October 1, 1908: Cubs win, forcing a three-way tie for first place.

The race for the 1908 National League pennant continues to be a wild one. The Cubs defeated Cincinnati 6-0 behind another strong outing from Big Ed Reulbach. Meanwhile, the Giants split a doubleheader and the Pirates didn't play. So that means we now have a three way tie for first place with only four games remaining (at least for the Cubs).

Oh and speaking of Big Ed Reulbach, I should point out that this was his first start since his historic achievement of throwing two shutouts on the same day (full story here). So what does he do today? Why throw another shutout of course. What? Just ONE??? WIMP!!!

I should also add that Reulbach apparently had a chocolate craving and sat in the dugout before the game and ate an entire box of bon bons. I love this guy!

Health food is for losers!

The Cubs only had six hits on the day, but they made them count. In addition, the Reds played incredibly sloppy baseball filled with mental mistakes, passed balls, and four errors, and the Cubs made sure to take advantage of those too.

Chicago got on the board in the 2nd when Del Howard reached on an error. Howard then advanced to second on another error on a pickoff attempt, and then moved to third on a passed ball. (I told you they were sloppy!) Solly Hofman then knocked him in with a single.

The Cubs then blew the game open in the 4th when both Frank Chance and Del Howard reached on errors (yikes). Hofman then singled in Chance for his second RBI of the game. Johnny Kling then reached on a "single" that was generously given to him after center fielder Dode Paskert misjudged his fly ball (this game is ugly!), which allowed Howard to score. Jimmy Sheckard then added a double to score Kling for the fourth run of the inning and a 5-0 lead.

Jimmy Sheckard, 1908

That was way more than Reulbach needed, who only have up two hits the entire game on his way to an easy 6-0 win.

So here's where things stand ... Chicago, New York, and Pittsburgh are now in a three-way tie for first. I should also point out that in 1908, we still had no idea how the league was going to handle the infamous Merkle Game. I went ahead and spoiled the details on that day to save you the wait (read it here), but in 1908 the Cubs had no clue if the game counted as a win for them, would be replayed, was a win for the Giants, or whatever.

But we will go ahead and live under the assumption that the game gets replayed (like it does), so the Cubs have four games left on the year ... two against Cincy, one against Pittsburgh, and the Merkle makeup with the Giants to end it. Meanwhile the Giants have six games left ... two with Philly, three with Boston, and the Merkle Game. Pittsburgh has four games ... three with the awful Cardinals and the one Cub game. So it's right down to the wire!