The 1908 New York Giants season was the 26th season of the franchise. The team finished in second place in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

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 Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

. Giants' pitching shut out the opposition 25 times, a franchise record for 1901 onwards. Future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Christy Mathewson Christopher Mathewson (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed "Big Six", "the Christian Gentleman", "Matty", and "the Gentleman's Hurler", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher, who played 17 seasons with the New York Gia ...

earned the

pitching triple crown In baseball, a player earns a Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the batting achievement of leading a league in batting average, home runs, ...

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 Carl Frederick Rudolf Merkle (also sometimes documented as Frederick Charles Merkle; December 20, 1888 – March 2, 1956), nicknamed "Bonehead", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1926. Although he had a lengthy c ...

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 The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

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.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, The

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

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 Frederick Tenney (November 26, 1871 – July 3, 1952) was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned 20 seasons, 17 of which were spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Boston Beaneaters/Doves/Rustlers (1894–1907, 1911) ...

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. On July 4,

Hooks Wiltse George Leroy "Hooks" Wiltse (September 7, 1879 – January 21, 1959) was a professional baseball pitcher. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1904 to 1915. He was the brother of pitcher Snake Wiltse. Biography "Hooks" earned ...

had a perfect game heading into the ninth inning. With two out in the ninth, the perfect game was still intact.

George McQuillan George Watt McQuillan (May 1, 1885 – March 30, 1940) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1918 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians. I ...

was hit by a pitch and Wiltse lost the perfect game. 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. 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.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,

The Merkle Game

On Wednesday, September 23, against the Chicago Cubs, 19-year-old

committed a base running error that later became known as "

Merkle's Boner Merkle's Boner refers to the notorious base-running mistake committed by rookie Fred Merkle of the New York Giants in a game against the Chicago Cubs on September 23, 1908. Merkle's failure to advance to second base on what should have been a g ...

", and earned Merkle the nickname of "Bonehead." In the bottom of the 9th inning, he came up to bat with two

outs In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When a batter or runner is out, they lose their ability to score a run and must return to the dugout until their next turn at bat. When three outs are recorded in a ha ...

, and the score tied 1–1. At the time,

Moose McCormick Harry Elwood "Moose" McCormick (February 28, 1881 – July 9, 1962) was an American professional baseball outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. ...

was on first base. Merkle singled, and McCormick advanced to

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

Al Bridwell Albert Henry Bridwell (January 4, 1884 – January 23, 1969) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for several MLB teams, most notably the New York Giants from 1908 to 1911, when the team was managed by John McGraw. ...

, 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 John Joseph Evers (July 21, 1881 – March 28, 1947) was an American professional baseball second baseman and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1902 through 1917 for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves, and Philadelphia Phillies. ...

noticed this, and after retrieving a ball and touching second base, he appealed to umpire

Hank O'Day Henry M. O'Day (July 8, 1859 – July 2, 1935), nicknamed "The Reverend", was an American right-handed pitcher and later an umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. After a seven-year major league playing career, he worked as a National ...

to call Merkle out. The validity of the ball was disputed – numerous accounts have Giants pitcher

Joe McGinnity Joseph Jerome McGinnity (March 20, 1871 – November 14, 1929) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the late 19th and early 20th century. McGinnity played in MLB for ten years, pitching for the National League's ...

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 The National League pennant winner of a given Major League Baseball season is the team that wins the championship—the pennant—of MLB's National League (NL). This team receives the Warren C. Giles Trophy and the right to play in the World Se ...

. Giants manager

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

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

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* July 8, 1908:

Bob Spade Robert Spade was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played four seasons in the major leagues, from until , for the Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major Lea ...

was claimed off waivers by the Giants from the Cincinnati Reds.Bob Spade page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * July 10, 1908: Bob Spade and $5,000 were traded by the Giants to the Cincinnati Reds for Jake Weimer and

Dave Brain David Leonard Brain (January 24, 1879 – May 25, 1959) was an infielder/outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox (1901), St. Louis Cardinals (1903–1905), Pittsburgh Pirates (1905), Boston Beaneaters/Doves (190 ...

Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Roger Bresnahan Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "The Duke of Tralee", was an American player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Bresnahan competed in MLB for the Washington Senators (1897), Chicago ...

* #3 in NL in on-base percentage (.401)

Mike Donlin Michael Joseph Donlin (May 30, 1878 – September 24, 1933) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and actor. As a professional baseball player, his MLB career spanned from 1899 to 1914 in which he played mainly in the National L ...

* #2 in NL in batting average (.334) * #2 in NL in RBI (106) * #2 in NL in slugging percentage (.452) Larry Doyle * #3 in NL in batting average (.308)

* NL leader in wins (37) * NL leader in strikeouts (259) * NL leader in shutouts (11) * NL leader in ERA (1.43) Cy Seymour * #3 in NL in RBI (92)

* NL leader in runs scored (101)

References

External links

1908 New York Giants season at Baseball Reference
{{San Francisco Giants New York Giants (NL) San Francisco Giants seasons New York Giants season New York G 1900s in Manhattan Washington Heights, Manhattan