Merkle's Boner
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Merkle's Boner refers to the notorious base-running mistake committed by rookie
Fred Merkle Carl Frederick Rudolf Merkle (also sometimes documented as Frederick Charles Merkle; December 20, 1888 – March 2, 1956), nicknamed "Bonehead", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1926. Although he had a lengthy c ...
of the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
in a game against the
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 ...
on September 23, 1908. Merkle's failure to advance to second base on what should have been a game-winning hit led instead to a force play at second and a tied game. The Cubs later won the makeup game, which proved decisive as they beat the Giants by one game to win the
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 ...
(NL) pennant for 1908. It has been described as "the most controversial game in baseball history".


Background

The NL pennant race of 1908 was a three-way fight among the teams that dominated the league in the first decade of the modern era: the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
(pennant winners in 1901, 1902, and 1903), the Giants (winners in 1904 and 1905), and the Cubs (winners in 1906 and 1907). The teams were clustered in the standings all year, with Pittsburgh never more than 2.5 games ahead or 5
games behind In most North American sports, the phrase games behind or games back (often abbreviated GB) is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. Example In the below standings fr ...
, the Giants never more than 4.5 ahead or 6.5 behind, and the Cubs never more than 4 ahead or 6 behind. When play began at the
Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...
in New York City on September 23, 1908, the Cubs and Giants were tied for first place (although the Giants had six more games to play, with an 87–50 record as opposed to the Cubs' 90–53), and the Pirates were 1.5 games behind with an 88–54 record. Merkle was 19 years old in 1908, the youngest player in the National League. He played in only 38 games all year, 11 of which were at first base as the backup for regular Giants first baseman
Fred Tenney Frederick Tenney (November 26, 1871 – July 3, 1952) was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned 20 seasons, 17 of which were spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Boston Beaneaters/Doves/Rustlers (1894–1907, 1911) ...
. Merkle was recovering from two foot surgeries in July, following a blood infection that nearly caused his foot to be amputated, and was unable to play for most of July and August. On the morning of September 23, Tenney woke up with a case of
lumbago Low back pain (LBP) or wiktionary:lumbago#Etymology, lumbago is a common musculoskeletal disorders, disorder involving the muscles, nerves, and bones of the back, in between the lower edge of the ribs and the lower fold of the buttocks. Pain can ...
, and Giants manager
John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...
penciled Merkle in at first base. It was the first big-league game Merkle had ever started.


Game

Future Hall of Famer
Christy Mathewson Christopher Mathewson (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed "Big Six", "the Christian Gentleman", "Matty", and "the Gentleman's Hurler", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher, who played 17 seasons with the New York Giant ...
started for the Giants;
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 ...
started for the Cubs. As was customary at the time, the game had only two umpires:
Bob Emslie Robert Daniel Emslie (January 27, 1859 – April 26, 1943) was a Canadian pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who went on to set numerous records for longevity as an umpire. Born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Emslie had a brief professional playi ...
on the basepaths and
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 ...
behind the plate. The Giants were the home team. Neither Mathewson nor Pfiester allowed a run through three innings. In the fourth, Cubs shortstop
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 th ...
hit the ball into the outfield, and when right fielder
Mike Donlin Michael Joseph Donlin (May 30, 1878 – September 24, 1933) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and actor. As a professional baseball player, his MLB career spanned from 1899 to 1914 in which he played mainly in the National L ...
could not stop it from going past him deep into the cavernous outfield of the Polo Grounds, Tinker circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run that gave Chicago a 1–0 lead. It was the first homer hit off Mathewson since a homer by Tinker on July 17. The Giants tied the score in the fifth when
Buck Herzog Charles Lincoln "Buck" Herzog (July 9, 1885 – September 4, 1953) was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for four National League clubs between 1908 and 1920: the New York Giants, the Boston Braves, the Cincin ...
singled, advanced to second on an
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 ...
, advanced to third on a
sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
by
Roger Bresnahan Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "The Duke of Tralee", was an American player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Bresnahan competed in MLB for the Washington Senators (1897), Chicago ...
, and scored on a single by Donlin. The game was still tied 1–1 when the Giants came to bat in the bottom of the ninth.


Boner

Pfiester remained on the mound for Chicago.
Cy Seymour James Bentley "Cy" Seymour (December 9, 1872 – September 20, 1919) was an American professional baseball center fielder and pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to for the New York Giants (1896–; –), Baltimore Orioles ( ...
led off with a groundout to second. Art Devlin singled, putting the winning run on first base with one out.
Moose McCormick Harry Elwood "Moose" McCormick (February 28, 1881 – July 9, 1962) was an American professional baseball outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. ...
grounded sharply to second and Devlin was forced out, but Devlin's aggressive slide prevented a
double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...
and allowed McCormick to reach first base safely on a
fielder's choice In baseball, fielder's choice (abbreviated FC) refers to a variety of plays involving an offensive player reaching a base due to the defense's attempt to put out another baserunner, or the defensive team's indifference to his advance. Fielder's cho ...
. With two outs and McCormick on first, Fred Merkle came up to bat. Merkle, who only had 47 plate appearances in the entire 1908 season, singled down the right-field line. McCormick, the potential winning run, advanced to third base. Shortstop
Al Bridwell Albert Henry Bridwell (January 4, 1884 – January 23, 1969) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for several MLB teams, most notably the New York Giants from 1908 to 1911, when the team was managed by John McGraw. ...
came up to bat next with two outs and runners at the corners. Bridwell swung at the first pitch from Pfiester, a fastball, and drilled an apparent single into center field. McCormick ran home from third, and the game appeared to be over, a 2–1 Giants victory. Giants fans poured out of the stands and mobbed the field; fans sitting behind home plate crossed the field (customary in this
era An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...
) to exit the ballpark via the outfield. Merkle, advancing from first base, saw the fans swarming onto the playing field. He turned back to the dugout without ever touching second. Official rule 5.08(a) states: "A run is not scored if the runner advances to home base during a play in which the third out is made ..by any runner being forced out". Cubs second baseman
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 Phillies. ...
saw an opportunity to have the rule enforced. He shouted to center fielder
Solly Hofman Arthur Frederick "Solly" Hofman (October 29, 1882 – March 10, 1956) was an American Major League Baseball player from 1903 to 1916. He played the majority of his 1,194 games in the outfield. His nickname was "Circus Solly". Some attribute this ...
, who, though the field was filled with fans, retrieved the ball and threw it to Evers. According to one account,
Joe McGinnity Joseph Jerome McGinnity (March 20, 1871 – November 14, 1929) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the late 19th and early 20th century. McGinnity played in MLB for ten years, pitching for the National League's ...
, a Giants pitcher who was coaching first base that day, intercepted the ball and threw it away into the crowd of fans. Evers apparently retrieved the ball and touched second base, although some reports stated that he substituted a different ball. Umpires Emslie and O'Day hurriedly consulted, and O'Day, who saw the play from home plate, ruled that Merkle had not touched second base; on that basis, Emslie ruled him out on a force, and O'Day ruled that the run did not score. The fans who had run onto the field were so hostile to O'Day that police officers rushed into the crowd to protect him. Newspapers told different stories of who had gotten the ball to Evers and how. One newspaper claimed that Cub players physically restrained Merkle from advancing to second. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' game recap the next day stated that it was Cubs manager/first baseman
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 ...
, not Evers, who had realized the situation and called for the ball to be thrown to second base, with Chance running to second base to receive the throw. This account also intimated that the ball may not have been successfully retrieved from the crowd after McGinnity's interference and stated that Merkle insisted that he had indeed touched second base. Retelling the story in 1944, Evers insisted that after McGinnity (who was not playing in the game) had thrown the ball away, Cubs pitcher Rube Kroh (who also was not in the game) retrieved it from a fan and threw it to shortstop Tinker, who threw it to Evers (by rule, after a fan or a player who was not in the game touches the ball, it becomes dead). A contemporary account from the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' supports this version. However, eight years prior to that, Evers claimed to have gotten the ball directly from Hofman. Five years after the play, Merkle admitted that he had left the field without touching second, but only after umpire Emslie assured them that they had won the game. In 1914, O'Day said that Evers' tag was irrelevant: he had called the third out after McGinnity interfered with the throw from center field. Future Hall of Fame umpire
Bill Klem William Joseph Klem, born William Joseph Klimm (February 22, 1874 – September 16, 1951), known as the "Old Arbitrator" and the "father of baseball umpires", was a National League (NL) umpire in Major League Baseball from 1905 to 1941. He worked ...
said Merkle's boner was "the rottenest decision in the history of baseball"; Klem believed that the force rule was meant to apply to infield hits, not balls hit to the outfield.


Replayed game

Unable to quickly clear the field of fans, O'Day ruled the game over on account of darkness. The game ended in a 1–1 tie. National League president
Harry Pulliam Harry Clay Pulliam (February 9, 1869 – July 29, 1909) was an American baseball executive who served as the sixth President of the National League. He served from 1903 until his death in 1909. He was president during the period in which the Nati ...
upheld the ruling. On October 2, Pulliam rejected the Giants' appeal of O'Day's ruling and the Cubs' call for a
forfeit Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke * "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from ''Wonder What's Next'' * ''Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers L ...
victory and again upheld the umpires, declaring the force play on Merkle valid and the game a tie. The Cubs-Giants-Pirates pennant race continued to the final days. Due to rainouts during the season, in the last week of the pennant race the Giants were forced to play 10 games. After Merkle's boner, the Giants won 11 of their last 16 games to finish 98–55. The Cubs won eight of their last 10 after the Merkle game to also finish 98–55. The Pirates, who beat the Dodgers 2–1 on September 23 to gain a half game on their rivals, won nine of their last 10 to force a makeup game with the Cubs on October 4. The Cubs beat the Pirates, 5–2, leaving themselves tied with the Giants, and with the Pirates a half-game behind both teams at 98–56, they were thus eliminated. On October 6, the National League board of directors agreed with its umpires and league president Pulliam, making a final ruling that Merkle had failed to touch second base and that the force rule was correctly applied. This left the Cubs and Giants tied at 98–55 and required a makeup game to decide the NL pennant. To decide the pennant (and a spot in the
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 ...
), the teams had to replay the tied game on October 8. Mathewson, scheduled to start the game, said, "I'm not fit to pitch today. I'm dog tired." The crowd was estimated at 40,000, the biggest in baseball history at that time. Pfiester pitched for the Cubs again in the rematch, but was removed from the game in the first inning after hitting Tenney, walking Herzog (who was promptly picked off), giving up an RBI double to Donlin, and walking Seymour. Future Hall of Famer Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown entered the game in relief and got out of the jam without allowing another run. In the Cubs' half of the third inning, Tinker led off with a triple and scored on a single by
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 ...
. Evers walked, Frank Schulte followed with an RBI double to give the Cubs the lead, and Frank Chance followed with a two-run double. From there, Chicago cruised to a 4–2 victory, becoming champions of the NL for the third straight year.


Aftermath

The Cubs went on to win the 1908 World Series, beating the
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 ...
four games to one. This was the Cubs' last world championship for more than a century; the next came in the
2016 World Series The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American Leag ...
. The Pirates won the 1909 World Series, also against the Tigers. The Giants then returned to the World Series for three straight years, 1911–1913, only to lose each year—to the first of
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 ...
's two
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 ...
dynasties in and , and to the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
in . John McGraw's club did not win another championship until , when they defeated the emerging
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
, featuring
Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
, two consecutive years in the Yankees' first World Series appearances. ''The New York Times'' game story on September 24, 1908, blamed the loss on "censurable stupidity on the part of player Merkle." For the rest of his life, he lived with the nickname of "Bonehead". Merkle replaced Tenney as the full-time Giants first baseman in 1910 and was a regular for the Giants, Dodgers, and Cubs for another 10 years. He played in five World Series, all for the losing team. Bitter over the events of the "boner" game, Merkle avoided baseball after his playing career finally ended in 1926. When he finally appeared at a Giants
old-timers' game Old-Timers' Day (or Old-Timers' Game) refers to a tradition in Major League Baseball where a team devotes the early afternoon preceding a weekend game to honor retired players who played for the organization during their careers. The retired play ...
in 1950, he got a loud ovation from the fans. He died in 1956. On July 1, 2013, a
minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
game between the
Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field (Lansing), Jackson Field. The Midwe ...
and
Great Lakes Loons The Great Lakes Loons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Midland, Michigan, and play their home games at Dow Diamond, which opened in April 2007. Histor ...
featured a very similar play, in which an apparent game-winning single for the Lugnuts was nullified when the runner at first joined the celebration instead of advancing to second. The Lugnuts lost in extra innings.


See also

*
Warren Gill Warren Darst Gill (December 21, 1878 – November 26, 1952), nicknamed "Doc", was a professional baseball player who played as a first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 1908 Major League Baseball season. Gill graduated from Washington ...
, a first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates who made a similar base-running mistake earlier in September 1908, also against the Chicago Cubs and also umpired by Hank O'Day, but was ''not'' called out


References

;Inline citations ;Bibliography *


Further reading

* Anderson, David W. (2000). ''More Than Merkle: A History of the Best and Most Exciting Baseball Season in Human History''. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. . * Cameron, Mike. (2010). ''Public Bonehead, Private Hero: The Real Legacy of Baseball's Fred Merkle''. Crystal Lake, Illinois: Sporting Chance Press. . * Fleming, G.H. (1981). ''The Unforgettable Season: The Most Exciting & Calamitous Pennant Race of All Time''. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. . * Murphy, Cait. (2007). ''Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History''. New York: HarperCollins/Smithsonian Books. . {{San Francisco Giants Chicago Cubs New York Giants (NL) 1908 Major League Baseball season Major League Baseball games Major League Baseball controversies Baseball terminology 1908 in sports in New York City September 1908 sports events Historic baseball plays