The 1907

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

was the championship series in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the 1907 season. The fourth edition of the World Series, it featured the defending

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

champion

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

champion

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. The Cubs won the Series four games to none (with one tie) for their first championship. The series had been scheduled for two games in Chicago, three games in Detroit, and one game in Chicago (games beyond the first four, only if necessary). Had a seventh game been necessary, its location was to be decided by the league office. After the first game ended in a tie, the series did not move to Detroit until Game 4. The Cubs came back strong from their shocking loss in the

1906 World Series The 1906 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1906 season. The third edition of the World Series, it featured a crosstown matchup between the American League champion Chicago White Sox and the National Leagu ...

. The Tigers' young star

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...

came into the Series with the first of his many league batting championships. With pitching dominance over the Tigers and Cobb, the Cubs allowed only three runs in the four games they won, while stealing 18 bases off the rattled Tigers. Each game was umpired by the two-man crew of

Hank O'Day Henry M. O'Day (July 8, 1859 – July 2, 1935), nicknamed "The Reverend", was an American right-handed pitcher and later an umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. After a seven-year major league playing career, he worked as a National ...

and Jack Sheridan.

Summary

Matchups

Game 1

The Tigers scored three runs, largely due to three Cub

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

s, in the eighth inning and held a 3–1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Cubs loaded the bases on a single, walk and infield error with one out. Detroit conceded a run on a ground ball for the second out, and Cub player-manager

Frank Chance Frank Leroy Chance (September 9, 1877 – September 15, 1924) was an American professional baseball player. A first baseman, Chance played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs (initially named the "Orphans") and New York Yankees from 18 ...

then

pinch hit In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, America ...

Del Howard George Elmer "Del" Howard (December 24, 1877 – December 24, 1956) was a Major League Baseball player from 1905 to 1909. He would play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Beaneaters, Boston Beaneaters/Doves, and Chicago Cubs. Howard appeared in ...

for

Joe Tinker Joseph Bert Tinker (July 27, 1880 – July 27, 1948) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played from 1902 through 1916 for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Chicago Whales of the ...

Wild Bill Donovan William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan (January 1, 1883 – February 8, 1959) was an American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat, best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the Bu ...

(25–4 in the regular season) struck him out, but the ball got away from catcher

Boss Schmidt Charles "Boss" Schmidt (September 12, 1880 – November 14, 1932) was an American baseball catcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB) A native of Arkansas, Schmidt played professional baseball from 1901 to 1926, including six ...

, allowing

Harry Steinfeldt Harry M. Steinfeldt (September 29, 1875 – August 17, 1914) was an American professional baseball player. A third baseman, Steinfeldt played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, and Boston Rustlers. He batted and threw ...

to score the tying run. Donovan got the next hitter, but the damage had been done. The teams then played three scoreless

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

before the game was called on account of darkness and declared a tie, a World Series first. Donovan struck out 12 Cubs in the game. Although that matched

Ed Walsh Edward Augustine "Big Ed" Walsh (May 14, 1881 – May 26, 1959) was an American pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball. From 1906 to 1912, he had several seasons where he was one of the best pitchers in baseball. Injuries shortened his car ...

's total in Game 3 against the Cubs in 1906, Walsh had done so in nine innings while Donovan only struck out 10 batters in the first nine innings of the game. This was the closest the Tigers came to winning a game in this, their first Series. The Cubs committed five errors and struck out 12 times in the game, but nine

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

attempts (seven successful) and five

bunt Bunt may refer to: * Bunt (community), an elite social group from Karnataka, India * Bunt (baseball), a batting technique in baseball * Bunt (sail), a part of a ship's sail * Bunt Island, island in Antarctica * The Bunt, nickname of the Bunting ...

s (two for hits) set an aggressive offensive tone pressuring the Tigers for the rest of the series.

Game 2

George Mullin, who both won and lost 20 games for Detroit in the regular season, and who had walked over 100 batters in each of his last five seasons, issued a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the second, matching the Tiger run in the top of the inning and tying the score at 1–1. Chicago scored two more in the fourth on a single, sacrifice bunt, RBI single, stolen base and double to take a 3–1 lead.

Jack Pfiester John Albert Pfiester (May 24, 1878 – September 3, 1953) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs from 1903 to 1911 and helped the Cubs win two World Series ...

, while allowing ten hits, benefited from two double plays and three caught-stealings by battery-mate

Johnny Kling Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

and was the winning pitcher for the Cubs.

scored a run and drove in another in Game 2 after being pinch-hit for in the ninth inning of Game 1.

Hughie Jennings Hugh Ambrose Jennings (April 2, 1869 – February 1, 1928) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won Nat ...

was the recipient of the first ejection issued in World Series history when he argued a caught stealing call by

against

Germany Schaefer Herman A. "Germany" Schaefer (February 4, 1876 – May 16, 1919) was a second baseman, first baseman and third baseman in Major League Baseball who played 15 seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Newark Pepper, New ...

Game 3

Cub pitcher

Ed Reulbach Edward Marvin "Big Ed" Reulbach (December 1, 1882 – July 17, 1961) was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs during their glory years of the early 1900s. Career Reulbach played college baseball at the University of Notre Dame ...

scattered six hits as Chicago jumped on Tiger starter

Ed Siever Edward Tilden Siever (April 2, 1875 – February 4, 1920) was an American baseball pitcher. He played professional baseball for 12 seasons from 1899 to 1910, including seven years in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers (1901–1902, 1906 ...

for four runs on seven hits in only four innings en route to their second win.

Johnny Evers John Joseph Evers (July 21, 1881 – March 28, 1947) was an American professional baseball second baseman and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1902 through 1917 for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves, and Philadelphia Philli ...

had three hits, including two doubles, as the Cubs took a 2–0 lead in the Series.

Game 4

In their first World Series home game, the Tigers took a 1–0 lead on a triple by their 20-year-old batting champion

and an RBI single by

Claude Rossman Claude R. Rossman (June 17, 1881 – January 16, 1928) was an American baseball player. He played professional baseball for 12 years from 1903 to 1914, principally as first baseman, including five years in Major League Baseball with the Cleveland ...

in the bottom of the fourth, shortly before a rain delay in the top of the fifth. Soon after play resumed in the same inning, two Cubs reached base on an error and a walk. After

sacrificed, pitcher

Orval Overall Orval Overall (February 2, 1881 – July 14, 1947) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was a member of the Chicago Cubs dynasty of the early 1900s, making eight appearances for the Cubs in the World Series, including five as the ...

drove both runners home on a single to right. The Cubs scored three more in the seventh without the ball leaving the infield, on four bunts (two for hits) and two ground balls. Regular-season 23-game winner Overall was masterful after the rain delay, allowing only one hit in Detroit's final five innings, giving his Cubs a commanding 3–0 lead in the Series.

Game 5

Baseball World Championship, 1907 (LOC 416092656)

Chicago wrapped up the series with a 2–0 victory on "Three-fingered"

Mordecai Brown Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown (October 19, 1876 – February 14, 1948), nicknamed Three Finger Brown or Miner, was an American Major League Baseball pitcher and manager during the first two decades of the 20th century (known as the "dead-ball er ...

's seven-hit shutout. The Cubs scored a run in the top of the first on a walk, stolen base and RBI single by

and scored again in the second on an error, a single, a double-steal and a groundout to drive in the last run of the Series. Detroit had runners on second and third with one out in the last of the fourth, but left them there and never seriously threatened after that. This Series was the closest to a four-game sweep until the first true Series sweep in , when

George Stallings George Tweedy Stallings (November 17, 1867 – May 13, 1929) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and Philadelphia Phillies in 1890 and 1897 to 1898 and manage ...

' "miracle"

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

surged from last place in mid-July to win the NL pennant and upset

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

in the Series.

Composite line score

1907 World Series (4–0–1):

(N.L.) over

(A.L.)

Sources

References

External links

{{Detroit Tigers

Chicago Cubs postseason Detroit Tigers postseason World Series

1900s in Chicago

Sports competitions in Chicago Sports competitions in Detroit