1908 Cubs photos *updated with many more pics*

[BigbadB]

This has been a great thread. I went to baseball-reference and clicked on the 1908 teams. I went through team by team and found that one of the parks (can't remember if it was in the AL or the NL) had dimensions in CF that reached 623 feet.

 

I also noticed that the White Sox had 3 home runs in 1908. One was by pitcher Ed Walsh.

 

Looking a little deeper into the White Sox team of 1908, the team batting average was .224. The OBP was .290 and the SLG was .271. No one on the team had more than 17 doubles and no one on the team had more than 9 triples. Fielder Jones led the team in RBI that year with 50.

 

Pretty bad team, eh? Not really. They won 88 games and finished a game and a half out of first. :scratch:

 

How good was Ty Cobb? Cobb had twice as many doubles as any player on the White Sox. He had twice as many triples as any player on the White Sox. He outhomered the entire White Sox team. He had twice as many RBI than any player on the White Sox. All at the age of 21.

[imb]

he also led the league in RCBs (racially charged beatings)

[OleMissCub]

While looking for these photos I came across this one of Honus Wagner from 1908 that I thought was neat.

 

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/4491/250px52621062164538wl6.jpg

[burnt out cubbie fan]

he also led the league in RCBs (racially charged beatings)

Win.

[erik316wttn]

I can't believe how big the foul territory is in that park. Sweet mother of God.

[erik316wttn]

This has been a great thread. I went to baseball-reference and clicked on the 1908 teams. I went through team by team and found that one of the parks (can't remember if it was in the AL or the NL) had dimensions in CF that reached 623 feet.

 

I also noticed that the White Sox had 3 home runs in 1908. One was by pitcher Ed Walsh.

 

Looking a little deeper into the White Sox team of 1908, the team batting average was .224. The OBP was .290 and the SLG was .271. No one on the team had more than 17 doubles and no one on the team had more than 9 triples. Fielder Jones led the team in RBI that year with 50.

 

Pretty bad team, eh? Not really. They won 88 games and finished a game and a half out of first. :scratch:

 

How good was Ty Cobb? Cobb had twice as many doubles as any player on the White Sox. He had twice as many triples as any player on the White Sox. He outhomered the entire White Sox team. He had twice as many RBI than any player on the White Sox. All at the age of 21.

 

I know we'll never truly know, but I wish we could have seen the old-time great players (Wagner, Cobb, Ruth, etc) in some of the bandboxes of today. Could you imagine Babe Ruth in Coors Field? I'd give a week's pay to see that game.

[Roast]

This has been a great thread. I went to baseball-reference and clicked on the 1908 teams. I went through team by team and found that one of the parks (can't remember if it was in the AL or the NL) had dimensions in CF that reached 623 feet.

 

I also noticed that the White Sox had 3 home runs in 1908. One was by pitcher Ed Walsh.

 

Looking a little deeper into the White Sox team of 1908, the team batting average was .224. The OBP was .290 and the SLG was .271. No one on the team had more than 17 doubles and no one on the team had more than 9 triples. Fielder Jones led the team in RBI that year with 50.

 

Pretty bad team, eh? Not really. They won 88 games and finished a game and a half out of first. :scratch:

 

How good was Ty Cobb? Cobb had twice as many doubles as any player on the White Sox. He had twice as many triples as any player on the White Sox. He outhomered the entire White Sox team. He had twice as many RBI than any player on the White Sox. All at the age of 21.

 

I know we'll never truly know, but I wish we could have seen the old-time great players (Wagner, Cobb, Ruth, etc) in some of the bandboxes of today. Could you imagine Babe Ruth in Coors Field? I'd give a week's pay to see that game.

 

Oh no kidding, that would be awesome.

[Derwood]

it wouldn't be awesome, because that fatty would be peeing his pants when people throw him 98 mph fastballs and sliders that break 15 inches

[TruffleShuffle]

it wouldn't be awesome, because that fatty would be peeing his pants when people throw him 98 mph fastballs and sliders that break 15 inches

 

he played against walter johnson, so the 98 mph fastballs probably wouldn't faze him.

[OleMissCub]

it wouldn't be awesome, because that fatty would be peeing his pants when people throw him 98 mph fastballs and sliders that break 15 inches

 

I know! I heard that guys only threw the ball like 50 mph back then and the ball never had any break. It's astonishing that batters would actually have their bones broken by balls thrown that slow. Heck, there was even a guy who was killed by one of those little league fastballs. He must have been born with a thin skull or something.

 

One would think that if good high schoolers today with no training can often throw the ball 80mph or higher, that a 6'2, 200lb grown man just 70 years ago could at least throw that hard. It's pretty weird. I mean, look at this picture of Walter Johnson. It's amazing he could only get it up to like 60mph, which scared the heck out of people back then!

 

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5208/trainoe8.jpg

 

And with grips like these, how would they expect to ever get any break on the ball?

 

http://www.baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=29267&stc=1&d=1189969626

[UK1679666180]

Branch Rickey scouting report on Drysdale

 

http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mcc/044/0001.gif

[Soul]

 

Are those bleachers on top of two of those buildings?

 

Certainly looks that way.

 

It looks like the tradition of rooftop viewing at Wrigley has its roots in the West Side Grounds. Neat.

[Derwood]

throwing hard isn't the dispute. throwing hard with movement and control is. i'm sure there are thousands and thousands of people in America who could throw a ball 90mph, but can they locate it? is it straight? that's my point

[Roast]

throwing hard isn't the dispute. throwing hard with movement and control is. i'm sure there are thousands and thousands of people in America who could throw a ball 90mph, but can they locate it? is it straight? that's my point

Okay, so your saying the ability to locate a fastball or snap off a hard breaking ball has only come forth in the past 30 years? What? I understand advances in training regiments today have certainly made athletes better - but you act as if players from the early 1900's were incapable of doing anything a big leaguer of the present could do. And you make these assertions without giving any proof to back up your argument.

[OleMissCub]

throwing hard isn't the dispute. throwing hard with movement and control is. i'm sure there are thousands and thousands of people in America who could throw a ball 90mph, but can they locate it? is it straight? that's my point

 

No doubt baseball teams back then loved signing pitchers that couldn't throw balls across the plate effectively. As far as movement goes, pitchers back then were allowed to use tobacco on a ball, scuff it up, and basically do whatever they wanted to do to it. And they obviously used similar pitches that we do now. Look at those images I posted...a couple of those are slider grips.

 

The 2007 Cubs pitchers gave up 573 walks and the 1908 Cubs pitchers gave up 437 walks.

[bcl412]

Does anyone know what lies where this park was today.

[radarluv1]

In 1908, a pregnant woman gave birth to a baby in the bleachers in West Side Grounds

 

maybe its not so much a curse as it is a lack of fertility at Wrigley?

[BigbadB]

In 1908, a pregnant woman gave birth to a baby in the bleachers in West Side Grounds

 

maybe its not so much a curse as it is a lack of fertility at Wrigley?

 

I'm just relieved that it was an actual pregnant woman that gave birth to that baby rather than an unpregnant woman. :wink: