Merkle's Boner

Very rarely in sports does one have the opportunity to celebrate a centennial. Today, September 23, 2008 is the one-hundred year anniversary of Fred Merkle's bonehead play (boner, get it?) that cost his New York Giants the 1908 National League pennant. This story is ingrained in my childhood. For my sixth birthday, my mom bought me a hardcover book Baseball Players do Amazing Things. I read it literally once a week. I could probably recite the section on Merkle and his boner from memory.

In September of 1908, the Chicago Cubs, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates were in a heated race for the National League Pennant.

[Side Note: The Cubbies were led by their one-two combo of 'Big' Ed Reullbach (24-7, 7 Shutouts) and Mordecai 'Three Finger' Brown (29-9, 9 shutouts). On September 26th, with the Cubbies holding on to a tenuous 1/2 game lead, the Cubs sent Big Ed to start the first game of a double header. Apparently player-manager Frank Chance couldn't find his pitch counter, as Big Ed never left the mound, pitching back-to-back Complete Game Shutouts. I think it is fair to say that this record will never be broken]

On September 23, the Cubs met the Giants at the Polo Grounds. In the bottom of the 9th, with the score tied at 1, Fred Merkle singled and moved teammate Moose McCormick to third on the play. Al Bridwell came to the plate, first and third, two outs. Bridwell smacked a shallow single in center and McCormick came home with the winning run. Bedlam ensues. The Giant fans, held back by just a rope in some places, storm the field. Merkle meets Bridwell at first base and celebrates with him.

Cubbies second baseman Johnny Evers noticed that Merkle never tagged second and that the force play was still in effect. Here's where it gets hairy. Newspaper accounts claim that the Giants skipper saw what Evers was up to and tossed the game ball into the stands. Evers ran up into the stands, found a baseball (no one will ever know if it was the right one), grabbed the umpire and stepped on second base. After some cajoling, Hank O' Day agreed that it was a force and the inning was over. Since they could not get the Polo Grounds faithful off the field, they called the game a tie and agreed to make it up on the last day of the season.

The Giants and Cubs finished the season tied at 98-55, with the Pirates a half game behind. The make up game had to be played. Needless to say, the Cubs won and went on to beat the Tigers to continue the Cub dynasty. At that point, they had won three straight NL pennants and two of the first five World Series.

As old as it gets, Merkle's boner stands firm against the test of time. Maybe he should see a doctor about that...

Tribune
MLB

You should probably just take the day off...

Gentlemen,

I believe today is a day for celebration. We stand at the brink of history, and from this day move forward as a vanguard into a time uncharted in the annals of the human experience. Never before have we found ourselves staring straight into the gaping maw of novelty as we are at this moment. Precedent, you have no place here.

Mark "Moe" Anderson is the sole owner of first place in Fantasy Football.

Let it ring from the hilltops. From Mt. Carmel to Mt. Airy. From Mt. Adams to Mt. Healthy.

All Hail Moe's Tavern and the Moester Coaster. King of the world...at least for a week.

Reds or Bengals, Who ya Got?

I recently read this article by Rick Reilly and found it fascinating. The premise is if every multiple sport city had to choose only one team to stay, who would they pick. Some are obvious like Hockey for Detroit and the Yankees for NYC. Some are controversial like the Bears for Chicago, sorry Mike, or the Ravens in Baltimore. But all in all it is a good read and is interesting to think about.

However he does not list Cincinnati.

So I put it to the great minds of TNH, what team stays in Cincy, the Reds or the Bengals?