1908 Detroit Tigers season

1908 Detroit Tigers 1908 American League Champions
Major league affiliations
American League (Since 1900)
Location
Bennett Park (Since 1896) Detroit, Michigan (Since 1894)
1908 Information
Owner(s)	Frank Navin
Manager(s)	Hughie Jennings
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The 1908 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team won the American League championship by means of a scheduling quirk, finishing just one-half game ahead of the Cleveland Naps. The two teams won the same number of games, but the Tigers completed and lost one fewer. They then lost to the Chicago Cubs in the 1908 World Series.

Regular season

The early part of the season was defined in part by Ty Cobb's contract dispute with the team. He claimed that the owners have too much power. Eventually Cobb settled for a $4,800 contract. After opening day, the Tigers averaged only 4,400 fans per game.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Detroit Tigers	90	63	.588	--
Cleveland Naps	90	64	.584	½
Chicago White Sox	88	64	.579	1½
St. Louis Browns	83	69	.546	6½
Boston Red Sox	75	79	.487	15½
Philadelphia Athletics	68	85	.444	22
Washington Senators	67	85	.441	22½
New York Highlanders	51	103	.331	39½

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
OF	Crawford, SamSam Crawford	152	591	184	.311	7	80
OF	McIntyre, MattyMatty McIntyre	151	569	168	.295	0	28
OF	Cobb, TyTy Cobb	150	581	188	.324	4	108

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
O'Leary, CharleyCharley O'Leary	65	211	53	.251	0	17
Jones, DavyDavy Jones	56	121	25	.207	0	10
Bush, DonieDonie Bush	20	68	20	.290	0	4
Perry, ClayClay Perry	7	17	2	.118	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
Summers, EdEd Summers	40	301	24	12	1.64	103
Mullin, GeorgeGeorge Mullin	39	290.2	17	13	3.10	121
Donovan, BillBill Donovan	29	242.2	18	7	2.08	141
Willett, EdEd Willett	30	197.1	15	8	2.28	77
Killian, EdEd Killian	27	180.2	12	9	2.99	47
Siever, EdEd Siever	11	61.2	2	6	3.50	23
Winter, GeorgeGeorge Winter	7	56.1	1	5	1.60	25

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
Suggs, GeorgeGeorge Suggs	6	27	1	1	1.67	8
Malloy, HermHerm Malloy	3	17	0	2	3.71	8

1908 World Series

Main article: 1908 World Series

Game 1

October 10, 1908 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago (NL)	0	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	10	14	2
Detroit (AL)	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	6	10	3
W: Mordecai Brown (1-0)  L: Ed Summers (0-1)

Game 2

October 11, 1908 at West Side Park in Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (AL)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	1
Chicago (NL)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	x	6	7	0
W: Orval Overall (1-0)  L: Bill Donovan (0-1)
HR: CHC – Joe Tinker (1)

Game 3

October 12, 1908 at West Side Park in Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (AL)	1	0	0	0	0	5	0	2	0	8	12	4
Chicago (NL)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	0
W: George Mullin (1-0)  L: Jack Pfiester (0-1)

Game 4

October 13, 1908 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago (NL)	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	10	0
Detroit (AL)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
W: Mordecai Brown (2-0)  L: Ed Summers (0-2)

Game 5

October 14, 1908 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago (NL)	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	10	0
Detroit	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
W: Orval Overall (2-0)  L: Bill Donovan (0-2)

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3. 
• 1908 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference

Preceded by Detroit Tigers 1907

American League Champions Detroit Tigers 1908

Succeeded by Detroit Tigers 1909