1908_Detroit_Tigers_season
1908 Detroit Tigers season
Major League Baseball team 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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American League Champions | ||||
| League | American League | |||
| Ballpark | Bennett Park | |||
| City | Detroit, Michigan | |||
| Owners | William H. Yawkey and Frank Navin | |||
| Managers | Hughie Jennings | |||
| ||||
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
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||||||
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 |
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) | ||||||||||||
- 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
- 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