October 3, 1908: Cubs crush the Reds to stay in the playoff race. Also, one Cubs player has a warra

The Cubs delivered an utter beatdown to the hapless Cincinnati Reds today, winning 16-2 and staying alive in the playoff hunt. Pittsburgh defeated St. Louis to remain a half game ahead in first, but the Pirates and Cubs square off tomorrow in Chicago for the second to last game of the year. If the Cubs lose they're out, if they win they control their own destiny.

Meanwhile, New York suffered a huge 3-2 loss to the Phillies. The Giants now need the Cubs to beat Pittsburgh, plus run the table in their three game series with the Boston Doves, and then beat the Cubs in the one-game "playoff" of the Merkle Game replay.

The Cubs wasted no time in their game today, scoring six runs in the first inning and 14 runs in the first three innings. Del Howard was the offensive star of the day, going 4-6 and adding a couple runs scored as well.

Del Howard

Howard wasn't alone in having success at the plate ... Solly Hofman and Johnny Kling both added three hits, Hofman tossing in two stolen bases for good measure. Ed Reulbach had way more support than he even needed and left the game with a 15-0 lead and let Chick Frazer handle the mop-up duty at the end.

Now we turn our focus to the two biggest games of the year ... tomorrow's game against the Pirates, and then the October 8th showdown for all the marbles against the Giants. By the way, the Cubs may need directions to their home field surroundings, given the fact that tomorrow's game will be their first one in Chicago since September 9th (yup, you read that right).

Oh and here's a nifty little tidbit when they return ... there's a warrant out for the arrest of Cubs shortstop Joe Tinker! Apparently on that night in September after the last Cubs home game, Tinker went to a saloon on the corner of Polk and Wood streets when he had an altercation with a liquor distributor named Charles Ginocchio.

Curse you Ginocchio!

Ginocchio asked Tinker to have a drink with him, and Tinker responded by punching him in the face. Now you're thinking, "Well that's an overreaction," but Tinker and Ginocchio seem to have a history with each other. Tinker was once before sued by Ginocchio (for what I have no idea), and a court ordered Tinker to pay a $350 to him.

So yeah, I imagine his "come have a drink with me" had a bit of a tone, and I imagine Tinker had a bit of a short fuse as well. I can tell you that through the magic of Mr. Google, Tinker will be acquitted of these charges.

So let's go back to the field ... See you tomorrow with the season on the line!