| New York Highlanders | |
| Season: | 1908 |
| League: | American League |
| Ballpark: | Hilltop Park |
| City: | New York, New York |
| Owners: | William Devery and Frank Farrell |
| Managers: | Clark Griffith, Kid Elberfeld |
The 1908 New York Highlanders season finished with the team in eighth place in the American League with a record of 51–103. Their home games were played at Hilltop Park.
The Highlanders finished in last place, 17 games out of seventh. It was the second-worst season in club history.[1] Starting first baseman Hal Chase left the team in September under allegations that he was throwing games. After Clark Griffith's departure, the Highlanders lost 70 of their last 98 games under new manager Kid Elberfeld.[2]
On June 30, Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox threw a no-hitter against the Highlanders. In the game, Young had 3 hits and 4 RBI's.[3] By now the alternate and equally unofficial nickname "Yankees" was being used frequently to refer to the Highlanders. The New York Times article about Young's no-hitter at "the American League Park" (Hilltop Park's formal name), referred to the club exclusively as "Yankees" throughout the article. Other newspapers continued to use the two nicknames interchangeably.
On September 4, 5 and 7, 1908, Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators shut out the Highlanders in three consecutive games.
| 1908 New York Highlanders | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 96 | 279 | 47 | .168 | 1 | 13 | ||
| 1B | 106 | 405 | 104 | .257 | 1 | 36 | ||
| 2B | 95 | 361 | 90 | .249 | 4 | 24 | ||
| SS | 132 | 446 | 110 | .247 | 0 | 38 | ||
| 3B | 141 | 531 | 126 | .237 | 1 | 39 | ||
| OF | 91 | 323 | 85 | .263 | 1 | 14 | ||
| OF | 75 | 274 | 70 | .255 | 2 | 42 | ||
| OF | 142 | 505 | 150 | .297 | 0 | 44 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 348 | 82 | .236 | 0 | 27 | ||
| 76 | 211 | 40 | .190 | 1 | 13 | ||
| 44 | 169 | 36 | .213 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 39 | 145 | 38 | .262 | 1 | 15 | ||
| 37 | 125 | 32 | .256 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 34 | 108 | 25 | .231 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 32 | 82 | 12 | .146 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 21 | 78 | 21 | .269 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 20 | 75 | 16 | .213 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 19 | 56 | 11 | .196 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5 | 19 | 5 | .263 | 0 | 2 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 288.2 | 14 | 20 | 2.93 | 124 | ||
| 38 | 269.1 | 9 | 22 | 3.17 | 118 | ||
| 41 | 245.0 | 13 | 16 | 2.94 | 113 | ||
| 24 | 152.1 | 4 | 16 | 3.01 | 72 | ||
| 21 | 139.1 | 2 | 13 | 3.42 | 22 | ||
| 6 | 39.0 | 3 | 3 | 3.46 | 28 | ||
| 5 | 36.1 | 1 | 2 | 4.46 | 11 | ||
| 5 | 32.0 | 0 | 4 | 4.22 | 11 | ||
| 1 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 10.13 | 5 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 88.1 | 4 | 5 | 2.95 | 49 | ||
| 12 | 48.0 | 1 | 1 | 2.63 | 20 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.65 | 70 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |