1908 Boston Red Sox season
The 1908 Boston Red Sox season was the eighth season for the Major League Baseball franchise previously known as the Boston Americans. The Red Sox finished fifth in the American League (AL) with a record of 75 wins and 79 losses. The team played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.
| 1908 Boston Red Sox | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | John I. Taylor |
| Manager(s) | Deacon McGuire and Fred Lake |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
Regular season
Prior to the regular season, the team held spring training in Little Rock, Arkansas.[2]
- April 14: The regular season opens with a 3–1 home win over the Washington Senators.[1]
- May 18: The team's longest losing streak of the season, seven games, ends with a home win over the Cleveland Naps.[1]
- May 28: The team's longest winning streak of the season, five games, ends with a home loss to the Chicago White Sox.[1]
- May 31: Jesse Tannehill was traded by the Red Sox to the Washington Senators for Casey Patten.[3]
- June 30: Cy Young throws a no-hitter against the New York Highlanders at Hilltop Park in New York City; at the plate, Young has three hits and four RBIs.[4]
- August 6: In their longest game of the season, the Americans lose to the White Sox, 2–1 in 13 innings at South Side Park in Chicago.[1]
- August 27: Deacon McGuire manages his final games for the team,[5] losing both ends of a doubleheader to the St. Louis Browns, dropping the team's record to 53–62.
- August 28: Fred Lake manages his first game,[6] a 3–1 win over St. Louis. Under Lake, the team goes 22–17 through the end of the season.
- September 18: The franchise is no-hit for the first time in its history, by Bob Rhoads of Cleveland in a road game played at League Park.[7]
- October 5: The regular season ends with home doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics; Boston wins the first game, 10–1, then loses the second game, 5–3 in eight innings.[1]
Statistical leaders
The offense was led by Doc Gessler who had 63 RBIs, three home runs, and a .308 batting average. The pitching staff was led by Cy Young, who made 36 appearances (33 starts) and pitched 30 complete games with a 21–11 record and 1.26 ERA, while striking out 150 in 299 innings. Cy Morgan had a 14–13 record with 2.46 ERA in 30 games (26 starts). Smoky Joe Wood, who would go on to win 34 games in 1912, made his major league debut on August 24.[8]
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 |
The team had one game end in a tie; September 28 at Chicago White Sox.[9] Tie games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tie games are counted.[10]
Record vs. opponents
1908 American League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NY | PHI | STL | 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 | — | |||||
Opening Day lineup
| Jack Thoney | LF |
| Harry Lord | 3B |
| Jim McHale | CF |
| Doc Gessler | RF |
| Frank LaPorte | 2B |
| Bob Unglaub | 1B |
| Heinie Wagner | SS |
| Lou Criger | C |
| Cy Young | P |
Source: [11]
Roster
| 1908 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
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| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders
Other batters |
Managers | ||||||
Player stats
Batting
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Starters by position
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Lou Criger | 84 | 237 | 45 | .190 | 0 | 25 |
| 1B | Jake Stahl | 78 | 262 | 64 | .244 | 0 | 23 |
| 2B | Amby McConnell | 140 | 502 | 140 | .279 | 2 | 43 |
| SS | Heinie Wagner | 153 | 526 | 130 | .247 | 1 | 46 |
| 3B | Harry Lord | 145 | 560 | 145 | .259 | 2 | 37 |
| OF | Jack Thoney | 109 | 416 | 106 | .255 | 2 | 30 |
| OF | Denny Sullivan | 101 | 355 | 85 | .239 | 0 | 25 |
| OF | Doc Gessler | 128 | 435 | 134 | .308 | 3 | 63 |
Other batters
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gavvy Cravath | 94 | 277 | 71 | .256 | 1 | 34 |
| Bob Unglaub | 72 | 266 | 70 | .263 | 1 | 25 |
| Tris Speaker | 31 | 116 | 26 | .224 | 0 | 9 |
| Harry Ostdiek | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Deacon McGuire | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Starting pitchers
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cy Young | 36 | 299 | 21 | 11 | 1.26 | 150 |
| Eddie Cicotte | 39 | 207 1⁄3 | 11 | 12 | 2.43 | 95 |
| Cy Morgan | 30 | 205 | 14 | 13 | 2.46 | 99 |
| Fred Burchell | 31 | 179 2⁄3 | 10 | 8 | 2.96 | 94 |
| George Winter | 22 | 147 2⁄3 | 4 | 14 | 3.05 | 55 |
| Elmer Steele | 16 | 118 | 5 | 7 | 1.83 | 37 |
Relief pitchers
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tex Pruiett | 13 | 58 2⁄3 | 1 | 7 | 1.99 | 28 |
| Ralph Glaze | 10 | 34 2⁄3 | 2 | 2 | 3.38 | 13 |
Other pitchers
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Arellanes | 11 | 79 | 4 | 3 | 1.82 | 33 |
| Smoky Joe Wood | 6 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 2.38 | 11 |
| King Brady | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
| Doc McMahon | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 | 3 |
| Jesse Tannehill | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 | 2 |
| Casey Patten | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15.00 | 0 |
| Charlie Hartman | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
| Jake Thielman | 1 | 2⁄3 | 0 | 0 | 40.50 | 0 |
References
- "The 1908 Boston Red Sox Regular Season Game Log". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- "Pilgrims Come Tomorrow". Arkansas Gazette. Little Rock, Arkansas. March 2, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
- "Casey Patten". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- "Boston Red Sox 8, New York Highlanders 0". Retrosheet. June 30, 1908. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- "Deacon McGuire". Retrosheet. November 17, 2018.
- "Fred Lake". Retrosheet. November 17, 2018.
- "Cleveland Naps 2, Boston Red Sox 1". Retrosheet. September 18, 1908. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
- "Smoky Joe Wood". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- "Chicago White Sox 2, Boston Red Sox 2". Retrosheet. September 28, 1908. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- "Tie". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- "Boston Red Sox 3, Washington Senators 1". Retrosheet. April 14, 1908. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
Further reading
- Murphy, Cait (2007). Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History. foreword by Robert Creamer. Smithsonian. ISBN 0060889373.
External links
- 1908 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
- 1908 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com
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