Baseball Almanac - Box Score of Merkle's Boner

The Cubs and Giants were locked in a furious pennant battle. On September 23, 1908, the score was tied 1 - 1 with two out in the last of the ninth inning at the Polo Grounds. Runners were on first and third base when Al Bridwell singled to center. As the runner on third crossed the plate with the apparent winning run, Fred Merkle jogged towards second base then started for the clubhouse in right field - leaving the basepaths. The Cubs retrieved the ball (or a ball), tossed it to Johnny Evers who tagged second, and a force out was called ending the game in a tie.

"Merkle jogged halfway to second. I saw him stop, glance at the fans pouring out of the seats and start for the clubhouse beyond right field." - Johnny Evers

"Merkle's Boner" September 23, 1908

Name Pos AB R H RBI Jack Hayden rf 4 0 0 0 Johnny Evers 2b 4 0 1 0 Wildfire Schulte lf 4 0 0 0 Frank Chance 1b 4 0 1 0 Harry Steinfeldt 3b 2 0 0 0 Solly Hofman cf 3 0 1 0 Joe Tinker ss 3 1 1 1 Johnny Kling c 3 0 1 0 Jack Pfiester p 3 0 0 0 Totals 30 1 5 1 Name Pos AB R H RBI Buck Herzog 2b 3 1 1 0 Roger Bresnahan c 3 0 0 0 Mike Donlin rf 4 0 1 1 Cy Seymour cf 4 0 1 0 Art Devlin 3b 4 0 2 0 Moose McCormick lf 3 0 0 0 Fred Merkle 1b 3 0 1 0 Al Bridwell ss 4 0 0 0 Christy Mathewson p 3 0 0 0 Totals 31 1 6 1 Hitting & Fielding Notes Double Plays: Tinker-Chance 2, Evers-Chance, Mathewson-Bridwell-Merkle. Errors: Steinfeldt, Tinker 2. Home Run: Tinker. Left on Base: Chicago 3, New York 7. Sacrifice Hits: Steinfeldt, Bresnahan.

Line Score Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Chicago 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 3 New York 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 0

Name IP H R ER BB SO Jack Pfiester 9 6 1 0 2 0 Name IP H R ER BB SO Christy Mathewson 9 5 1 1 0 9 Pitching Notes Hit by Pitch: McCormick by Pfiester.

Game Notes Attendance: 20,000. Umpires: O'Day, Emslie. Length of game: 1:30.

Crossword Puzzle by Dr. Donald McKim

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On October 8, 1908, the game was replayed and the Cubs won the pennant 4 - 2 and advanced to the World Series where they defeated the Tigers.

Fred Merkle was nineteen years old during this game and his major league debut was almost one year prior to this date - September 21, 1907!

Despite the baserunning blunder, Fred Merkle went on to play an additional fourteen seasons. He primarily played first base and spent time with Brooklyn, the Chicago Cubs, and the New York Yankees!