1908 New York Giants season

March 2026 November 2013 New York Giants 1908 National League Polo Grounds New York City 98 56 y T–2nd John T. Brush John McGraw List of San Francisco Giants 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.https://stathead.com/tiny/y0UwE Team Pitching Game Finder: In the Regular Season, since 1901, For SFG, requiring Runs Allowed = 0, sorted by most games. Stathead Baseball April 23, 2021 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.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, 978-0-06-088937-1 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. 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.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.139, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0 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.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, 978-0-06-088937-1 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, 978-0-06-088937-1 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 New York Giants Record vs. opponents NYG Notable transactions July 8, 1908: Bob Spade was claimed off waivers by the Giants from the Cincinnati Reds.Bob Spade page at Baseball Reference July 10, 1908: Bob Spade and $5,000 were traded by the Giants to the Cincinnati Reds for Jake Weimer and Dave Brain. Roster 1908 New York Giants Roster Pitchers Red Ames Roy Beecher Doc Crandall Bull Durham Bill Malarkey Rube Marquard Christy Mathewson Joe McGinnity Dummy Taylor Hooks Wiltse Catchers Roger Bresnahan Tom Needham Fred Snodgrass Art Wilson Infielders Dave Brain Al Bridwell Art Devlin Larry Doyle Buck Herzog Fred Merkle Sammy Strang Fred Tenney Outfielders Shad Barry Josh Devore Mike Donlin Steve Evans Jack Hannifin Moose McCormick Cy Seymour Spike Shannon Manager John McGraw 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 C Roger Bresnahan 140 449 127 .283 1 54 1B Fred Tenney 156 583 149 .256 1 49 2B Larry Doyle Larry Doyle (baseball) 104 377 116 .308 0 33 3B Art Devlin Art Devlin (baseball) 157 534 135 .253 2 45 SS Al Bridwell 147 467 133 .285 0 46 OF Cy Seymour 156 587 157 .267 5 92 OF Spike Shannon 77 268 60 .224 1 21 OF Mike Donlin 155 593 198 .334 6 106 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 McCormick 73 252 76 .302 0 32 Buck Herzog 64 160 48 .300 0 11 Tom Needham 54 91 19 .209 0 11 Shad Barry 37 67 10 .149 0 5 Sammy Strang 28 53 5 .094 0 2 Fred Merkle 38 41 11 .268 1 7 Dave Brain 11 17 3 .176 0 1 Josh Devore 5 6 1 .167 0 2 Fred Snodgrass 6 4 1 .250 0 1 Steve Evans Steve Evans (baseball) 2 2 1 .500 0 0 Jack Hannifin 2 2 0 .000 0 0 Art Wilson 1 0 0 ---- 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 Christy Mathewson 56 390.2 37 11 1.43 259 Hooks Wiltse 44 330.0 23 14 2.24 118 Doc Crandall 32 214.2 12 12 2.93 77 Red Ames 18 114.1 7 4 1.81 81 Rube Marquard 1 5.0 0 1 3.60 2 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 McGinnity 37 186.0 11 7 2.27 55 Dummy Taylor 27 127.2 8 5 2.33 50 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 Malarkey baseball 15 0 2 2 2.57 12 Roy Beecher 2 0 0 1 7.94 0 Bull Durham Bull Durham (pitcher) 1 0 0 0 9.00 2 Awards and honors 250px|thumb|right|"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 2 External links 1908 New York Giants season at Baseball Reference Category:New York Giants (baseball) seasons New York Giants season New York G Category:1900s in Manhattan Category:Washington Heights, Manhattan