On September 26, 1908, at Washington Park in Brooklyn New York, as the season was winding down the Chicago and Brooklyn were scheduled to play a Morning/Afternoon doubleheader.
Ed Reulbach started the first game for Chicago, he pitches a 5-0 shutout limiting Brooklyn to 5 hits over 9 innings and sprinkled in 7 strikeouts. A solid days work!
With his pitching staff tired, manager Frank Chance decides to use Reulbach in the nightcap as well, he responded by pitching an even better game 2, a 3-0 shutout, allowing only 4 hits and he faced just 3 batters over the minimum. The second game only took 1 hour and 12 minutes to play. In total the entire doubleheader took less than 3 hours.
Kaiser Wilhelm and Jim Pastorius are the losing pitchers.
To date, it is the only time in Major League Baseball History a pitcher will pitch two shutouts on the same day.
The two victories by Reulbach, whose eyesight is so poor his catchers use white-painted gloves, were among his 20th century National League record nine victories against Brooklyn in 1908. He finishes the season with a 24-7 record (.774 winning percentage), and for the third consecutive year, he leads the National League in winning percentage, another still-standing National League record.
The extra work didn’t seem to bother the right-hander either, as he came back after four days rest to shut out the Reds in his next start. Just how critical were Reulbach’s two September 26 wins? The Cubs won the 1908 pennant with a 99-55 record – one game ahead of both the Pirates and the Giants.
Reulbach’s accomplishment should not have been a surprise. “Big Ed” Reulbach’s final major league tally, over 13 seasons, was 182 wins, 106 losses, and a 2.28 ERA. His MLB accomplishments also include a 17-game winning streak, a 44-inning scoreless streak and a World Series one-hitter (1906). Although he falls short in career totals his dominance over a short period of time was impressive and is comparable to Sandy Koufax many historians would argue.
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Game 1
Chicago Cubs 5, Brooklyn Superbas 0
Game Played on Saturday, September 26, 1908 Venue: Washington Park III
Attendance: N/A
Game Duration: 1:41
LINE SCORE
CHI N 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 - 5 11 0 BRO N 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 3
WP: LP:
Starting Lineups
Box Scores:
Retrosheet
Chicago Cubs 3, Brooklyn Superbas 0 (2)
Game Played on Saturday, September 26, 1908 (D) at Washington Park III
CHI N 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 3 5 0 BRO N 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 2
PITCHING
Chicago Cubs IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP Reulbach W(22-7) 9 4 0 1 4 0 30
WP: Reulbach (5).
Brooklyn Superbas IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP Pastorius L(3-20) 9 5 3 3 2 0 32
WP: Pastorius (6).
Umpires: HP - Bob Emslie, 1B - Brick Owens
Time of Game: 1:12
Box Scores:
Baseball-Reference
Baseball Almanac
Retrosheet
