| Detroit Tigers | |
| Season: | 1908 |
| Misc: | American League Champions |
| League: | American League |
| Ballpark: | Bennett Park |
| City: | Detroit, Michigan |
| Owners: | William H. Yawkey and Frank Navin |
| Managers: | Hughie Jennings |
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.
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.[1] After opening day, the Tigers averaged only 4,400 fans per game.
| 1908 Detroit Tigers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | CatchersInfielders | Outfielders | Manager | ||||||
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 | 122 | 419 | 111 | .265 | 1 | 38 | ||
| 1B | 138 | 524 | 154 | .294 | 2 | 71 | ||
| 2B | 84 | 289 | 64 | .221 | 1 | 35 | ||
| SS | 153 | 584 | 151 | .259 | 3 | 52 | ||
| 3B | 119 | 405 | 87 | .215 | 0 | 23 | ||
| OF | 152 | 591 | 184 | .311 | 7 | 80 | ||
| OF | 151 | 569 | 168 | .295 | 0 | 28 | ||
| OF | 150 | 581 | 188 | .324 | 4 | 108 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | 211 | 53 | .251 | 0 | 17 | |
| 56 | 121 | 25 | .207 | 0 | 10 | |
| 40 | 101 | 31 | .307 | 0 | 10 | |
| 28 | 75 | 16 | .213 | 0 | 11 | |
| 20 | 68 | 20 | .290 | 0 | 4 | |
| 20 | 45 | 3 | .067 | 0 | 2 | |
| 7 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 0 | |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 301.0 | 24 | 12 | 1.64 | 103 | |
| 39 | 290.2 | 17 | 13 | 3.10 | 121 | |
| 29 | 242.2 | 18 | 7 | 2.08 | 141 | |
| 30 | 197.1 | 15 | 8 | 2.28 | 77 | |
| 27 | 180.2 | 12 | 9 | 2.99 | 47 | |
| 11 | 61.2 | 2 | 6 | 3.50 | 23 | |
| 7 | 56.1 | 1 | 5 | 1.60 | 25 | |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 27.0 | 1 | 1 | 1.67 | 8 | ||
| 3 | 17.0 | 0 | 2 | 3.71 | 8 |
See main article: 1908 World Series.
October 10, 1908, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| align=left width=125 | Team | width=25 | 1 | width=25 | 2 | width=25 | 3 | width=25 | 4 | width=25 | 5 | width=25 | 6 | width=25 | 7 | width=25 | 8 | width=25 | 9 | width=25 | R | width=25 | H | width=25 | 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) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
October 11, 1908, at West Side Park in Chicago, Illinois
| align=left width=125 | Team | width=25 | 1 | width=25 | 2 | width=25 | 3 | width=25 | 4 | width=25 | 5 | width=25 | 6 | width=25 | 7 | width=25 | 8 | width=25 | 9 | width=25 | R | width=25 | H | width=25 | 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) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
October 12, 1908, at West Side Park in Chicago, Illinois
| align=left width=125 | Team | width=25 | 1 | width=25 | 2 | width=25 | 3 | width=25 | 4 | width=25 | 5 | width=25 | 6 | width=25 | 7 | width=25 | 8 | width=25 | 9 | width=25 | R | width=25 | H | width=25 | 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) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
October 13, 1908, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| align=left width=125 | Team | width=25 | 1 | width=25 | 2 | width=25 | 3 | width=25 | 4 | width=25 | 5 | width=25 | 6 | width=25 | 7 | width=25 | 8 | width=25 | 9 | width=25 | R | width=25 | H | width=25 | 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) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
October 14, 1908, at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan
| align=left width=125 | Team | width=25 | 1 | width=25 | 2 | width=25 | 3 | width=25 | 4 | width=25 | 5 | width=25 | 6 | width=25 | 7 | width=25 | 8 | width=25 | 9 | width=25 | R | width=25 | H | width=25 | 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) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||