Channel skimming yesterday afternoon, I hit on the installment of Ken Burns's baseball epic that describes the really crazy events that occurred during the National League pennant race of 1908. The Chicago Cubs ended up prevailing and went on to win the World Series that year, a feat the team would not repeat until the most recently completed season. Considering what happened in a game played between the Giants and the Cubs, in the Polo Grounds on September 23, the 108-year drought could have, probably should have, been longer.
The two teams were, with the Pirates, locked in a three-way race for the pennant as the regular season wound down. In the September 23 game, the Giants and Cubs were knotted 1-1 when the Giants came to bat in the bottom of the ninth. With two out and a runner on first base, the Giants' Fred Merkle, a 19-year-old rookie and the youngest player in the National League, singled, advancing the runner to third. The next batter, Al Bridwell, followed with what should have been a game-winning hit to the outfield. That's when the craziness began.
In those days, the boundary between playing field and spectators was often not defined, and this was especially true at the Polo Grounds, where in 1908 there were no bleacher seats and in the cavernous centerfield fans just stood behind a rope line. As the winning run headed home, gleeful Giant fans surged onto the field, and Merkle, on his way to second base, peeled off and headed for the dugout. Was he too eager to celebrate with teammates? Did he want to get off the field without being mobbed by fans? He never spoke about it and we'll never know. But he did not make it as far as second base, and Johnny Evers, the Cubs second baseman, called for the ball from the outfield. His idea was to get the ball, stand on second base, and claim that, as Merkle had been forced out, the side had been retired and the run did not count. (It's one of baseball's basic rules that a run cannot score when the third out of an inning is made as the result of a force, even if a runner touches home plate before the force out is actually recorded.)
There are different versions of what happened next. It's possible that the ball Bridwell hit was relayed to Evers from an outfielder. It's also possible that the ball Bridwell hit was lost somewhere in the melee on the field. According to one account, an alert Giants player got the ball and, to foil Evers, heaved it into the grandstand. But, whatever the details, Evers did get a ball, maybe a new one from an umpire, and, standing on second base, insisted that Merkle was out and that the inning therefore was over without a run scoring.
The second base umpire was named Hank O'Day. He called Merkle out.
The game should then have continued to extra innings, but under the circumstances that was impossible. The celebrating Giants fans who had flooded onto the field could not easily have been removed without inciting a riot. The Giants insisted they had won and wouldn't retake the field in any event. The next games were played without a resolution to the September 23 contest. There was a good chance that the question would become moot, but when the season ended, the Giants and Cubs were tied for first place with identical records. The National League ruled that the pennant would be determined by a one-game playoff--in effect, a replay of the September 23 game. It was set for October 8 in the Polo Grounds.
Besides being on their home field, the Giants would have their ace, Christy Mathewson, pitch the playoff game. Mathewson, of course, was one of the greatest pitchers of all time, and 1908 was one of his best seasons. He started 44 games, pitched 390 innings, had 259 strikeouts, eleven complete game shutouts, an ERA of 1.43, and was the winning pitcher 37 times. The Cubs also had an ace, Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, but, since he had pitched in eleven of the Cubs' final fourteen stretch games, they started Jack Pfiester. When the Giants got to Pfiester for a run before he could retire the side in the bottom of the first inning, the call went to Brown, who pitched out of trouble. He went the rest of the way, allowing only one more run, in the seventh inning. By then, the Cubs had nicked Mathewson for four runs, and they won the playoff, 4-2.
Because they had avoided losing the September 23 game, and then were able to beat Mathewson on October 8, the Cubs won the 1908 National League pennant. They then defeated Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers in the World Series, four games to one. The Cubs would next win the World Series in 2016.
The picture at the top is of the Polo Grounds, circa 1905. It was in Upper Manhattan, along 155th Street, and the home field of the New York Giants from late in the 19th century until the franchise moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season.
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