1908 New York Yankees (Highlanders)

The final standing	8th in AL (Did not qualify for World Series)
Regular season record	51-103 (.331)
Post-season record	(Not played)
AL rank	8th
World Series record and opponent	(Not played)
Manager	Clark Griffith, Kid Elberfeld
Captain	Willie Keeler
Top batter	Home runs: Harry Niles (4), Jake Stahl (2) BA: Charlie Hemphill (.297), Willie Keeler (.263), Hal Chase (.257) Runs: Charlie Hemphill (62), Hal Chase (50), Wild Conroy (44)  RBI: Charlie Hemphill (44), Jake Stahl (42), Wild Conroy (39)
Top pitcher/ (W-L, ERA)	Rube Manning: 13-16, 2.94
Attendance record	305,500 (7th of 8)

1908 New York Yankees season: A brief summary

The 1908 season for the New York Highlanders, who would later become known as the Yankees, is a significant chapter in the team’s early history, reflecting a period of struggle and controversy that shaped its future evolution. This review delves into the team’s performance, key events, and the impact of these on the franchise.

The Highlanders concluded the 1908 season in a dismal eighth place within the American League, compiling a record of 51 wins and 103 losses. This performance marked one of the lowest points in the team’s history, placing them a staggering 17 games away from seventh place, and only exacerbating the disappointment felt by fans and players alike. The season’s struggles were further magnified by the departure of starting first baseman Hal Chase in September, amidst allegations of game-throwing, casting a shadow over the integrity of the team and its competitiveness.

The managerial shift from Clark Griffith to Kid Elberfeld did little to arrest the team’s downward spiral. Under Elberfeld’s stewardship, the Highlanders lost 70 of their final 98 games, a testament to the tumultuous and challenging environment within the clubhouse and on the field. This period of instability undoubtedly contributed to the team’s lackluster performance throughout the season.

However, the 1908 season was not without its noteworthy moments. On June 30, Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox pitched a no-hitter against the Highlanders, a game in which he remarkably contributed three hits and four RBIs. This event highlighted the competitive spirit and talent prevalent in the league, offering a stark contrast to the Highlanders’ struggles. The season also witnessed the growing use of the nickname “Yankees” to refer to the Highlanders, a moniker that would eventually become official and synonymous with the team’s identity.

Another significant event was Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators shutting out the Highlanders in three consecutive games on September 4, 5, and 7. Johnson’s dominance on the mound was a clear indicator of the quality of pitching that the Highlanders were up against, further emphasizing the challenges they faced throughout the season.

The 1908 season for the New York Highlanders/Yankees was undeniably a period of adversity, marked by poor performances, managerial changes, and controversies. Yet, it also served as a critical juncture in the team’s history, laying the groundwork for future improvements and successes. Despite the hardships, the emergence of the “Yankees” nickname signaled the beginning of a new era, one that would eventually lead to the team becoming one of the most storied and successful franchises in baseball history.

A peculiar doubleheader that shaped the 1908 pennant race

In the tapestry of pre-Babe Ruth New York Highlanders (later known as the Yankees) history, moments of glory and triumph are sparse and often overshadowed by seasons of missed opportunities and middling performances. Yet, amidst this backdrop of unfulfilled potential, a singular incident during the 1908 season stands out, not just for its immediate impact but for its lasting imprint on the narrative of early 20th-century baseball. This incident, occurring on July 11, 1908, during a doubleheader against the Cleveland Naps, encapsulates the unpredictable and often amusing nature of baseball, while also inadvertently shaping the course of the American League pennant race.

The stage was set on a day meant to make up for a rained-out game from May. Bill Hogg and Glenn Liebhardt took the mound for their respective teams, embarking on what would become a pitchers’ duel for the ages, at least through the first eight innings. The game remained scoreless, with both pitchers masterfully navigating through opposing lineups, until a series of misfortunes and a peculiar play unfolded in the ninth inning that would seal the game’s fate.

The Highlanders, trailing by two runs in the bottom of the ninth, mounted a comeback that was as improbable as it was dramatic. The inning began with a pinch-hit infield single, followed by another single and a bunt attempt that turned into an error, loading the bases with no outs. What followed was a sequence of events that seemed to defy logic and strategy. A soft foul pop-up caught for an out, a single that tied the game, and then a strikeout that set the stage for an extraordinary and chaotic play involving Charlie Hemphill and a confused Cleveland defense, allowed the winning run to score in a manner so bizarre it could only be believed because it was documented.

This moment was not just a highlight in a season otherwise marked by disappointment; it was a testament to the unpredictable joy that baseball can provide, a reminder that any team can rise to the occasion, regardless of their standing. The Highlanders’ sweep of the Naps that day did more than just add two wins to their tally; it arguably derailed Cleveland’s season. The losses on July 11 contributed to a slide that saw Cleveland fall from pennant contention, only to narrowly miss reclaiming the lead late in the season. The Naps’ eventual shortfall by a mere half-game in the pennant race underscored the significance of every game, especially those lost in the most unusual ways.

Reflecting on this incident, it’s clear that the 1908 season for the New York Highlanders, though largely forgettable for its standings, is memorable for showcasing the unpredictability and charm of baseball. This game against the Cleveland Naps serves as a poignant reminder of how a single day, a single game, and even a single play can resonate through history, influencing pennant races and defining the legacy of teams and players alike. In a season filled with more downs than ups, July 11, 1908, remains a bright spot, a moment of levity and triumph in the face of adversity, and a story worth retelling in the annals of baseball history.

Postseason result

(Did not qualify – Eliminated in regular season)

1908 New York Yankees roster

Name	Age	B	T	Ht	Wt	DoB	Yrs	G	GS	WAR
Neal Ball	27	R	R	5′ 7″	145	Apr 22, 1881	2	133	127	0.1
Harry Billiard	24	R	R	6′ 0″	190	Nov 11, 1883	1st	6	0	-0.7
Walter Blair	24	R	R	6′ 0″	185	Oct 13, 1883	2	77	60	-1.1
Hal Chase	25	R	L	6′ 0″	175	Feb 13, 1883	4	106	105	0.5
Jack Chesbro HOF	34	R	R	5′ 9″	180	Jun 5, 1874	10	45	31	2.2
Wid Conroy	31	R	R	5′ 9″	158	Apr 5, 1877	8	141	141	1.1
Birdie Cree	25	R	R	5′ 6″	150	Oct 23, 1882	1st	21	21	0.3
Frank Delahanty	25	R	R	5′ 9″	160	Dec 29, 1882	4	37	36	0.3
Mike Donovan	26	R	R	5′ 8″	155	Oct 18, 1881	2	5	5	0.1
Slow Joe Doyle	26	R	R	5′ 8″	150	Sep 15, 1881	3	12	4	0.3
Kid Elberfeld	33	R	R	5′ 7″	158	Apr 13, 1875	10	20	17	0.2
Earle Gardner	24	R	R	5′ 11″	160	Jan 24, 1884	1st	20	20	-0.5
Fred Glade	32	R	R	5′ 10″	175	Jan 25, 1876	6	5	5	-0.5
Charlie Hemphill	32	L	L	5′ 9″	160	Apr 20, 1876	8	142	142	3.8
Bill Hogg	26	R	R	6′ 0″	200	Sep 11, 1881	4	24	21	-1.3
Willie Keeler HOF	36	L	L	5′ 4″	140	Mar 3, 1872	17	91	87	0.8
Red Kleinow	30	R	R	5′ 10″	165	Jul 20, 1877	5	96	89	0.4
Joe Lake	27	R	R	6′ 0″	185	Jan 6, 1881	1st	45	27	-1.7
Frank LaPorte	28	R	R	5′ 8″	175	Feb 6, 1880	4	41	39	0.3
Rube Manning	25	R	R	6′ 0″	180	Apr 29, 1883	2	45	26	1.9
Irish McIlveen	27	L	L	5′ 11″	180	Jul 27, 1880	2	44	44	-0.1
George Moriarty	22	R	R	6′ 0″	185	Jul 7, 1885	5	110	94	0.3
Doc Newton	30	L	L	6′ 0″	185	Oct 26, 1877	7	23	13	-0.5
Harry Niles	27	R	R	5′ 8″	175	Sep 10, 1880	3	95	90	0.9
Andy O’Connor	23	R	R	6′ 0″	160	Sep 14, 1884	1st	1	1	-0.4
Jimmy O’Rourke	24	R	R	5′ 7″	150	Dec 26, 1883	1st	34	28	-0.2
Al Orth	35	L	R	6′ 0″	200	Sep 5, 1872	14	39	17	2
Jake Stahl	29	R	R	6′ 2″	195	Apr 13, 1879	5	75	74	1.3
Ed Sweeney	19	R	R	6′ 1″	200	Jul 19, 1888	1st	32	21	-1.1
Hippo Vaughn	20	B	L	6′ 4″	215	Apr 9, 1888	1st	2	0	0
Jack Warhop	23	R	R	5′ 9″	168	Jul 4, 1884	1st	6	4	-0.3
Pete Wilson	23		L	5′ 10″	150	Oct 9, 1884	1st	7	6	0.5

1908 New York Yankees player additions, transactions, and trades

November 5, 1907

• Traded Hobe Ferris, Danny Hoffman, and Jimmy Williams to the St. Louis Browns, receiving Fred Glade, Charlie Hemphill, and Harry Niles.
• Purchased Hobe Ferris from the Boston Americans.

December 12, 1907

• Ira Thomas’s player rights were sold to the Detroit Tigers.

January 1908

• Purchased Mike Donovan from the Cleveland Naps.

May 26, 1908

• Purchased Hippo Vaughn from Hot Springs (Arkansas State).

June 1908

• Released John Neuer. (The exact date is uncertain.)

July 9, 1908

• Signed Frank Delahanty as a free agent.

July 10, 1908

• Jake Stahl’s player rights were sold to the Boston Red Sox.

August 1908

• Purchased Ray Demmitt and Clyde Engle from Newark (Eastern).
• On August 13, purchased Irish McIlveen from Newark (Eastern).

August 17, 1908

• Traded Harry Niles to the Boston Red Sox, receiving Frank LaPorte.

August 20, 1908

• Purchased John Knight from Baltimore (International).

September 1908

• Drafted several players in the 1908 rule 5 draft, including Russ Ford from Atlanta (Southern Association), Jimmy Austin from Omaha (Western), Earle Gardner from Hartford (Connecticut State), Jack Quinn from Richmond (Virginia), Charles Schmidt from Baltimore (Eastern), and Pete Wilson from Hartford (Connecticut State).

1908 New York Yankees player debuts

• Harry Billiard – 07-31-1908 – 24 years old
• Birdie Cree – 09-17-1908 – 25 years old
• Earle Gardner – 09-18-1908 – 24 years old
• Joe Lake – 04-21-1908 – 27 years old
• Andy O’Connor – 10-06-1908 – 24 years old
• Jimmy O’Rourke – 08-15-1908 – 24 years old
• Ed Sweeney – 05-16-1908 – 19 years old
• Hippo Vaughn – 06-19-1908 – 20 years old
• Jack Warhop – 09-19-1908 – 24 years old
• Pete Wilson – 09-15-1908 – 22 years old

1908 New York Yankees team stats (batting)

Pos	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA
C	Red Kleinow	30	96	312	279	16	47	3	2	1	13	5	22	31	0.168
1B	Hal Chase	25	106	430	405	50	104	11	3	1	36	27	15	34	0.257
2B	Harry Niles	27	95	400	361	43	90	14	6	4	24	18	25	29	0.249
SS	Neal Ball	27	132	492	446	35	110	16	2	0	38	32	21	91	0.247
3B	Wid Conroy	31	141	572	531	44	126	22	3	1	39	23	14	54	0.237
OF	Willie Keeler	36	91	380	323	38	85	3	1	1	14	14	31	10	0.263
OF	Jake Stahl	29	75	302	274	34	70	18	5	2	42	17	11	43	0.255
OF	Charlie Hemphill	32	142	586	505	62	150	12	9	0	44	42	59	43	0.297
CI	George Moriarty	22	101	398	348	25	82	12	1	0	27	22	11	48	0.236
C	Walter Blair	24	76	234	211	9	40	5	1	1	13	4	11	31	0.19
OF	Irish McIlveen	27	44	188	169	17	36	3	3	0	8	6	14	14	0.213
2B	Frank LaPorte	28	39	162	145	7	38	3	4	1	15	3	8	12	0.262
OF	Frank Delahanty	25	37	137	125	12	32	1	2	0	10	9	10	13	0.256
UT	Jimmy O’Rourke	24	34	117	108	5	25	1	0	0	3	4	4	16	0.231
C	Ed Sweeney	19	32	89	82	4	12	2	0	0	2	0	5	14	0.146
OF	Birdie Cree	25	21	88	78	5	21	0	2	0	4	1	7	12	0.269
2B	Earle Gardner	24	20	80	75	7	16	2	0	0	4	0	1	6	0.213
SS	Kid Elberfeld	33	19	70	56	11	11	3	0	0	5	1	6	3	0.196
3B	Mike Donovan	26	5	19	19	2	5	1	0	0	2	0	0	6	0.263
P	Joe Lake	27	45	114	112	6	21	4	1	1	8	2	1	26	0.188
P	Jack Chesbro	34	45	106	102	8	18	2	1	0	6	0	0	23	0.176
P	Rube Manning	25	44	95	91	7	17	2	2	0	4	1	3	22	0.187
P	Al Orth	35	38	73	69	4	20	1	2	0	4	0	2	7	0.29
P	Bill Hogg	26	24	45	43	1	4	0	0	0	3	0	1	15	0.093
P	Doc Newton	30	23	30	25	3	4	1	0	0	2	0	2	12	0.16
P	Slow Joe Doyle	26	12	18	14	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0.214
P	Pete Wilson	23	7	17	14	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0.071
P	Jack Warhop	23	6	16	16	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	5	0.063
P	Fred Glade	32	5	10	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
P	Harry Billiard	24	6	6	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0.167
P	Andy O’Connor	23	1	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
P	Hippo Vaughn	20	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Team Totals	28.2	155	5590	5046	459	1190	142	50	13	372	231	288	639	0.236
	Rank in 8 AL teams				6	8	5	6	6	6		1	8	6	5
	Non-Pitcher Totals	28.2	155	5056	4540	426	1100	132	44	12	343	228	275	510	0.242
	Pitcher Totals	29	155	534	506	33	90	10	6	1	29	3	13	129	0.178

1908 New York Yankees team stats (pitching)

Pos	Name	Age	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER
SP	Jack Chesbro	34	14	20	0.412	2.93	45	31	13	20	3	1	288.2	276	134	94
SP	Joe Lake	27	9	22	0.29	3.17	38	27	11	19	2	0	269.1	252	157	95
SP	Rube Manning	25	13	16	0.448	2.94	41	26	15	19	2	1	245	228	114	80
SP	Bill Hogg	26	4	16	0.2	3.01	24	21	3	6	0	0	152.1	155	89	51
SP	Al Orth	35	2	13	0.133	3.42	21	17	3	8	1	0	139.1	134	62	53
SP	Doc Newton	30	4	5	0.444	2.95	23	13	7	6	1	1	88.1	78	52	29
RP	Slow Joe Doyle	26	1	1	0.5	2.63	12	4	5	2	1	0	48	42	24	14
RP	Harry Billiard	24	0	0		2.65	6	0	6	0	0	0	17	15	15	5
	Pete Wilson	23	3	3	0.5	3.46	6	6	0	4	1	0	39	27	16	15
	Jack Warhop	23	1	2	0.333	4.46	5	4	1	3	0	0	36.1	40	19	18
	Fred Glade	32	0	4	0	4.22	5	5	0	2	0	0	32	30	18	15
	Andy O’Connor	23	0	1	0	10.13	1	1	0	1	0	0	8	15	11	9
	Hippo Vaughn	20	0	0		3.86	2	0	1	0	0	0	2.1	1	1	1
	Hal Chase	25	0	0		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	0	0	0
	Team Totals	28.8	51	103	0.331	3.16	155	155	65	90	11	3	1366	1293	712	479
	Rank in 8 AL teams		8	1		8				8	8	8	8	7	8	8

1908 New York Yankees record vs. opponents/ Team splits

Opponent (Games)	Won	Lost	WP
Boston Red Sox (22)	10	12	0.455
Chicago White Sox (22)	6	16	0.273
Cleveland Naps (22)	6	16	0.273
Detroit Tigers (22)	7	15	0.318
Philadelphia Athletics (23)	8	14	0.364
St. Louis Browns (22)	5	17	0.227
Washington Senators (22)	9	13	0.409

1908 New York Yankees monthly record

Month (Games)	Won	Lost	WP
April (13)	8	5	0.615
May (21)	11	10	0.524
June (29)	7	21	0.250
July (30)	6	24	0.200
August (25)	6	19	0.240
September (28)	10	18	0.357
October (9)	3	6	0.333

How do you rate the 1908 New York Yankees?