 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 (1โ0) L: Jack Pfiester (0โ1) |
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 (2โ0) L: Ed Summers (0โ2) |
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 (2โ0) L: Bill Donovan (0โ2) |
Notes
- 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
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
- 1908 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference