| 1908 World Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 10–14 | |||||||||
| Venue(s) | Bennett Park (Detroit) West Side Grounds (Chicago) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Jack Sheridan (AL), Hank O'Day (NL), odd-numbered games; Bill Klem (NL), Tommy Connolly (AL), even-numbered games | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Umpires: Tommy Connolly Bill Klem Hank O'Day Cubs: Mordecai Brown Frank Chance Johnny Evers Joe Tinker Tigers: Sam Crawford Ty Cobb Hughie Jennings (manager) | |||||||||
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The 1908 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1908 season. The fifth edition of the World Series, it matched the defending National League champion Chicago Cubs against the American League champion Detroit Tigers in a rematch of the 1907 Series. In this first-ever rematch of this young event, the Cubs won in five games for their second straight World Series title.
The 1908 World Series was significant for being the last World Series championship the Cubs would win until 2016 (108 years later). That became the longest World Series victory drought in MLB history.[1] Before the 2016 series, the team would go on to appear in seven World Series; in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945, losing each time. The Cubs had been one of baseball's most dominant teams in the early 1900s. This was the year of the infamous "Merkle's Boner" play that allowed the Chicago Cubs to reach the World Series after beating the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants) in a one-game "playoff", actually the makeup game for the tie that the Merkle play had caused.
The Series was anticlimactic after tight pennant races in both leagues. Ty Cobb had a much better World Series than in the previous year, as did the rest of his team. The final two games, held in Detroit, were shutouts. This was also the most poorly attended World Series in history, with the final game drawing a record-low 6,210 fans. Attendance in Chicago was harmed by a ticket-scalping scheme that fans accused the club's owner of participating in, and the World Series was boycotted to some degree.
For the first time, four umpires were used in the series, in alternating two-man teams. Games 1, 4, and 5 were played in Detroit, while Games 2 and 3 were played in Chicago. Had the series continued, Game 6 would have been played in Chicago, and the home team for Game 7 would have been decided randomly, "by lot".[2]
- ^ "These are the longest WS title droughts". Mlb.com. October 23, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
- ^ "World Series Schedule". The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. October 9, 1908. p. 10. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via newspapers.com.