These Are The World Champion 1908 Chicago Cubs

Players on the 1908 World Champion Chicago Cubs In High Definition Photographs

Joe Tinker Second Baseman of the 1908 Chicago Cubs

Joe Tinker, Shortstop 1908 Chicago Cubs

For the moment it seems all of America is talking about the Chicago Cubs. As everyone now knows it has been 108 years since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series four games to one against the Detroit Tigers.

But what do you know of the 1908 Cubs team?

Maybe you’ve heard of Tinker to Evers to Chance the famous Cubs double play combination immortalized in a newspaper poem by the once legendary Franklin P. Adams. It should be noted that off the field Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers refused to speak to one another. Besides the trio of Cubs Hall-of Famers, you probably know little of the 1908 Cubbies.

Johnny Kling, Catcher 1908 Chicago Cubs

Johnny Kling, Catcher 1908 Chicago Cubs (check out that bat!)

The 1908 Cubs are comprised of forgotten names. Their achievements are just dusty remnants that reside only in the record books. There is no one alive today who actually saw the 1908 Chicago Cubs play.

They were a hardened lot, these players. They usually had to work at other jobs in the off-season. It was a time when baseball players scrambled for a job on one of 16 ball clubs. They had to be constantly looking over their shoulder because there was always some youngster trying to take their $2,000 a year baseball job.

At least we can see what they looked like. We’re bringing the Chicago Cubs of 1908 back to you in high definition photographs. All photographs are from the Library of Congress and can be clicked on for enlargement in great detail.

With their heavy flannel uniforms, small fingered gloves, heavy bats and grizzled looks, here are some of the 1908 Chicago Cubs:

Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, Pitcher 1908 Chicago Cubs

Mordecai “Three Fingered” Brown, Pitcher 1908 Chicago Cubs

Mordecai “Three Fingered” Brown, really only had three fingers, his index finger was a stump that was the result of catching his hand in a corn shredder when he was seven-years-old. That accident gave Brown an odd spin on his fastball which confounded hitters. He won 239 games while losing only 130 in his career. His ERA was 2.06, the third lowest in history for pitchers with over 2,000 innings.

In the 1908 World Series Brown was one of two star pitchers, winning two games against the Detroit Tigers. Brown was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949.

Orval Overall Pitcher 1908 Chicago Cubs

Orval Overall Pitcher 1908 Chicago Cubs

You would think anyone named Orval Overall would be remembered just because of his name. A short career doomed Orval to obscurity despite a 108-71 lifetime record with a 2.23 ERA. There was no Tommy John surgery when Overall hurt his arm and his career was over in 1913 at age 32.  Overall won the other two games for the Cubs in the 1908 World Series.

Johnny Evers Shortstop 1908 Chicago Cubs

Johnny Evers Second Baseman 1908 Chicago Cubs

Johnny Evers was considered one of the scrappiest and smartest players to ever play the game. Evers batted .300 in 1908 and .350 in the World Series. If you enlarge the photograph you will see a man who had lived quite a bit. This photograph of Evers is from 1913 when he was only 32.

Fran Chance, First Baseman 1908 Chicago Cubs

Frank Chance, First Baseman 1908 Chicago Cubs

Frank Chance was not only a stellar first baseman for the Cubs in 1908, he was also their manager. In the World Series Chance hit the only home run for the Cubs, stole five bases and batted a team leading .421.

Johnny Kling, Catcher 1908 Chicago Cubs

Johnny Kling, Catcher 1908 Chicago Cubs

Johnny Kling is considered the best defensive catcher of the deadball era. Many years after Kling retired from playing, in 1935 he bought a minor league team, the Kansas City Blues of the American Association. Muehlanbach Field was home not only to the Blues, but also the Negro Leagues Kansas City Monarchs. The stadium had segregated seating. Upon taking ownership Kling eliminated that policy. When he sold the team to Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert in 1937, Ruppert reverted back to segregated seating.

Solly Hofman Utility Man batting-Jack Pfiester, Pitcher catching 1908 Chicago Cubs

Solly Hofman Utility Man batting.  Jack Pfiester, Pitcher catching 1908 Chicago Cubs

Arthur “Solly” Hofman (at bat) was an all around utility player. Manager Frank Chance forbade Hofman from marrying during the season. On October 15, 1908 the day after the Cubs won the World Series Hofman married Rae Locker.

Jack Pfiester, a southpaw, was one of the Cubs starting pitchers in 1908 and had a 12-10 record. Not considered a great pitcher, Pfiester had one statistical peculiarity: he consistently beat the Giants, going 15-5 with seven shutouts in his career against them. In the 1908 World Series Pfiester got creamed in his one start, giving up eight runs in game three. It was the only loss for the Cubs in the series.

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Ed Reulbach, Pitcher 1908 Chicago Cubs

Ed Ruelbach was the other regular starting pitcher for the 1908 Cubs. He went 24-7 that year but had no decisions in the World Series. His career record was 182-106 with a 2.26 ERA.

Harry Steinfeldt, Third Baseman 1908 Chicago Cubs

Harry Steinfeldt, Third Baseman 1908 Chicago Cubs

Harry Steinfeldt the third baseman for the Cubs was a phenomenal fielder and a very good hitter batting .327 and leading the National League in RBI’s with 83 in 1906. Steinfeldt ‘s career ended in 1911 and he died of a brain hemorrhage in 1914 at the age of 37.

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Jimmy Sheckard, Outfielder 1908 Chicago Cubs

Jimmy Sheckard was a fleet outfielder who had a good eye walking 1135 times and stealing 465 bases in a 17 year career.  In the 1908 World Series Sheckard had five hits in five games for a .234 batting average.

Heinie Zimmerman, Third Baseman 1908 Chicago Cubs

Heinie Zimmerman, Third Baseman 1908 Chicago Cubs

The early years of baseball were great for colorful nicknames. But too many players with German ancestry who were named Henry ended up being nicknamed “Heinie.” Heinie Zimmerman did not get into the 1908 World Series, but then again he was only 21-years-old and backing up Johnny Evers. Zimmerman had a 13 year major league career and compiled a .295 batting average.

4 thoughts on “These Are The World Champion 1908 Chicago Cubs

  1. Buzz Delano

    I am seeking a knowledgeable and trustworthy collector or auction of vintage, early-mid 20th century MLB private press photos and a vintage original 1908 Chicago Cubs team poster.

    Reply
    1. B.P. Post author

      You could contact Robert Edward Auctions, they may be very interested in that sort of material. Realize you will have to pay a commission that will cut into your profit.

      The press photos sound intriguing. If they have not been seen in over 100 years We’d be very interested in showing one or two if you’d be willing to share and then you would get wider exposure on our site instead of just leaving a comment in this one story.

      Reply
    1. B.P. Post author

      There are many theories and none were ever really confirmed as far as I know.

      The reason I read from Evers side, was that he and Tinker were having a catch and Tinker threw a ball very hard right at Evers, when he was about ten feet away. The throw bent Evers fingers back and Evers cursed him out and asked why he did it? Tinker laughed. And Evers said they never spoke again until many, many years after their playing days were over.

      Joe Tinker told his side of the feud to the Associated Press in 1937 saying, the two had many bitter arguments. One day,after a really bad argument Tinker told Evers, not to speak to him again and Evers took him at his word. According to Tinker the two did not speak even on the field for two years. Tinker emphasized that the two had made up a few years ago. If the feud started in 1905, that would make it at least 25 years that the two did not talk to one another.

      Among the other stories is that the two had an on field fight in Brooklyn, slugging each other right in front of the Cubs bench. This is confirmed by pitching star Christy Mathewson.

      Another story says it was a dispute over cab fare.

      Possibly the best source for unraveling the truth is always a contemporary one at the time of the incident.

      Famous Chicago Daily Tribune sportswriter of the day, Hughie Fullerton, (portrayed by Studs Terkel in the movie Eight Men Out about the 1919 Black Sox scandal) wrote in 1906 of the origins of the feud. The two ballplayers were scheduled to be playing an exhibition game in Indiana. A local committee had provided beautiful carriages to transport the players on the team from the hotel to the ballpark. Evers and Tinker were running late and Evers hustled down in his uniform and hopped into the last carriage going to the field by himself. When Tinker got downstairs there were no carriages remaining and he had to walk a “dusty mile” to the field and when he got there, they immediately got into a fight. Fullerton states that their feud ended in a big laugh. Obviously not.

      Whatever the reason, the two did not get along for quite a long time.

      Reply

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