1908 Major League Baseball season

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1908 MLB season
LeagueAmerican League (AL)
National League (NL)
SportBaseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 14 – October 8, 1908
World Series:
  • October 10–14, 1908
Number of games154
Number of teams16 (8 per league)
Pennant winners
AL championsDetroit Tigers
  AL runners-upCleveland Naps
NL championsChicago Cubs
  NL runners-upNew York Giants
World Series
ChampionsChicago Cubs
  Runners-upDetroit Tigers
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1908 American League season
American League

The 1908 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1908. The regular season ended on October 8, with the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers as regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. In a rematch of the prior year's postseason, the postseason began with Game 1 of the fifth modern World Series on October 10 and ended with Game 5 on October 14. The Cubs defeated the Tigers, four games to one.

The Boston Americans renamed as the Boston Red Sox.

Schedule

The 1908 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place for the 1904 season. This format would last until 1919.

Opening Day took place on April 14 with all but the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals playing. The final day of the regular season was on October 8. The World Series took place between October 10 and October 14.

Rule changes

On February 27, 1908, the three organizations of the National Commission of Baseball Clubs, National League, and American League announced several rule changes, effective immediately.[1]

  • The act of rubbing the ball on the ground, clothing, shoes, or dropping the ball and picking it up with a handful of gravel or dirt by the pitcher was prohibited.
  • The sacrifice fly rule is adopted. No time at bat is charged if a run scores after the catch of a fly ball. The rule would eventually be repealed in 1931, then reinstated (or changed) several times before gaining permanent acceptance in 1954.
  • The trend of each team playing 22 games with every other in-league team was written into the Major League Baseball Constitution, with rules for playing makeup games at the originally scheduled ballpark in the event of tie games, rain delays, and other game-preventing situations being put in place. If the series of all scheduled games has ended with makeup games remaining, if possible, the remaining game(s) can be made up on the opposite team's ballpark, with a date agreed by the two teams.

Teams

League Team City Stadium Capacity Manager
American League Boston Red Sox Boston, Massachusetts Huntington Avenue Grounds 11,500 Deacon McGuire, Fred Lake
Chicago White Sox Chicago, Illinois South Side Park 15,000 Fielder Jones
Cleveland Naps Cleveland, Ohio League Park 9,000 Nap Lajoie
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Bennett Park 8,500 Hughie Jennings
New York Highlanders New York, New York Hilltop Park 16,000 Clark Griffith, Kid Elberfeld
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Columbia Park 13,600 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 8,000 Jimmy McAleer
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. National Park 9,000 Joe Cantillon
National League Boston Doves Boston, Massachusetts South End Grounds 11,000 Joe Kelley
Brooklyn Superbas New York, New York Washington Park 18,800 Patsy Donovan
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois West Side Park 16,000 Frank Chance
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Palace of the Fans 6,000 John Ganzel
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 16,000 John McGraw
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania National League Park 18,000 Billy Murray
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Exposition Park 16,000 Fred Clarke
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri Robison Field 15,200 John McCloskey

Standings

American League

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Detroit Tigers 90 63 .588 44‍–‍33 46‍–‍30
Cleveland Naps 90 64 .584 ½ 51‍–‍26 39‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox 88 64 .579 51‍–‍25 37‍–‍39
St. Louis Browns 83 69 .546 46‍–‍31 37‍–‍38
Boston Red Sox 75 79 .487 15½ 37‍–‍40 38‍–‍39
Philadelphia Athletics 68 85 .444 22 46‍–‍30 22‍–‍55
Washington Senators 67 85 .441 22½ 43‍–‍32 24‍–‍53
New York Highlanders 51 103 .331 39½ 30‍–‍47 21‍–‍56

National League

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 99 55 .643 47‍–‍30 52‍–‍25
New York Giants 98 56 .636 1 52‍–‍25 46‍–‍31
Pittsburgh Pirates 98 56 .636 1 42‍–‍35 56‍–‍21
Philadelphia Phillies 83 71 .539 16 43‍–‍34 40‍–‍37
Cincinnati Reds 73 81 .474 26 40‍–‍37 33‍–‍44
Boston Doves 63 91 .409 36 35‍–‍42 28‍–‍49
Brooklyn Superbas 53 101 .344 46 27‍–‍50 26‍–‍51
St. Louis Cardinals 49 105 .318 50 28‍–‍49 21‍–‍56

Postseason

Bracket

World Series
       
AL Detroit Tigers 6 1 8 0 0
NL Chicago Cubs 10 6 3 3 2

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team Former Manager New Manager
Boston Doves Fred Tenney Joe Kelley
Cincinnati Reds Ned Hanlon John Ganzel

In-season

Team Former Manager New Manager
Boston Red Sox Deacon McGuire Fred Lake
New York Highlanders Clark Griffith Kid Elberfeld

League leaders

American League

National League

Home field attendance

Team name Wins Home attendance Per game
New York Giants[2] 98 19.5% 910,000 69.0% 11,375
Chicago Cubs[3] 99 −7.5% 665,325 57.5% 8,530
Chicago White Sox[4] 88 1.1% 636,096 −4.5% 8,155
St. Louis Browns[5] 83 20.3% 618,947 47.7% 7,935
Boston Red Sox[6] 75 27.1% 473,048 8.3% 6,143
Philadelphia Athletics[7] 68 −22.7% 455,062 −27.3% 5,834
Detroit Tigers[8] 90 −2.2% 436,199 46.8% 5,592
Cleveland Naps[9] 90 5.9% 422,262 10.5% 5,414
Philadelphia Phillies[10] 83 0.0% 420,660 23.3% 5,393
Cincinnati Reds[11] 73 10.6% 399,200 25.7% 5,184
Pittsburgh Pirates[12] 98 7.7% 382,444 19.7% 4,967
New York Highlanders[13] 51 −27.1% 305,500 −12.7% 3,968
Brooklyn Superbas[14] 53 −18.5% 275,600 −11.8% 3,579
Washington Senators[15] 67 36.7% 264,252 19.1% 3,388
Boston Doves[16] 63 8.6% 253,750 24.9% 3,253
St. Louis Cardinals[17] 49 −5.8% 205,129 10.7% 2,664

Events

References

  1. ^ "PITCHERS MUST NOT SOIL NEW BASEBALL; Rules Committee Puts Ban on Custom Which Tends to Delay the Game. NEW SACRIFICE HIT RULE Batter Is Credited with No Time at Bat When He Drives In a Runner on Fly Ball That Is Caught". The New York Times. February 28, 1908. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  2. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  3. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  4. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  5. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  7. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  8. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  9. ^ "Cleveland Guardians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  10. ^ "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  11. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  12. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  13. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  14. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  18. ^ Pellowski, Michael J (2007). The Little Giant Book of Baseball Facts. United States: Sterling Publishing Co. pp. 352. ISBN 9781402742736.
  19. ^ "Runs Scored – Season Records". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.

Bibliography

  • Anderson, David W. (2000). More Than Merkle: A History of the Best and Most Exciting Baseball Season in Human History. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1056-6.
  • Fleming, G.H. (1981). The Unforgettable Season: The Most Exciting & Calamitous Pennant Race of All Time. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. ISBN 0-03-056221-X.
  • Murphy, Cait. (2007). Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History. New York: HarperCollins/Smithsonian Books. ISBN 0-06-088937-3.