1908 Cincinnati Reds season explained

Cincinnati Reds
Season:	1908
League:	National League
Ballpark:	Palace of the Fans
City:	Cincinnati
Owners:	Garry Herrmann
Managers:	John Ganzel

The 1908 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the National League with a record of 73–81, 26 games behind the Chicago Cubs.

Offseason

After two straight seasons in which the Reds lost 87 games, the team replaced manager Ned Hanlon with player-manager John Ganzel. This was the first managerial job of Ganzel's career at the major league level.

Regular season

Cincinnati had a new starting shortstop, as Rudy Hulswitt took over the position. Hulswitt had spent the 1907 season with the Columbus Senators of the American Association, where he hit .296 with two home runs, 35 doubles and fourteen triples. He had last played in the major leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1904, where he hit .244 with a homer and 36 RBI.

The Reds' 1906 shortstop, Hans Lobert, moved to third base, while Mike Mowrey came off the bench. Outfielders Dode Paskert and John Kane became starting outfielders as Art Kruger and Fred Odwell joined the Columbus Senators in the American Association. Bob Spade, who was acquired by the Reds late in the 1907 season from the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association, was given a regular spot in the starting rotation. Spade was 18–12 with the Crackers in 1907 before going 1–2 with a 1.00 ERA in three starts with Cincinnati in September.

Lobert led the way offensively, hitting a team high .293 with four home runs, 63 RBI, 71 runs scored and 167 hits. Ganzel hit .250 with a homer and 53 RBI, while Miller Huggins hit .239 with no homers and 23 RBI.

Bob Ewing anchored the pitching staff once again, as he was 17–15 with a 2.21 ERA in 37 games. Spade had a solid season, going 17–12 with a 2.74 ERA, while Andy Coakley only had a record of 8–18, however, he led the team with a 1.86 ERA before being traded to the Chicago Cubs late in the season.

Season summary

The Reds got off to a better start in 1908, and saw themselves in second place with an 18–14 record after thirty-two games, two games behind the Chicago Cubs. A run of 8–3 in their next eleven games saw Cincinnati close the gap to one game, however, the Reds then lost their next five games to fall into third place, five games behind the Cubs. As the season progressed, the Reds continued to drop in the standings, and eventually fall under the .500 mark. At the end of the season, the Reds had a 73–81 record, 26 games behind the first place Cubs. The 73 wins was the highest total by the Reds since winning 79 games in 1905.

Notable transactions

• July 8, 1908: Bob Spade was claimed off waivers from the Reds by the New York Giants.^[1]
• July 10, 1908: Jake Weimer and Dave Brain were traded by the Reds to the New York Giants for Bob Spade and $5,000.

Roster

1908 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther positions		Manager

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
C		92	300	66	.220	1	22
1B		112	388	97	.250	1	53
2B		135	498	119	.239	0	23
SS		119	386	88	.228	1	28
3B		155	570	167	.293	4	63
OF		130	455	97	.213	3	23
OF		118	395	96	.243	1	36
OF		119	406	90	.222	1	37

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
	99	309	67	.217	1	28
	77	227	50	.220	0	23
	32	114	31	.272	0	17
	32	114	29	.254	0	8
	19	71	16	.225	1	3
	18	68	14	.206	0	5
	16	55	6	.109	0	1
	14	46	5	.109	0	1
	8	18	6	.333	0	1
	2	2	0	.000	0	0
	2	2	0	.000	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
	37	293.2	17	15	2.21	95
	35	249.1	17	12	2.74	74
	32	242.1	8	18	1.86	61
	35	221.1	12	13	2.60	73
	15	116.2	8	7	2.39	36
	8	49.1	3	3	1.82	24
	1	3.2	0	1	9.82	3

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
	15	85.1	5	6	2.74	32
	7	44.1	1	3	1.83	7
	7	22.2	1	2	3.57	6
	4	21.0	0	1	2.57	7
	3	15.0	1	0	2.40	5

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
	4	0	0	0	1.69	5
	1	0	0	0	3.86	1
	1	0	0	0	0.00	4

Cuban-American Major League Clubs Series

The Reds competed in the inaugural Cuban-American Major League Clubs Series, playing against three teams from the Cuban League. The Almendares club finished with the best record in the series.^[2]

References

• 1908 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/spadebo01.shtml Bob Spade page at Baseball Reference
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/nlb/league.cgi?id=b550a10d 1908 Cuban-American Major League Clubs Series