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Old 08-13-2019, 05:08 PM   #25
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1908 in Baseball

1908 RECAP


MLB OFF-SEASON MOVES
A moderately quiet off-season but the Cardinals did upgrade behind the plate as they lost catcher John Hoerner (.202,10,63) to the Red Sox via free agency but they signed Boston's former catcher in 7 time all-star Gabe Ruiz (.277,27,90).

NCAA
Neither of the teams that made the finals last year (champion Ole Miss or runner up Virginia Tech) qualified for this season's tournament but the two losing Final Four teams are back as Purdue won the Big Ten for the fourth straight season and runner-up Wisconsin claimed a wild card berth. The Boilermakers, with 6 tournament appearances in 8 years and one National Championship, are one of the NCAA's most successful teams. This year's club finished at 81-45 and is led by 3 outstanding youngsters in sophomore's Adam Vincent (.283,26,72) and Justin Murphy (.335,33,101) along with freshman Jeff Perret (.335,18,73). Add in senior pitchers Joe Kay (17-12, 3.14) and Steve Arnold (16-14, 2.41) and the Boilermakers are among the favourites in this years tournament.

THE TOURNAMENT
The brackets for the 1908 NCAA Tournament were as follows:
Code:

EAST REGION
ACC champ	Maryland Terrapins		77-49	
IVY champ	Dartmouth Indians		70-56
At Large 8	Georgia Bulldogs		72-54
At Large 1	Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks	80-46

SOUTH REGION
SEC champ	Tennessee Volunteers		78-48
Big East champ	Florida State Seminoles		83-43
At Large 4	Washington State Cougars	73-53
At Large 5	Iowa Hawkeyes			73-53

MIDWEST REGION
Big10 champ	Purdue Boilermakers		81-45
Big 8 champ	Kansas Jayhawks			83-43
At Large 2	Penn State Nittany Lions	79-47
At Large 7	Miam Hurricanes			72-54

WEST REGION
PAC10 champ	UCLA Bruins			79-47
SWC champ	Baylor Bears			82-44
At Large 3	Wisconsin Badgers		78-48
At Large 6	Duke Blue Devils		72-54


So much for Purdue's title hopes as the Boilermakers won just 1 game in the Midwest Regional to end their tournament. Kansas (5-1) and Miami (4-2) came out of the Midwest while wildcards Duke and Wisconsin each went 4-2 to advance in the West Region. 4 wins were good enough for Florida State and Washington State to come out of the South while in the East Georgia and Maryland got through.

Wisconsin would make the final four for the second straight season after sweeping Miami in the quarterfinals. The Badgers would play Kansas in the semi-finals after the Jayhawks swept Duke. The other Final Four matchup pits Georgia against Maryland.

Kansas returned to the College World Series finals for the second time in 3 years after eliminating Wisconsin in one semi-final. Maryland would be their opponent after the Terps knocked off Georgia in 3 games. The Jayhawks are led by a pair of pitchers in junior Zack O'Dowd (20-4, 1.43) and sophomore Mark St. John (17-8, 1.82). Maryland is a slightly more balanced team but lacks star power outside of junior outfielder Bobby Corby (.337,24,83)

It was Corby who stole the series, batting .611 (11-for-18) with 4 homers and 7 rbi's to lead Maryland to a 3 games to one series victory. The finals capped an amazing playoff run for Corby, who batted .391 with 8 homers and 14 rbi's in 16 games.

THE DRAFT
Pittsburgh, Detroit and Brooklyn always seem to be picking high in the draft and 1908 was no exception. The Tigers had the first overall pick and went with Purdue pitcher Steve Arnold, who went 84-42 with 2.41 era in his college career. Pittsburgh took another pitcher second with Georgia's Rob Perez being the Pirates choice despite the fact Perez has missed a lot of time with injury including over half of his draft year.



MAJOR LEAGUE SEASON
For the first time in league history the regular season ended in a tie for first place as the Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox each finished atop the American League with identical 86-68 records. It was a three team race with Cleveland for much of the summer but the Indians had a terrible swoon starting in early September and slid all the way to fifth place.

The two dominant players in the American League race were Pete Moreno (.315,38,117) and Mike Stein (.350,36,102). Stein, a 25 year old Washington outfielder and 1906 rookie of the year, won his first American League batting title while Moreno, a 28 year old White Sox first baseman and 1907 AL MVP, led the majors in homeruns and rbi's.

The White Sox would start a well rested Ryan Joy (20-11,2.34)- the 4 time Cy Young winner, against Washington's ace John Johnson (23-12, 3.26), who was going on just 2 days rest. Tied 1-1 through 5 innings, Moreno broke the contest open with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 6th and the White Sox went on to win their second straight pennant with a 6-1 victory.

There was less drama in the National League as the defending champion Cardinals led most of the way but were caught in late August by a hard charging Cincinnati Reds club. The Reds offense was among the least productive in the league but their pitching was dominant as the club shattered the record for fewest runs allowed in a season. Jerrod Reasons (18-7, 1.89), Jeremy Long (18-9, 2..72) and Mark Brickner (13-12, 2.46) anchored the rotation.


WORLD SERIES
For the second year in a row the American League champion Chicago White Sox were outclassed by their National League opponents in the World Series. Last season the White Sox managed to take one game from St Louis but this year it was even worse as the Cincinnati Reds swept Chicago in four games.

The Reds won the opener 7-4 but it took 13 innings for them to do so after the White Sox had rallied to tie the game at 4 in the bottom of the ninth. Game Two saw the Reds Tony Sanchez (4-4, 1.69), who missed much of the season with shoulder stiffness, toss a complete game 4-hitter in a 2-1 Cincinnati victory. Game Three it was Mark Brickner with the 5-hit shutout as the Reds pitching dominated once again in a 3-0 victory and a day later the series was over when the Reds posted a 5-4 win.


OTHER NOTES
Nana Dowell continues to rewrite the Pacific Coast League record book. A year after an amazing 77 homer, 170 rbi season the San Diego Padres first baseman smacked 81 homers and had 185 rbi's as he led the independent Padres to their first PCL title. So far, no major league club has attempted to purchase the contract of the 25 year old former Auburn Tiger. The Boston Braves did draft Dowell in the 18th round in 1904 but released him before he suited up in a minor league game for the organization.

The Mexico City Red Devils won their second Mexican League title after defeating league powerhouse Tampico 4 games to one in the championship series. The Red Devils also won in 1904. It marks the second straight year the Alijadores lost in the championship series. Tampico has never missed a playoff series and has won five of the 8 years the league has been in existence.

The Humboldt Giants became the first repeat winner of the Canadian Series after they beat Quebec Provincial League champion Drummondville for the second straight year.


Minor league champions were as follows:
Code:

 LEAGUE			CHAMPION		PARENT CLUB
American Association   Toledo Mud Hens		StL Browns
International League   Newark Bears		NY Yankees
Pacific Coast League   San Diego Padres		Independent
Southern Association   Memphis Chickasaws	Cincinnati
Texas League	       Houston Buffaloes	StL Cardinals
Eastern League	       Albany Senators		Pittsburgh
SALLY League	       Augusta Tigers		Detroit
Three I League	       Quincy Gems		Independent
Interstate League      Wilmington Blue Rocks	Independent
West Texas-New Mex L   Abilene Blue Sox		Independent
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