September 16, 1908: Cubs rebound to shut out Boston. Also, the $16,000,000 dinner.
- Make America 1908 Again
- Sep 16, 2016
- 2 min read
The Cubs rebounded from their series-opening loss to the Boston Doves behind the arm of Jack Pfiester, who scattered four hits and struck out five in a 5-0 shutout win over the Boston Doves.
This game was actually a lot closer than the score made it seem since the Cubs only led 1-0 heading into the 9th inning. Brand new Trenton, NJ recruit Al Mattern was on the hill for the Doves and pitched quite well in his major league debut. The left handed spitballer had an awkward delivery that gave the Cubs fits, along with the wild movements of the (still legal in 1908) spitball, and he gave up only three hits and one run in his eight innings of work.

I REALLY need a new hairstyle
Fortunately for the Cubs, the Doves elected to pinch hit for Mattern in the 8th inning and his replacement Bill Chappelle got shelled for four runs in the ninth to put the game out of reach.
Chicago's first run came in the 5th inning when Harry Steinfeldt led off with a walk. Steiny stole second, went to third on a Solly Hofman single, and then scored on a Joe Tinker single to give the Cubs the 1-0 lead. Things stayed quiet until the 9th when two hits, two walks, a sac fly, and a double steal led to four insurance runs for the Cubs.
Not a single Cub had more than one hit, but Joe Tinker did add two walks and the first RBI, so we'll go ahead and give him the offensive "star" of the game for this one.

Now watch me whip, now watch me nae nae
In other news ... would you like to go to a dinner where $16,000,000 in gifts were handed out? (If you answered "no" then you must be filthy rich and I kindly ask you to immediately buy 10,000 Make America 1908 Again shirts. Thanks in advance!)
Sadly, the catch for this awesome dinner party in 1908 is that you had to be one of the four kids of filthy rich iron magnate William Henry Singer, who invited all his kids to dinner at his house, and then put a $4,000,000 gift underneath each of their plates.
In case you're curious, $4,000,000 in 1908 money is the equivalent to getting $99,142,403 today, so that's an insane amount of money. Oh Father ... how we love thee so!!!!!

Oh and don't feel too bad for Dad either (I know you don't). The Tribune reports that he still had $15,000,000 left over for his own personal fortune.
And on that note ... enjoy your stupid job today that doesn't pay you what you're worth!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!
In summary (I'm crying on the inside now too), the Cubs win sends them to 84-52 on the season. Naturally the Giants won again, so that deficit remains three games, but at the very least the Pirates split a doubleheader with Philly so the Cubs are now tied for second. The final game of the Boston series is tomorrow, followed by a five game series with those same Phillies.
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