1908 Philadelphia Athletics

From BR Bullpen

1908 Philadelphia Athletics / Franchise: Oakland Athletics / BR Team Page[edit]

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

Managed by Connie Mack

Ballpark: Columbia Park

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

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[edit]

American League W L Pct. GB
Detroit Tigers 90 63 .588 --
Cleveland Naps 90 64 .584 ½
Chicago White Sox 88 64 .579
St. Louis Browns 83 69 .546
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