Opening Day at West Side Park in Chicago, in front of 18,000 fans on April 22, 1908. Retired 19th Century Chicago Cubs superstar Cap Anson is on the mound, delivering the traditional ceremonial “first ball” of the season. The Cubs will beat the Reds 7-3 Johnny Evers scores 2 and drives in 2, Chick Fraser…
In the New York Giants home opener, 25,000 fans watch the Brooklyn Superbas take a 2 – 1 lead into the 9th inning against Christy Mathewson. But in the bottom, with Fred Tenney on first base, Mike Donlin hits a walk-off home run to give the Giants a 3 – 2 win.
1908 – Henry Chadwick dies at age 83 in Brooklyn, New York. A sportswriter and historian, Chadwick was one of the prime movers in the rise of baseball to its unprecedented popularity at the turn of the 20th century. He will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee in 1938.
On April 2, 1908, the Mills Commission determines that Abner Doubleday originated the game of baseball. In its final report, the seven-man commission states that, “The first scheme for playing baseball, according to the best evidence obtainable to date, was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, NY, in 1839.”…
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