1908 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1908 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 27th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 17th season in the National League. The Cardinals had a 49–105 win–loss record during the season and finished eighth (last) in the National League. The season's attendance of 185,377, an average of less than 2,500 a game, which remains the lowest peacetime attendance level since 1901. The Cardinals set a Major League record which stills stands for the fewest base on balls by a team in a season, with 282. Additionally, they hold the MLB record for fewest runs scored in a season with 372, averaging only 2.42 runs per contest.

Regular season

Season summary

The Cardinals ranked last in three categories in the National League: runs scored (only 372), runs allowed (624), and errors committed (349). The team was shut out a record 33 times. Three lineup regulars batted below .200. Only three players drove in more than 20 runs, and the team lost more than 100 games for the second and last time in franchise history. The Cards set a club record with 105 losses and a league record for most defeats in a month when they went 7–27 in September (Brooklyn went 6–27 that same month).

One team member, Bugs Raymond, ranked among the league leaders in fewest hits per nine innings, resulting in a 2.03 ERA. However, the Cardinals were shut out 11 times on days Raymond took the hill, leading to his league-high 25 losses. His 15 wins accounted for almost a third of the team's wins. Of note, he gave up fewer hits per game than Christy Mathewson, and threw five shutouts.

In April 1908, the Cardinals played the St. Louis Browns in an exhibition game to raise money for former Cardinals owner Chris von der Ahe. The clubs raised $4,300.

Season standings

v
t
e
National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	99	55	.643	—	47‍–‍30	52‍–‍25
New York Giants	98	56	.636	1	52‍–‍25	46‍–‍31
Pittsburgh Pirates	98	56	.636	1	42‍–‍35	56‍–‍21
Philadelphia Phillies	83	71	.539	16	43‍–‍34	40‍–‍37
Cincinnati Reds	73	81	.474	26	40‍–‍37	33‍–‍44
Boston Doves	63	91	.409	36	35‍–‍42	28‍–‍49
Brooklyn Superbas	53	101	.344	46	27‍–‍50	26‍–‍51
St. Louis Cardinals	49	105	.318	50	28‍–‍49	21‍–‍56

Record vs. opponents

1908 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	BKN	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	SLC
Boston	—	12–10	6–16–2	8–14	6–16	10–12	7–15	14–8
Brooklyn	10–12	—	4–18	6–16	6–16	5–17	9–13	13–9
Chicago	16–6–2	18–4	—	16–6	11–11–1	9–13–1	10–12	19–3
Cincinnati	14–8	16–6	6–16	—	8–14–1	10–12	8–14	11–11
New York	16–6	16–6	11–11–1	14–8–1	—	16–6	11–11–1	14–8
Philadelphia	12–10	17–5	13–9–1	12–10	6–16	—	9–13	14–8
Pittsburgh	15–7	13–9	12–10	14–8	11–11–1	13–9	—	20–2
St. Louis	8–14	9–13	3–19	11–11	8–14	8–14	2–20	—

Roster

1908 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers Orson Baldwin Fred Beebe Art Fromme Fred Gaiser Irv Higginbotham Ed Karger Johnny Lush Stoney McGlynn Bugs Raymond Charlie Rhodes Slim Sallee		Catchers Jack Bliss Art Hoelskoetter Bill Ludwig Doc Marshall Charlie Moran Infielders Bobby Byrne Chappy Charles Billy Gilbert Ed Konetchy Walter Morris Patsy O'Rourke Champ Osteen Tom Reilly		Outfielders Shad Barry Joe Delahanty Ralph McLaurin Wilbur Murdoch Red Murray Al Shaw		Manager John McCloskey

1908 St. Louis Cardinals

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

John McCloskey

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Bill Ludwig	66	187	34	.182	0	4
1B	Ed Konetchy	154	545	135	.248	5	50
2B	Billy Gilbert	89	276	59	.214	0	10
SS	Patsy O'Rourke	53	164	32	.195	0	16
3B	Bobby Byrne	127	439	84	.191	0	14
OF	Red Murray	154	593	167	.282	7	62
OF	Al Shaw	107	367	97	.264	1	19
OF	Joe Delahanty	140	499	127	.255	1	44

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Chappy Charles	121	454	93	.205	1	17
Shad Barry	74	268	61	.228	0	11
Art Hoelskoetter	62	155	36	.232	0	6
Jack Bliss	44	136	29	.213	1	5
Champ Osteen	29	112	22	.196	0	11
Tom Reilly	29	81	14	.173	1	3
Walter Morris	23	73	13	.178	0	2
Charlie Moran	21	63	11	.175	0	2
Wilbur Murdoch	27	62	16	.258	0	5
Ralph McLaurin	8	22	5	.227	0	0
Doc Marshall	6	14	1	.071	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bugs Raymond	48	324.1	15	25	2.03	145
Johnny Lush	38	250.2	11	18	2.12	93
Art Fromme	20	116.0	5	13	2.72	62
Charlie Rhodes	4	33.0	1	2	3.00	15
Orson Baldwin	4	14.2	1	3	6.14	5

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Fred Beebe	29	174.1	5	13	2.63	72
Ed Karger	22	141.1	4	9	3.06	34
Slim Sallee	25	128.2	3	8	3.15	39
Irv Higginbotham	19	107.0	3	8	3.20	38
Stoney McGlynn	16	75.2	1	6	3.45	23

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Fred Gaiser	1	0	0	0	7.71	2

References

"Single Season Bases on Balls Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
Crazy '08: How a cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads and Magnates created the Greatest Year in Baseball History, p. 160, by Cait Murphy, Smithsonian Books, a Division of Harper Collins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
1908 Brooklyn Superbas at Baseball Reference
Crazy '08, p. 166
Crazy '08, p. 164

External links

v t e 1908 MLB season by team
American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
1908 World Series

St. Louis Cardinals

Established in 1882
Based in St. Louis, Missouri

Franchise

History

Ballparks

Robison Field Sportsman's Park Busch Memorial Stadium Busch Stadium
Spring training:	Whittington Park Herald Park West End Park City Park City Island Ball Park Ninth Street Park Al Lang Stadium Roger Dean Stadium

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

Key personnel

Owner: Bill DeWitt Jr.
President of Baseball Operations: John Mozeliak
General Manager: Mike Girsch
Manager: Oliver Marmol

Minor league
affiliates

Triple-A: Memphis Redbirds
Double-A: Springfield Cardinals
High-A: Peoria Chiefs
Single-A: Palm Beach Cardinals
Rookie: Florida Complex League Cardinals
Foreign Rookie: Dominican Summer League Cardinals

World Series
Championships

pre-MLB	1885 1886
MLB	1926 1931 1934 1942 1944 1946 1964 1967 1982 2006 2011

League pennants

American Association	1885 1886 1887 1888
National League	1926 1928 1930 1931 1934 1942 1943 1944 1946 1964 1967 1968 1982 1985 1987 2004 2006 2011 2013

Division titles

National League East: 1982; 1985; 1987
National League Central: 1996; 2000; 2002; 2004; 2005; 2006; 2009; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2019; 2022

Wild card titles

All Star Games hosted

Seasons (144)
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1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
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1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
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