1908 Philadelphia Athletics

1908 Philadelphia Athletics / Franchise: Oakland Athletics / BR Team Page

Record: 68-85, Finished 6th in American League (1908 AL)

Managed by Connie Mack

Ballpark: Columbia Park

History, Comments, Contributions

After being one of the top teams in the American League in the first half of the 1900s, the 1908 Philadelphia Athletics were in a rebuilding mode. This is reflected in their starting rotation at the beginning of the season, which featured three rookies: Rube Vickers had won his first two career games on the final day of the 1907 season, while Nick Carter and Biff Schlitzer were both making their big league debuts. In fact, Carter was the surprising opening day starter on April 14th, making him one of just five pitchers to make their debut as their team's opening day starter. He did well that day, shutting down the New York Highlanders for 11 innings before giving up the winning run in the bottom of the 12th and ending up a 1-0 loser. His career would be short-lived, as he only made three more starts after that, pitching a total of 14 games. One of the reason for all the young pitchers was that the Athletics' best pitcher over the past few seasons, Rube Waddell, was gone, having been sold to the St. Louis Browns; Manager Connie Mack had had enough of his childish behavior and propensity to fade down the stretch.

The A's were a poor hitting team, with 3B Jimmy Collins (.217/.258/.263 in 115 games) and SS Simon Nicholls (.216/.265/.280 in 150 games) among the worst culprits. The good news was that a good replacement for both men joined the team before the end of the season: SS Jack Barry in July and 3B Frank Baker in September. Neither hit particularly well that season, but both would become excellent players as part of the famed $100,000 infield. A third member of that group, 2B Eddie Collins, was already on board (he hit .273 in 102 games) while 1B Stuffy McInnis would arrive early in 1909.

Standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Detroit Tigers	90	63	.588	--
Cleveland Naps	90	64	.584	½
Chicago White Sox	88	64	.579	1½
St. Louis Browns	83	69	.546	6½
Boston Red Sox	75	79	.487	15½
Philadelphia Athletics	68	85	.444	22
Washington Senators	67	85	.441	22½
New York Highlanders	51	103	.331	39½