History

Fred Merkle’s 1908 mistake changed the Giants-Cubs pennant race

The September 23, 1908 force-out decision erased a Giants winning run, but the rest of New York's season also shaped the outcome.

By The Sporting Page Editorial StaffTSP News Brief
Spectators watch the Polo Grounds from Coogan’s Bluff on September 23, 1908.
Spectators watch the Polo Grounds from Coogan’s Bluff on September 23, 1908. · Credit: Photographer unknown / Wikimedia Commons

The Giants appeared to beat the Cubs at the Polo Grounds on September 23, 1908, until Chicago appealed Fred Merkle's failure to touch second base after the apparent winning hit.

The force-out ruling cancelled the run, and the game ended tied with spectators on the field and daylight fading. Accounts still differ over which ball Chicago used to complete the appeal.

The teams finished the season level, and Chicago won the replay to take the National League pennant. Merkle's mistake became attached to his reputation for decades.

Yet the Giants won the next day's game and still had opportunities to finish ahead of Chicago. The ruling helped shape the race, while the familiar story of one player losing the pennant leaves out everything that followed.

Reporting sources: SABR account of the disputed game; SABR biography of Fred Merkle; Historical overview of the ruling

Continue at the source

Read the complete report

This page is an original Sporting Page summary. The reporting remains with SABR account of the disputed game.

Read at SABR account of the disputed game