# 1908 Detroit Tigers season

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

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 90 | 63 | .588 | — | 44‍–‍33 | 46‍–‍30 |
| Cleveland Naps | 90 | 64 | .584 | ½ | 51‍–‍26 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 88 | 64 | .579 | 1½ | 51‍–‍25 | 37‍–‍39 |
| St. Louis Browns | 83 | 69 | .546 | 6½ | 46‍–‍31 | 37‍–‍38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 75 | 79 | .487 | 15½ | 37‍–‍40 | 38‍–‍39 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 68 | 85 | .444 | 22 | 46‍–‍30 | 22‍–‍55 |
| Washington Senators | 67 | 85 | .441 | 22½ | 43‍–‍32 | 24‍–‍53 |
| New York Highlanders | 51 | 103 | .331 | 39½ | 30‍–‍47 | 21‍–‍56 |

### Record vs. opponents

1908 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYH | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 6–16–1 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 15–7 | 11–11 |
| Chicago | 16–6–1 | — | 8–14–1 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 13–9 | 11–10 | 15–6–2 |
| Cleveland | 12–10 | 14–8–1 | — | 13–9 | 16–6 | 16–6–1 | 11–11–1 | 8–14 |
| Detroit | 11–11 | 13–9 | 9–13 | — | 15–7 | 14–8–1 | 12–10 | 16–5 |
| New York | 10–12 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 7–15 | — | 8–14–1 | 5–17 | 9–13 |
| Philadelphia | 12–10 | 9–13 | 6–16–1 | 8–14–1 | 14–8–1 | — | 8–13–1 | 11–11 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 10–11 | 11–11–1 | 10–12 | 17–5 | 13–8–1 | — | 15–7–1 |
| Washington | 11–11 | 6–15–2 | 14–8 | 5–16 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 7–15–1 | — |

### Roster
## 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 | Boss Schmidt | 122 | 419 | 111 | .265 | 1 | 38 |
| 1B | Claude Rossman | 138 | 524 | 154 | .294 | 2 | 71 |
| 2B | Red Downs | 84 | 289 | 64 | .221 | 1 | 35 |
| SS | Germany Schaefer | 153 | 584 | 151 | .259 | 3 | 52 |
| 3B | Bill Coughlin | 119 | 405 | 87 | .215 | 0 | 23 |
| OF | Sam Crawford | 152 | 591 | 184 | .311 | 7 | 80 |
| OF | Matty McIntyre | 151 | 569 | 168 | .295 | 0 | 28 |
| OF | Ty 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 |
| Charley O'Leary | 65 | 211 | 53 | .251 | 0 | 17 |
| Davy Jones | 56 | 121 | 25 | .207 | 0 | 10 |
| Ira Thomas | 40 | 101 | 31 | .307 | 0 | 10 |
| Red Killefer | 28 | 75 | 16 | .213 | 0 | 11 |
| Donie Bush | 20 | 68 | 20 | .290 | 0 | 4 |
| Fred Payne | 20 | 45 | 3 | .067 | 0 | 2 |
| Clay 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 |
| Ed Summers | 40 | 301.0 | 24 | 12 | 1.64 | 103 |
| George Mullin | 39 | 290.2 | 17 | 13 | 3.10 | 121 |
| Bill Donovan | 29 | 242.2 | 18 | 7 | 2.08 | 141 |
| Ed Willett | 30 | 197.1 | 15 | 8 | 2.28 | 77 |
| Ed Killian | 27 | 180.2 | 12 | 9 | 2.99 | 47 |
| Ed Siever | 11 | 61.2 | 2 | 6 | 3.50 | 23 |
| George 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 |
| George Suggs | 6 | 27.0 | 1 | 1 | 1.67 | 8 |
| Herm Malloy | 3 | 17.0 | 0 | 2 | 3.71 | 8 |

## 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) |||||||||||||