1908 Master Baseball Season

1908 was the year of the pitcher as major league players batted .239 against the likes of Big Ed Walsh (40 wins) and Christy Mathewson (37 wins). Both leagues featured tight pennant races, with Chicago edging New York and Pittsburgh, and Detroit besting Chicago and Cleveland by a whisker in the Junior Circuit. The National League race is remembered for "Merkle's Blunder". "The Unforgettable Season" by G.H. Fleming is a wonderful telling of the National League race.

The World Series was a rematch of the 1907 classic, as Chicago again made short work of Detroit. Ty Cobb hit a bit better than during the 1907 series but still only managed one extra-base hit. With Three Finger Brown on the mound, and Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance behind him, pitching and defense ruled the baseball world.