It has been said “there has never been a baseball season like that of 1908, and it’s very likely that we will never witness one like it again.” Three teams in the National League were all within one game of eachother and battling for the top position. The New York Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, and our own Chicago Cubs engaged in a torrid race for the National League Pennant. It’s recalled as the most closely fought and nerve-wracking competition in the league history. The race had stayed close through the remaining days of September with the Pirates and the Giants were tied for first and about to begin a four game series at New York’s Polo Grounds. “Pennant Fever, ” a new term back then, stirred the nation like never before.

Frederick Charles Merkle was a 19 year-old rookie first baseman for the Giants. On September 23rd the two teams were playing game three of a four game set. No one in attendance that day had any idea that they were about to witness “the most controversial contest in the history of American Sports.” The score was tied at 1 going into the bottom half of the ninth. Merkle came to the plate with two outs and a man on first. He singled to right field advancing his teammate to third. The next batter also singled and as Merkle looked toward home plate, he saw the runner on third score. Thinking the game was over, Fred stopped half way and ran toward the clubhouse failing to touch second base to avoid the swarming fans. Cub’s players retrieved the ball and by touching second base completed the force out and negated the winning run. Since order could not be restored on the field, the game was declared a tie. The play would go down in history as “Merkle’s Boner.” The so-called “Merkle Game” was replayed days later when the Cubs came out on top and clinched the NL pennant and continued on to win the World Series. That was the last World Series victory for the Cubs to date.

Fred Merkle finished his baseball career in 1926 having played for the Giants, Dodgers, Yankees, and our beloved Cubs. With a respectable batting average of .273 and probably still a broken heart, Fred spent his remaining days in Florida where he gave an interview in the back of a tackle shop. He told the reporter, “I suppose when I die, they’ll put on my tombstone ‘Here lies Bonehead Merkle.”

Source: Anderson, David W., Oberman, Keith. “More than a Merkle: A History of the Best and Most Exciting Baseball Season in Human History.”