October 11, 1908: 8th inning home run blows things open and the Cubs take game two of the World Seri
Another day, another late inning rally for the Cubs. In front of 17,760 fans at Chicago's West Side Grounds, the Cubs blew open a scoreless tie in the 8th inning on their way to a 6-1 win over the Detroit Tigers and a 2-0 lead in the 1908 World Series.
Before we get into the details of the game, another interesting thing that caught my eye was how the money was distributed for World Series games ... the players earned a higher percentage of ticket sales than the owners!
Ticket stub from game two of the 1908 World Series
Also interesting was how quickly this money was broken down, since it was already printed in the newspaper the very next day. Keep in mind that this is during a time where it took three days to take the train from Chicago to New York, so the fact that ANYTHING gets turned around in a day was pretty impressive.
So after two games, a paid attendance of 23,438 had resulted in $43,400 in gross receipts. Now the players got to pocket the most of it, grabbing $23,438, while the owners took home "only" $7,812. Granted, there's way more players to spread the money around to, but I still thought it was interesting that they pulled in a 3-1 ratio (considering how badly most players of the era were treated and compensated).
October 11, 1908 ... West Side Grounds
The other thing that stands out is how lousy the attendance was for the 1908 series. These same two teams squared off in 1907, and after two games had already managed a combined attendance of 46,278 ... essentially doubling 1908's numbers.
Now, Detroit has to take a LOT of the blame. Their attendance was pretty lousy in both 1907 and 1908, but even the Cubs were off a few thousand from their first game last year. That said ... how can you get THAT excited about a bunch of dorks who wear suits in their team picture?
We are not tough
On to the game ... which was an incredible pitcher's duel until the 8th inning. For the Cubs, Orval Overall only gave up three hits through seven innings, and his counterpart for Detroit, their ace "Wild Bill" Donovan, only gave up one hit and two total baserunners.
That all changed in the bottom of the 8th. After a Harry Steinfeldt strikeout, Solly Hofman reached on a bunt single, setting the stage for Joe Tinker to become the hero of the day. The Cubs shortstop and future Hall of Famer had hit the ball hard twice so far on the day, but had no hits to show for it. Until now.
Seeing a waist high fastball on the inside corner from Wild Bill, Tinker stepped back in the box and muscled the ball to right field. Ty Cobb gave chase, but simply ran out of room as Tinker deposited the ball into the right field stands for a two run homer and the first Cubs lead of the day.
The 1908 Cubs infield ... L-R: Harry Steinfeldt, Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance
The damage was done ... Donovan totally fell apart and the Cubs managed to scratch out four more insurance runs, taking a 6-0 lead to the 9th inning. The Tigers scored one run in the final inning, but it wasn't nearly enough. Final score ... 6-1.
The Cubs are now sitting pretty in the series ... up 2-0 and dispatching of the Tigers' best pitcher, "Wild Bill" Donovan. Game three takes place tomorrow at the West Side Grounds. Jack Pfiester gets the call for the Cubs, while George Mullin tries to save the season for the Detroit Tigers.
