1908 World Series Game 5

Cubs: 2 Tigers: 0

W: Overall (2-0)

L: Donovan (0-2)
The Cubs scored single runs in the first and fifth. Hall of Famers Frank Chance and Johnny Evers each singled in runs. Orval Overall became the first pitcher to strike out four batters in an inning. In 2013, Anibal Sanchez became the second hurler to do so in a postseason game. Overall remains the only one to accomplish the feat in the World Series. Overall threw a 3-hitter and struck out 10. Tiger starter Wild Bill Donovan also tossed a complete game in a losing effort. The final game drew only 6,210 fans. Chicagoans stayed away from the ballpark to protest the club's ticket scalping scheme.

There was no World Series MVP in 1908. The award had not been created yet. However, Frank Chance might have won it had the award existed. He batted .421 with 2 RBI and .921 OPS. Three-Finger Brown was another candidate with a 2-0 record and 0.00 ERA in 11 innings. The final candidate, Orval Overall, went 2-0 with a 0.98 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 18.1 innings.

Other players with good World Series for the Cubs included Johnny Evers (.350, 2 RBI, .381 OBP), Solly Hofman (.316 and 4 RBI), and Wildfire Schulte (.389, 2 RBI, .950 OPS). Ty Cobb was the only Tiger hitter that performed well. The Georgia Peach batted .368 with 4 RBI, and .821 OPS. George Mullin pitched a complete game victory, struck out 8, and allowed no earned runs in his only start.

The Tigers returned to the World Series in 1909, but did not win a Fall Classic until 1935. Chicago has yet to win another World Series despite seven NL Pennants from 1910-1945. They have not won a pennant since 1945.

1908 World Series Game 2

Chicago Cubs: 6 Detroit Tigers: 1 (Cubs lead 2-0)


W: Overall (1-0)
L: Donovan (0-1)

Home Run: Joe Tinker (1)
By this point, the Cubs had to have been in the Tigers heads. Chicago had beaten the Tigers every possible way in 1907 and 1908. The Cubs hoped to keep the mojo going with Orval Overall on the hill. Detroit countered with 18-game winner Wild Bill Donovan. The game was scoreless into the last half of the 8th when the Cubs unloaded. Joe Tinker slammed a one out 2-run home run. Chicago tacked on four more runs off Donovan to take a 6-0 lead into the 9th. Detroit managed a slop run to make the final 6-1. Tiger Germany Schaefer was the only player with multiple hits. He went 2-for-3. Both starters hurled complete games. Overall tossed a four-hitter, walked two, and struckout five.

1908 World Series Game 1

Chicago Cubs: 10 Detroit Tigers: 6 (Cubs lead 1-0)

W: Three-Finger Brown (1-0)

L: Summers (0-1)
The 1908 World Series featured the first rematch in the Fall Classic. The World Champion Cubs won the pennant after winning a one-game playoff with the Giants. The game was actually a make up for an earlier contest that ended in a tie. The Giants had appeared to win that game, but Fred Merkle failed to touch second base and was forced by Johnny Evers. With fans streaming onto the field, no one knows for sure if Evers actually had the game ball. Either way, the Cubs won the pennant and faced the Tigers for the second year in a row. The series featured three Hall of Fame umpires with Tommy Connolly, Bill Klem, and Hank O'Day. The Tigers boasted Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, and Hughie Jennings. The Cubs fielded four Hall of Famers in Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker, and Three-Finger Brown.

Detroit should have won Game 1. They led 6-5 in the 9th in the opener in Detroit. The Cubs chased Ed Killian while Ed Reulbach pitched into the seventh for Chicago. The Cubs dropped five in the top of the 9th for a 10-6 victory. Jimmy Sheckard went 3-for-6 for the victors. Wildfire Schulte, Harry Steinfeldt, and Joe Tinker all tallied two hits. Tigers Ty Cobb, Matty McIntyre, and Claude Rossman all had two hits as well.

1907 World Series Game 5

Cubs: 2 Tigers: 0 (Cubs win series 4-0-1)

W: Brown (1-0)

L: Mullin (0-2)
Once again, both starters pitched a complete game. Three-finger Brown shutout the Tigers on 7 hits. George Mullin also allowed 7 hits, but surrendered 2 runs, 1 earned. Chicago scored single runs in the first and second innings while Detroit did not threaten Brown after a fourth inning threat. The Cubs won their first World Series in 1:42. The game would take twice as long today.

The Cubs pitching staff posted a 0.75 ERA in the 1907 World Series. They used four pitchers in the Fall Classic. Each pitcher posted a win. Hall of Famer Mordecai Three Finger Brown won his only start with a shutout. Meanwhile, the Tigers staff finished with a 2.15 ERA. George Mullin lost 2 games to the Cubs with a 2.12 ERA.

Offensively, Harry Steinfeldt batted .471 with a double, triple, 2 RBI, and 1.197 OPS. If there was a MVP, Steinfeldt might have won it. Johnny Evers hit .350 for the Cubs. Hall of Famers Frank Chance and Joe Tinker both finished with a .154 average. On the Tigers side, Claude Rossman hit a healthy .450 with 2 RBI and 1.026 OPS. Outfielder Davy Jones batted .353. Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford performed poorly. Cobb hit .200 and Crawford .238.

Both teams returned to the Fall Classic in 1908. Once again, the Cubs skunked Detroit. The Cubs have yet to win another World Series. The Tigers would win the 1909 AL Pennant, but lost a 7 game thriller to Pittsburgh. Detroit would finally win a World Series in 1935.

1907 World Series Game 2

Cubs: 3 Tigers: 1 (Cubs lead 1-0)

W: Pfiester (1-0)

L: Mullin (0-1)
The Tigers blew Game 1, but played well enough to win. They pinned their hopes in Game 2 on 20 game winner Wabash George Mullin. The Cubs started 14 game winner and NL ERA champion Jack Pfiester. Detroit also replaced Game 1 goat Boss Schmidt with Fred Payne. Payne provided Detroit's only run with a RBI single in the second.

Payne's battery mate Mullin walked a lot of batters. In fact, he issued 100 free passes in five consecutive seasons. The walk came back to bite the pitcher in the second. Mullin walked Joe Tinker with the bases loaded to tie the game.

The game remained 1-1 until the fourth. Chicago scored two runs off Mullin to take a 3-1 lead. Pfeister made the runs hold up despite allowing 10 hits. Detroit only really threatened again in the eighth with two on and two out, but the Cub ERA champ escaped when Davy Jones was thrown out trying to steal third. Detroit wasted a 4-for-4 performance by Claude Rossman.

Both pitchers hurled complete games. Mullin went 8 innings, allowed 8 hits, 3 earned runs, walked 4, and struck out 6. Pfeister pitched 9, surrendered 10 hits, 1 earned run, walked one, and struck out 3. Johnny Evers and Jimmy Slagle had two hits each for the Cubs. Slagle, Tinker, and Jimmy Sheckard drove in the Cub runs. Davy Jones had two Tiger hits.

1907 World Series Game 1

Tigers: 3 Cubs: 3
The White Sox shocked the Cubs in the 1906 World Series. The Sox did not repeat as AL champs, but the Cubs did win another NL Pennant. The Cubs won 107 games behind Hall of Famers Frank Chance, Three Finger Brown, Johnny Evers, and Joe Tinker. Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers rose to the top of the American League behind Hall of Famers Hughie Jennings, Ty Cobb, and Sam Crawford. 1907 was the first World Series to feature a Hall of Fame umpire. Hank O'Day and Jack Sheridan both reached Cooperstown as umpires.

The series opened in Chicago with Wild Bill Donovan squaring off against Orval Overall. Donovan had a career year for the Tigers. He went 25-4 with a 2.19 ERA.Cub starter Overall also had a career season with a 23-7 record, 1.68 ERA, and league-leading 8 shutouts. The Tigers had the Cubs by the tail, but blew it.

The Cubs led 1-0 into the eighth inning. The Tigers rallied for three against Overall. Sam Crawford raked a two-run single and then Claude Rossman's sacrifice fly gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead. They took that lead to the final frame looking to continue the Cubs World Series problems.

Chicago came out swinging in the ninth. Chance singled to right. Harry Steinfelt was hit by the pitch. Johnny Kling popped out to first. Evers reached on an error to load the bases. Wildfire Schultz grounded out to first to score Chicago's second run. Then, Boss Schmidt allowed a third strike to get past him to allow the tying run to score. Johnny Evers was caught trying to steal home to end the inning, but the damage was done. Schmidt had committed a major error. This might be the greatest blunder in Tiger history. The game went 12 innings, but ended in a 3-3 tie. Darkness forced the game's end.

Davy Jones and Sam Crawford each had three hits for the Tigers. Schmidt added two. He also committed the big error to allow the Cubs to tie the game and surrendered 9 Cub steals. Jimmy Slagle, Kling, and Evers slapped two hits each for the Cubs. Wild Bill Donovan pitched a complete game, allowed 10 hits, allowed 1 earned run, walked 3, and struck out 12. Overall went 9, allowed 9 hits, 1 earned run, walked 2, and struck out 5. Ed Reulbach pitched three scoreless to finish for the Cubs.

Game 1 was the Tigers only look at the World Series. The Cubs swept the next four games. Schmidt's error turned the entire series around. Had he held on, then perhaps the Tigers pull the upset as the Sox did in 1906.

1906 World Series Game 5

White Sox: 8 Cubs: 6 (Sox lead 3-2)

WP: Walsh (2-0)

LP: Pfeister (0-2)

SV: White (1)
Game 5 was one of the wildest games in World Series history. Ed Walsh was not as sharp as his previous start, but hung around long enough for the win. His teammates battered Ed Reulbach and Jack Pfeister for seven runs in 3.1 innings. Orval Overall finished the game for the Cubs. Although no home runs were hit, the teams combined for 18 hits, 10 walks, and three wild pitches. There was also a steal of home, two hit batsmen, and six Sox errors.

The Sox scored first on Frank Isbel's double. The Cubs rallied for three in the bottom of the first for a 3-1 lead. The Sox committed two errors and hit Frank Chance to help the Cubs. George Davis tied the game in the third with a RBI double and steal of home. Pfeister replaced Reulbach after the double.

The Sox knocked Pfeister out of the game in the fourth. Walsh walked, but was forced at second. Fielder Jones singled to put two on. Frank Isbel and Davis doubled in runs to give the Sox the lead. Overall replaced Pfeister and surrendered a run scoring double to Jiggs Donahue. The Sox led 7-3.

The two teams traded single runs over the next couple innings. Joe Tinker scored on a wild pitch and Isbel scored on George Rohe's sixth inning single. The Cubs scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth and knocked Walsh out of the game in the seventh. Walsh surrendered 6 runs, but only one earned. Doc White finished the game for a save.

Frank Isbel led the Sox with 4 hits, 3 runs, and 2 RBI. Rohe had two hits and George Davis delivered the big hits. Davis went 2-for-5 with 2 runs and 3 RBI. Ed Hahn scored twice for the Sox. Wildfire Schulte had 3 hits and 2 RBI for the Cubs and Solly Hoffman scored twice for the Cubs. The Sox were one win away from a monumental upset.

1906 World Series Game 2

Cubs: 7 White Sox: 1 ( Series tied 1-1)

WP: Reulbach (1-0)

LP: White (0-1)
The Cubs team everyone expected appeared in Game 2. Sox starter Doc White lasted only three innings. Cubs hurler Ed Reulbach allowed only a solitary hit, a single to Jiggs Donahue in the seventh, and one unearned run in dominating the Sox. He was effectively wild walking 6.The Sox only run scored on an error by shortstop Joe Tinker. At the time, it cut the Cubs lead to 4-1.

The 116 win juggernaught scored three in the second off White. In the third, Steinfeldt singled in the fourth Cub run. They added another run in the sixth and then two in the eighth for a 7-1 victory. Harry Steinfeldt went 3-for-3 with a run and RBI. Joe Tinker added 2 hits, 3 runs, and a RBI. The mighty Cubs had evened the series

1906 World Series Game 1

White Sox: 2 Cubs:1 (Sox lead 1-0)

WP: Altrock (1-0)

LP: Brown (0-1)
The 1906 Cubs won regular season games and won the pennant by a whopping 20 games. The team boasted four Hall of Famers including Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown and the legendary infield of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance. They greatly outmatched their crosstown rivals and World Series opponents. The Chicago White Sox won 93 games and included Hall of Famers George Davis and Ed Walsh. They would have finished 23 games behind the Cubs.

The Cubs started Brown in Game 1 while the Sox started 20 game winner Nick Altrock. Both men retired the first nine batters. The Cubs broke up the no-hitter with 2 outs in the fourth, but failed to score. Brown retired the first twelve Sox in order. Then, George Rohe tripled to lead off the fifth. He scored on an error by catcher Johnny Kling. Sox led 1-0.

The Cubs remained confident. Brown's downfall came from a leadoff walk in the sixth. Altrock reached on the base on balls, was sacrificed to second, and scored on a single by Frank Isbell. It turned out to be the winning run. The Cubs scored on a wild pitch in the sixth, but Altrock shut the door after that. Harry Steinfelt flew out to end the game. Sox won 2-1.

Both Altrock and Brown tossed 4-hit complete games. Brown walked 1 and struck out 7. The walk turned out to be the winning run. The winner Altrock walked 1 and struck out 3. The batter Altrock walked also scored.

Frank Chance: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1946

Born: September 9, 1876

Debut: April 29, 1898 (Cubs)

1905: Became Cubs manager

1906: Cubs win 116 games, but lose World Series to White Sox

1907: Cubs win World Series

1908: Cubs win World Series

1910: Tinker to Evers to Chance is written by Franklin Pierce Adams

1910: Cubs win Pennant (Lose World Series to A’s)

1912: Left Cubs to manage Yankees Cubs record: 768-389 (.664) 4 pennants & 2 championships

1913-14: Managed Yankees 117-168 (.411)

1916-17: Managed in Pacific Coast League and became part owner of a team

1923: Managed Red Sox 61-91 (.401)

Died: October 15, 1924

1946: Elected to Hall of Fame

Accomplishments:

As a Manager:
946-648 (.593) with 4 Pennants and 2 World Championships

11 seasons as a manager

100 win seasons: 4

MLB record 116 wins (1906)

90+ win seasons: 7x

As a player:
2x World Champion

.296 average

20 HR

596 RBI

403 steals

1274 hits

798 runs

556 walks-319 strikeouts

.394 OBP

Led league in runs (103): 1906

10+ triples: 4x

Led league in steals: 2x

20+ steals: 9x

30+ steals: 5x

40+ steals: 3x

50+ steals: 2x

67 steals (1903)

.300+ average: 4x

.400+ OBP: 4x

Led league in OBP (.450): 1905

Postseason: .300, 0 HR, 6 RBI, .774 OPS (4 World Series-70 AB)

Johnny Evers: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1946

Born: July 21, 1883

Debut: September 1, 1902 (Cubs)

1905: Began feud with Joe Tinker. It started over cab fare.

1906: Cubs win Pennant (Lost World Series to White Sox)

1907: Cubs win World Series

1908: Alerted umpires about “Merkle’s boner” costing the Giants the pennant

1908: Cubs win World Series

1910: “Tinker to Evers to Chance” is written by Franklin Pierce Adams

1914: Ejected 9 times during the season

1910: Cubs win Pennant (Lose World Series to A’s)

1913: Player-Manager of the Cubs: 88-65 (.575)

1914: Traded to Braves

1914: Braves win World Series

1914: NL MVP

1914: .279, 1 HR, 40 RBI, .390 OBP

1917: Selected off Waivers by Phillies

1917: Retired after season

1920: Coached for the NY Giants

1921: Managed Cubs for second time: 41-55 (.427)

1922-23: Coach for the Chicago White Sox

1924: Managed White Sox: 51-72 (.415)

1929: Made final appearance

1929-32: Coach for the Boston Braves

After 1932: GM for Albany Senators “for a time.”

1938: Spoke to Joe Tinker for first time in 33 years while doing radio broadcast of the World Series

1946: Elected to Hall of Fame

Died: March 28, 1947

Accomplishments:
3x World Champion

1914 NL MVP

.270 career hitter

12 HR

538 RBI

778 walks-292 strikeouts

324 stolen bases

919 runs

1659 hits

11 triples (1912)

20+ steals: 7x

30+ steals: 3x

40+ steals: 2x

108 walks (1910)

Hit .300: 2x

.400 OBP: 3x

.873 OPS (1912)

Postseason:
.316, 0 HR, 6 RBI, .718 OPS, 11 runs, 8 SB, 24 hits (4 World Series)

Hit .438 in 1914 World Series

Managerial:
180-192 (.484)

Joe Tinker: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1946

Born: July 27, 1880

1900: Played in Pacific Northwest League

1901: Purchased by Cubs

Debut: April 17, 1902 (Cubs)

1905: Began feud with Johnny Evers over a cab

1906: Cubs win pennant (Lose World Series to White Sox)

1907: Cubs win World Series

1908: Hit pennant winning double off Christy Mathewson

1908: Cubs win World Series

1910: Tinkers to Evers to Chance poem is published by Franklin Pierce Adams

1910: Cubs win pennant (Lose World Series to A’s)

1912: Salary dispute led to his sale to the Reds

1913: Player/Manager of Reds (64-89)

1914: Jumped to Federal League

1914-15: Managed in Federal League (173-133)

1915: Won Federal League Pennant

1916: Purchased by the Cubs

1916: Managed Cubs (67-86)

1916: Retired

Retirement: Scouted, managed, real estate and club management.

1938: Tinkers and Evers talk to each other for the first time since 1905 when reunited to broadcast the World Series

1946: Elected to Hall of Fame

Died: July 27, 1948

Accomplishments:
2x World Champion

.262 career

31 HR

783 RBI

Led league in games played (157) in 1908

Hit .317 in 1913

114 triples

10+ triples: 5x

336 stolen bases

20+ steals: 11x

30+ steals: 5x

41 steals in 1904

Postseason:
.235, 1 HR, 6 RBI (4 World Series)

As a Manager:
304-308 (.497) 1 Pennant