October 8, 1908: A quarter of a million rioting fans, Mafia death threats, and the insanity of the C
Before I get started ... as things wind down with the 1908 season, let me just say thank you to all of you who have been following along with this blog. I hope you've enjoyed traveling back in time with me to learn about the amazing events of the Cubs World Series season.
It's been a labor of love, and if you wanted to buy a Make America 1908 Again shirt as a little thank you back, that would be awesome. You see them right there on the right of your screen if your on a CPU, or you just scrolled past it on a mobile. I think they're pretty cool, and I hope you do too.
My wife is thrilled that the blog is almost done, because it's taken up way more time than she would've wanted, so a couple of t-shirt sales would make me look like a good husband. Click here to buy one (or just click the pic of the shirt)
OK ... on to the game ... and what a game it was!
As you know if you've been following along, today's Cubs-Giants game is the makeup of the infamous Merkle Game from September 23 (a refresher if you need it). With the two teams deadlocked for first place in the National League, this became a one game, winner take all, showdown at the Polo Grounds in New York for the right to face the Detroit Tigers in the 1908 World Series.
Not surprisingly, tons of fans wanted to see this game, and by "tons" I mean TONS ... 250,000 fans tried to get into the stadium to see the game! Capacity for the stadium was about 34,000 (plus any of the overflow they jammed into foul territory and the outfield), so as many fans as possible piled in to watch the contest.
The cool thing about today's game, is there are lots of pictures from it, since it was such a big deal. Here's the crowd assembling for the game ...
A view from outside the Polo Grounds, Oct. 8, 1908
Hmmm ... I wonder what kind of hat was in style?
So the Cubs had a pretty monumental task in front of them ... defeat the greatest pitcher in the game, Christy Mathewson, in front of a record crowd of hostile Giants fans who are still totally pissed about what happened in the Merkle Game, and do it while the Mafia is threatening to kill you.
Oh yeah ... I didn't mention that yet, did I? For the past few days, Cubs ace Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown had been receiving notes from members of the New York Mafia that said "We'll kill you if you pitch and beat the Giants." Lovely!
So what did Brownie do? He marched right in to manager Frank Chance and Cubs owner Charlie Murphy and said, "Let me pitch. Just to show those so-and-sos they can't win with threats." The stones on that guy!
Go ahead ... I dare you to make fun of my hair!
Despite the request, manager Chance did not start Three Finger in this game. Brownie had actually started or relieved in 11 of the last 14 games for the Cubs, including the win against Pittsburgh two days ago, so Chance went with the fresher arm of Jack Pfiester, who had earned the nickname "Jack the Giant Killer" earlier in the year for his performances against them.
But guess what? That didn't matter ... because today still became the greatest day in Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown's career. And that's not me making that claim, in later interviews Brown himself recalled his performance today as the highlight of his career. Pfiester ran into trouble in the first inning, and after giving up a run manager Chance wasted no time in calling to the bullpen for his ace.
Wanna see something really cool? Here's a collection of photographs put together in a flip book that give you "video" of Three Finger pitching at a game in 1907 ...
Mordecai Brown, Library of Congress footage, 1907
In addition to having a bunch of pictures from the actual game, another amazing part of today's story is we have the first-person account by Mordecai Brown himself to relive the moment! Brown sat down with reporter Jack Ryan in the 1940's to talk about the day, and it became part of a book by John Carmichael called "My Greatest Day In Baseball," with 47 different stars reliving the greatest moment of their baseball career. [Side note: I am totally buying this book. It's got Brown, Babe Ruth, Dizzy Dean, Joe DiMaggio and more. I need to read this. Here's the link if you're interested.]
So here's the deal ... I'm not going to bore you with the recap of the game by some 40 year old dude sitting in his basement and writing this blog (I really am), when instead I can let you read the words of the legend that was there and made the day happen. Instead ... I'm gonna turn things over to Mordecai Brown ...
[[[We had just come out onto the field and were getting settled when Tom Needham, one of our utility men, came running up with the news that back in the clubhouse he’d overheard Muggsy McGraw laying a plot to beat us. He said the plot was for McGraw to cut our batting practice to about four minutes instead of the regular ten, and then, if we protested, to send his three toughest players, Turkey Mike Donlin, Iron Man McGinnity, and Cy Seymour, charging out to pick a fight. The wild-eyed fans would riot, and the blame would be put on us for starting it, so the game would be forfeited to the Giants.
Chance said to us, “Cross ‘em up. No matter when the bell rings to end practice, come right off the field. Don’t give any excuse to quarrel.
”We followed orders, but McGinnity tried to pick a fight with Chance anyway, and made a pass at him, but Husk stepped back, grinned, and wouldn’t fall for their little game.
The Cubs and Giants meeting before the game
I can still see Christy Mathewson making his lordly entrance. He’d always wait until about ten minutes before game time. Then he’d come from the clubhouse across the field in a long linen duster, like auto drivers wore in those days, and at every step the crowd would yell louder and louder. This day they split the air. I watched him enter as I went out to the bullpen, where I was to keep ready. Chance still insisted on starting Pfiester.
Mathewson put us down quick in our first time at bat, but when the Giants came up with the sky splitting as the crowd screamed, Pfiester hit Fred Tenney, walked Buck Herzog, fanned Roger Bresnahan, but Johnny Kling dropped the third strike and when Herzog broke for second, he nailed him. Then Turkey Mike Donlin doubled, scoring Tenney, and out beyond center field a fireman fell off a telegraph pole and broke his neck. Pfiester walked Cy Seymour, and then Chance motioned for me to come in. Two on base, two out.
Our warmup pen was out in right-center field, so I had to push and shove my way through the crowd on the outfield grass. “Get the hell out of the way,” I bawled at ‘em as I plowed through. “Here’s where you ‘black hand’ guys get your chance. If I’m going to get killed, I sure know that I’ll die before a capacity crowd.”
Hostile Giants fans in the outfield
I was about as good that day as I ever was in my life. That year I had won 29 and, what with relief work, had been in forty-three winning ballgames.
But in a way it was Husk Chance’s day.
That Chance had a stout heart in him. His first time at bat, it was in the second. The fans met him with a storm of hisses—not “boos” like you hear in modern baseball—but the old, vicious hiss that comes from real hatred.Chance choked the hisses back down New York’s throat by singling with a loud crack of the bat. The ball came back to Mathewson. He looked at Bresnahan behind the bat, then wheeled and threw to first, catching Chance off guard. Chance slid. Tenney came down with the ball. Umpire Bill Klem threw up his arm. Husk was out!
Chance ripped and raved around, protesting. Most of us Cubs rushed out of the dugout. Solly Hofman called Klem so many names that Bill threw him out of the game.
Solly Hofman, ejected from today's game
The stands behind us went into panic, they were so tickled, and the roar was the wildest I ever heard when Matty went on to strike out Harry Steinfeldt and Del Howard.
Chance was grim when he came up again in the third. Joe Tinker had led off the inning by tripling over Cy Seymour’s head. We heard afterward that McGraw had warned Seymour that Tinker was apt to hit Mathewson hard, and to play way back. But Seymour didn’t. Kling singled Tinker home. I sacrificed Johnny to second. Jimmy Sheckard flied out, Johnny Evers walked, and Frank Schulte doubled. We had Matty wabbling, and then up came Chance, with the crowd howling. He answered them again with a double, and made it to second with a great slide that beat a great throw by Mike Donlin.
Four runs.
Manager and first baseman Frank Chance
In the ninth a big fight broke out in the stands, and the game was held up until the police could throw in a cordon of bluecoats and stop it. It was as near to a lunatic asylum as I ever saw. As a matter of fact, the newspapers next day said seven men had been carted away, raving mad, from the park during the day. This was maybe exaggerated, but it doesn’t sound impossible to anyone who was there that day.
As the ninth ended with the Giants going out, one–two–three, we all ran for our lives, straight for the clubhouse with the pack at our heels. Some of our boys got caught by the mob and were beaten up some. Tinker, Howard and Sheckard were struck. Chance was hurt most of all. A Giant fan hit him in the throat and Husk’s voice was gone for a day or two of the World Series that followed. Pfiester got slashed on the shoulder by a knife.
Polo Grounds, October 8, 1908
We made it to the dressing room and barricaded the door. Outside wild men were yelling for our blood—really. As the mob got bigger, the police came up and formed a line across the door. We read the next day that the cops had to pull their revolvers to hold them back. I couldn’t say as to that. We weren’t sticking our heads out to see.
As we changed clothes, too excited yet to put on one of those wild clubhouse pennant celebrations, the word came in that the Giants over in their dressing room were pretty low. We heard that old Cy Seymour was lying on the floor in there, bawling like a baby about Tinker’s triple.
When it was safe, we rode to our hotel in a patrol wagon, with two cops on the inside and four riding the running boards and the rear step. That night, when we left for Detroit and the World Series, we slipped out the back door and were escorted down the alley in back of our hotel by a swarm of policemen.]]]]
Wow. Just ... Wow.
What an amazing story about an absolutely insane baseball game that ended the 1908 regular season!
Apologies for this entry being longer than most, but how could I deprive you of the ability to relive this game through the eyes of the hero that brought the Cubs to victory? (Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I did!)
The Cubs now hop the train and thankfully get to leave angry NYC for the "friendly" confines of Detroit, Michigan (not a title they're used to hearing). Game one of the World Series is on the 10th, so we will see you then!
