Opening Day: 1908

“We-e-e-a-ah!” and likewise “Stri-i-ke tuh!” They’re here today, both of them, and so is the baseball season of 1908. – Chicago Tribune

The reign of bat and ball is supreme.- New York Times

Another interminable off-season will draw mercifully to a close today when the first true rays of the summer sun pass over ball-fields and batter’s boxes across the United States . The young and not-so-young of the nation will snatch up their gloves and pound anxiously at the leather, eagerly awaiting their turn at the plate, imagining the mighty wallops and nifty glovework they foresee for themselves in the season ahead. In the meantime, though, they have an opening act of no little interest, as the big leaguers return to the diamond today in the first game of the 1908 campaign.

There will be no change in the lineup of the Chicago team, the finest baseball machine now before the public…[they] will carry the league banner across the finish line in a canter, unless accidents befall the world-beaters, and some lucky club not now dreamed of should hit the trail and pass to the front. – Boston Globe

In the senior circuit, the head honchos of seven ball-clubs have doubtless spent many an hour deep in contemplation over how they might knock off the mighty Chicagos . Frank Chance’s team returns to the North Side with a full retinue from last year’s World Champions, including ace hurlers Brown, Overall and Pfiester. The Cubs’ opponents only scratched out two and a half runs per contest last year, and the smart money doubts whether they’ll have much more success this season.

The inauguration of the National League season in Cincinnati is always an event of a semi-public character in which the mayor of the city is a prominent participant. Mayor Markbreit will toss the first ball into the field from his private box after delivering a short speech commending the great outdoor game. – Chicago Tribune

The unlucky group chosen to square off against the champs in their first game of the year is Cincinnati , which will be supported by its home-town fans. Skipper Ned Hanlon has been replaced by veteran first-sacker John Ganzel. It will be Ganzel’s unenviable task to meld this bunch of new faces and aging pitchers into something respectable. His best player is Hans Lobert, the speedy shortstop who pilfered thirty bases a year ago.

With Shannon, Donlin and Seymour in the outer garden, the Giants will have the most formidable batting outfit in the League. – New York Times

Chicago may be the favorite, but there’s no lack of teams that mean to keep them honest. The Giants now feature old hand Fred Tenney at first base, and judging by his ball-playing this spring, he should be ready to help the boys in New York . Reporters for the Telegram declare, “You wouldn’t know Tenney. Fred no longer walks around looking careworn and worried. He’s more of a kid than the real kids, and playing first base like a merry-go-round.” The shrewd Matthewson will lace ‘em up for another go this year, although not all observers are confident that he can keep up his usual routine: the men at the New York Times say that “last season…he wasn’t the Matty who helped to win those sombre world’s championship horse blankets in 1905. He is considered a veteran pitcher now, and these kind never improve over their previous work.” If he and ‘Hooks’ Wiltse can stay in the box, though, and with McGraw, the ‘Little Napoleon’, keeping the troops in formation, rooters in the ‘Big Apple’ should have high hopes. They’ll be firing their first shots of the season in the home park of the Phillies, who look to hoist their first pennant in twenty-five long years. Youngster Sherry Magee is being counted on to inspire the Philadelphia batsmen, who made fewer base knocks than any team in 1907.

While St. Louis will win a large number of games, they will have no chance for the first division, as they have never become properly cemented together for consistent work. – Boston Globe

A squad that many have forgotten is Pittsburgh , which opens up today playing the Cardinals. All the talk in the ‘ Steel City ’ revolves around the old German Hans Wagner, who seems determined to ride off into the sunset. Says the shortstop, “My legs are bad, and I feel the need of rest, and I am going to take it.” Without him, Fred Clarke’s nine will find the going tough, although with the likes of Vic Willis, Nick Maddox and Howie Camnitz, they will gladly match hurlers with any club in the league. The Pirates hope to get off to a fast start against St. Louis , which scored fewer runs than any team in the N.L. a year ago. The highlight of the year for fans at Robison Park may be the play of young John ‘Red’ Murray, who will be patrolling the outer field.

The Superbas have some clever pitchers, the fielding is brilliant sometimes, and the batting terrific occasionally, but somehow, they fall down at the wrong time, and each season records a disappointment for them. – New York Times

For the time being, things are looking up in Brooklyn . As the local paper says, “The Brooklyn men have become accustomed to each others’ style of play and should make a better showing at the start than they did last year.” Twirlers Nap Rucker and Kaiser Wilhelm are expected to lead the team for manager Patsy Donovan, with Tim Jordan providing the batting muscle and manning the first sack. The opener will also give fans their first chance to see how this winter’s remodeling has paid off at Mr. Ebbets’ Field. The story of last summer’s campaign in Boston , meanwhile, was unfortunate pitching—the squad yielded more runs and hits than any other in the National League, and stumbled late, losing 24 matches in August. Youngsters Ferguson , Bates and Sweeney will have a hard row to hoe in carrying their aging teammates to a successful year.

Chicago’s sport loving public, lean and hungry after a winter’s famine, will sit down this afternoon to the first course of a six months’ feast, Deo volente , which, translated, means unless it rains or snows. Nursed through their long hibernation on a diet of liquids, like swimming meets, water polo, basketball, and other soft sport, with an occasional delicacy in the shape of a wrestling match, the fans of this town have been sitting up and noticing things for several weeks in anticipation of a return to solid food. Today is the day they are due to get it. – Chicago Tribune

Meanwhile, in the American League, the greatest baseball minds in the city of Detroit remain utterly befuddled as to how their club, which led the circuit in scoring in 1907, could have posted only six runs in a five-game Fall Classic. Returning this season to rectify those wrongs will be young Ty Cobb, who terrorized opposing pitchers last season at the tender age of twenty-one. ‘The Georgia Peach’ outdistanced his peers in an impressive number of categories, including hits, runs batted in, and steals. His accomplices in the outfield, Matty McIntyre and ‘Wahoo’ Sam Crawford, are likewise rearing and ready to avenge their ignominious defeat last fall. Old hand Hughie Jennings will be handling the reins for the Tigers once again; one of his primary tasks will be to coax quality pitching from his talented young tossers, ‘Kickapoo Ed’ Summers and Ed Willett. It will be worth the price of admission to old Bennett Stadium to see if the Detroit group can maintain their knack to come through in the ‘clutch’ as they did last season, when they finished 31-16 in games decided by a single tally. They’ll face a stiff challenge early, matching up against the Pale Hose of Chicago, who finished in third a year ago. Manager Fielder Jones hopes to get one more good year from the men in the Windy City , among whom not a few gray-beards are to be found. The club’s fortunes will rest largely on the broad shoulders of spit-baller Walsh. Last summer, ‘Big Ed’ emerged victorious twenty-four of the times he took the mound, and a similar performance will be necessary this year for Chicago to compete.

Every available point of vantage had been decorated with flags and bunting, which waved and snapped with the breeze as though to welcome the players and their adherents…. Joy was unconfined, and the exciting nature of the contest furnished abundant scope for the frequent outbursts of appreciative applause. – New York Times

One team which has definitely put its shoulder to the wheel in hopes of improving its chances for late-season glory are the Highlanders of New York; “in none of the clubs have there been greater changes than those made in the Highlanders”, as it says in the papers. Charlie Hemphill and Jake Stahl are the new faces in the outfield, while ‘Happy’ Jack Chesbro will see how much gas he has remaining in his long right arm. New York won more games than it lost when playing in the opposition’s territory last season, yet they’ll kick off the current campaign with a home contest against the Philadelphias. In the past seven seasons, manager Mack has proven himself an astute baseball man, and his current club has plenty of talent to keep the old man busy. This veteran group has the legendary Jimmy Collins at the ‘hot corner’, and another Collins—Eddie—hoping to make a name of his own in his rookie campaign. The powerful Harry Davis belted eight round-trippers last season and twelve the year before—no consolation for opposing throwers. The Athletics lost zany pitcher Rube Waddell to the Browns in St. Louis , but have retained Bender, Coombs and Plank. This staff set more batsmen down on strikes than any other in the league last year, a feat they will no doubt look to replicate.

The local club will be resplendent in spick and span uniforms of cream white, with the innovation of a red sock on the breast of the costume and the word “ Boston ” inside the sock. The stockings will be of bright red and the trimmings of the same color. – Washington Post

Rooters for the Boston entry in the American League will be graciously forgiven for not recognizing their beloved hometown squad, as the Americans have been newly dubbed the ‘Red Sox’ and will be sporting outfits based on the same theme. Whatever name they go by, this group did themselves no favors at the ‘dish’ last season, but hope to ameliorate the situation with new recruits Gessler and McConnell. Although their offense may be questionable, there is no topping Boston when it comes to handling hot shots and long drives from the opponent. Returning to the box will be the ageless Cy Young, who appears to be in top form, despite having clocked an average of 372 innings for each of the last seventeen seasons in his outstanding career. The ‘Sox’ hope to get off to a fast start against the lowly Washingtons, who have little to recommend them other than a young man by the name of Walter Johnson. Professional baseball men who have seen the tall righty throw the pill insist that even the speediest batsmen in the game will be challenged to record as much as a loud foul ball against the youngster. It may be all for naught, however, if the fans in the nation’s capital don’t turn out more regularly to watch the hometown team play.

Don’t bother your neighbor with questions. Buy your own score card and guess for yourself. If you don’t like the sound of organized or disorganized rooting you can purchase cotton batting from the gentlemanly ushers, who will pass among you. Don’t be in a hurry to leave the grounds after the game. Stick about for awhile and watch the athletes as they pass by on the way to the dress-room. Some of them may speak to you. – Chicago Tribune

For those searching for a team to surprise the nation this season, look no further than that grand city on the lake, Cleveland . The Naps last season came in fourth place, but scored more runs than all other teams except the Tigers. Pitchers Joss, Rhoads and Liebhardt have all had the winter to reflect on the youthful mistakes of the year gone by, and will surely be the better for it in contests to come. They’ll be making deliveries to ‘Nig’ Clarke, one of the finest young receivers in the game, and all under the watchful eye of manager Lajoie, no stranger to the game. They begin the year at home against the Browns of St. Louis, who have acquired Waddell from Philadelphia and lost Hemphill to the Highlanders. Were it not for the awesome performances of Mssrs. Cobb and Crawford in Detroit , all the attention this spring would have been directed towards St. Louis fielder George Stone, who had a fine campaign himself and promises more of the same.

Here is to the game that makes a boy a man, and a man a boy again. – Boston Globe.

All in all, it seems assured that ball fans will be in for plenty of highs and lows—hoots and hollers as well as groans and grimaces—from their local outfits, beginning as soon as the first fast one is dealt across the plate. For the players, six long months separate them from their cherished goal. It is a goal hard achieved, but one which promises fame and glory for as long as men across this land will recline in hard-earned moments of respite and recount the heroes and histories of ball-games gone by.