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

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 9955 0.643 — 47–30 52–25
New York Giants 9856 0.636 1 52–25 46–31
Pittsburgh Pirates 9856 0.636 1 42–35 56–21
Philadelphia Phillies 8371 0.539 16 43–34 40–37
Cincinnati Reds 7381 0.474 26 40–37 33–44
Boston Doves 6391 0.409 36 35–42 28–49
Brooklyn Superbas 53101 0.344 46 27–50 26–51
St. Louis Cardinals 49105 0.318 50 28–49 21–56

Record vs. opponents

1908 National League record

Sources:
Team BOS BKN CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT SLC
Boston —12–106–16–28–146–1610–127–1514–8
Brooklyn 10–12—4–186–166–165–179–1313–9
Chicago 16–6–218–4—16–611–11–19–13–110–1219–3
Cincinnati 14–816–66–16—8–14–110–128–1411–11
New York 16–616–611–11–114–8–1—16–611–11–114–8
Philadelphia 12–1017–513–9–112–106–16—9–1314–8
Pittsburgh 15–713–912–1014–811–11–113–9—20–2
St. Louis 8–149–133–1911–118–148–142–20—

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
CRoger Bresnahan140449127.283154
1BFred Tenney156583149.256149
2BLarry Doyle104377116.308033
3BArt Devlin157534135.253245
SSAl Bridwell147467133.285046
OFCy Seymour156587157.267592
OFSpike Shannon7726860.224121
OFMike Donlin155593198.3346106

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 McCormick7325276.302032
Buck Herzog6416048.300011
Tom Needham549119.209011
Shad Barry376710.14905
Sammy Strang28535.09402
Fred Merkle384111.26817
Dave Brain11173.17601
Josh Devore561.16702
Fred Snodgrass641.25001
Steve Evans221.50000
Jack Hannifin220.00000
Art Wilson100----00

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 Mathewson56390.237111.43259
Hooks Wiltse44330.023142.24118
Doc Crandall32214.212122.9377
Red Ames18114.1741.8181
Rube Marquard15.0013.602

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 McGinnity37186.01172.2755
Dummy Taylor27127.2852.3350

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 Malarkey150222.5712
Roy Beecher20017.940
Bull Durham10009.002

Awards and honors

"The Big Six": Christy Mathewson

League top five finishers

Roger Bresnahan

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

Mike Donlin

  • #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)

Christy Mathewson

  • 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)

Fred Tenney

  • NL leader in runs scored (101)

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. 1 2 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. 1 2 Bob Spade page at Baseball Reference
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