Fred Merkle
As critical as these and other errors were, they cannot top the impact of a mistake the Giants Fred Merkle made.
Due to a single base-running blunder on September 23, 1908, Fred Merkle became known by such unflattering epithets as “Bonehead,” “Leather Skull,” and “Ivory Pate.”
Fred Merkle is forever famous for his bonehead play on September 23, 1908, which cost the Giants a critical victory and made possible the Cubs’ pennant-clinching victory when the game was replayed at the end of the season.
The NY newspapers vilified Fred Merkle on his play calling his mistake ‘Merkle’s Bonehead Play’.
As the runner on third crossed the plate with the apparent winning run, Fred Merkle jogged towards second base then started for the clubhouse in right field leaving the basepaths.
Fred Merkle was my great uncle.
It’s not really fair to say that Fred Merkle’s mental error cost the New York Giants the 1908 pennant.
The Cubs retrieved the ball , tossed it to Johnny Evers who tagged second, and a force out was called ending the game in a tie.
Frederick Charles Merkle was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball.
… when Merkle saw Moose McCormick touch home plate with the “winning” run, he left the basepath before touching second base and headed for the clubhouse in center field at the Polo Grounds.
For my number one game of the past 100 years, I must pick a contest played at the old Polo Grounds early in the century.
Fred had really come into his own at the end of the 1907 season playing first base for the NY Giants in his rookie season.
He played baseball, and is best known for a play between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants on September 23rd, 1908 that cost the Giants the World Series.
Born in Watertown, Wisconsin, he played infield for 16 seasons in the major leagues with the New York Giants, Brooklyn Robins, and Chicago Cubs of the National League, and after playing in the International League from 1921 to 1925 he appeared in 8 games with the New York Yankees of the American League before retiring in 1926.
Baseball Magazine described the 6′1″, 190 pound Merkle as “a hard hitter who usually delivers in the pinches” and “the most finished fielder in his league,” but what really set him apart from other first basemen was his ability as a base runner.
Cub 2nd baseman, Johnny Evers, noticed Merkle’s action and thinking he had a force out at second base called for the ball from the Cub’s centerfielder ‘Solly’ Hofman.
First of all it was common practise in those days to run right off the field after the winning run had scored…Furthermore, the Giants lost six more games after the ‘Merkle game.’” Dan Gutman.
FRED MERKLE Merkle, Frederick Charles b: 12/20/1888, Watertown, Wis.
“Over the course of the past century and then some, baseball fans have attended thousands of games and have seen even more ball players.
Returning to Tecumseh in 1907, the 18-year-old Merkle batted.271 and led the league with six home runs, prompting his purchase by the New York Giants for $2,500.
The Giants won the pennant in ‘04 and the Series in ‘05 but were giving way to the mighty Chicago Cubs who won 116 games and the pennant in 06 and were World Champs the next year.
On September 23, in the final two weeks of a sweltering National League pennant race between the Giants, Cubs, and Pirates, Merkle substituted at first base for the injured Fred Tenney.
Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers noticed this, and after retrieving a ball and touching second base he appealed to umpire Hank O’Day, who would later manage the Cubs, to call Merkle out.
From that point on to the end of the season, the Giants lead in the pennant race evaporated and the Cubs claimed the NL flag.
Chicago center-fielder Artie Hofman had fielded Bridwell’s hit and thrown the ball to second-baseman Johnny Evers, but somehow Giants pitcher Joe McGinnity came up with the ball and lobbed it deep into the crowd.
Despite the baserunning blunder, Fred Merkle went on to play an additional fourteen seasons.
As the happy Polo Grounds crowd filed across the field towards the centerfield gate, second baseman Johnny Evers got the ball and stepped on second, claiming a forceout which negated the winning run.
Umpire O’Day ruled the runner out and since the game could not continue ruled the game a tie.
The ball was thrown in, and in the tussle, pitcher “Iron Man” McGinnity, who had been coaching at third base, wound up with it and threw it into the stands.
September 21, 1907: Against the Reds, New York jumps to a 6-0 lead against Charlie Smith, and Christy Mathewson coasts to a 6-2 win.
