1907, Baseball crowned two new champions in 1907. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time by sweeping a Detroit team that had just brought home its first American League pennant. The Tigers blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning of the Series opener, which ended in a 12-inning tie. Then the Cubs won four straight, each by a different pitcher. Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown took the clincher with a 2-0 shutout.

The Cubs coasted to the National League pennant thanks to a robust five-man pitching staff who each had 15 or more wins and an ERA under 2.00. Pittsburgh, 17 games back in second place, had the NL’s hitting leader with Honus Wagner’s .350. Sherry Magee of the Phillies was next at .328 and edged Wagner for the RBI title. Christy Mathewson of the fourth-place Giants topped NL pitchers with 24 wins and 178 strikeouts.

Detroit put all the pieces together and staved off Philadelphia to win its first American League title. The key component for the Tigers was 20-year-old OF Ty Cobb, who exploded for a .350 average and 119 RBI in his first full season. His teammate Sam Crawford was second in the league in hitting at .323, and Wild Bill Donovan anchored the pitching staff with a 25-4 record. Detroit was ahead of Philadelphia by 1 1/2 games on October 1 and riding a five-game winning streak; the Tigers won five more in a row to lock up the pennant on the next-to-last day of the season.

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1907

Tris Speaker
Ed Konetchy
Clyde Milan
Larry Doyle
Dode Paskert
Fred Merkle
Heinie Zimmerman
Walter Johnson
Bill McKechnie

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World Series – Chicago Cubs NL over Detriot Tigers AL 4 games to 0

Sort bySearch Days, Events, Players Title (A - Z)Date (Newest)

October 9, 1907

In Game 2 of the World Series played at Chicago’s West Side Grounds, Tigers third baseman Bill Coughlinusing the hidden ball trick

October 12, 1907

Mordecai ‘Three Finger’ Brown throws a 2-0 shutout, beating the Tigers to capture the World Championship for the Cubs

December 3, 1907

History of the World Series – 1907

The stories that shaped the year:

Sort bySearch Days, Events, Players Title (A - Z)Date (Newest)

January 10, 1907

New York Giants manager John McGraw plays the role of off-the-field hero

January 28, 1907

1907 – In an effort to reduce playing-date conflicts between their leagues, presidents Harry Pulliam of the National League and Ban Johnson of the American League meet to plan schedules. Conflicting dates are reduced to 27.

February 26, 1907

The St. Louis Browns trade second baseman Pete O’Brien to the Cleveland Naps in exchange for catcher Fritz Buelow.

February 27, 1907

The New York Highlanders acquire catcher Branch Rickey from the St. Louis Browns

February 27, 1907

National League adopts a uniform ticket scheme

March 4, 1907

1907 – A judgment of $52,000 is awarded to the Baltimore club from Brooklyn. When Baltimore left the National League in 1900, Brooklyn agreed to pay $40,000 for the franchise but never did. The award includes interest.

March 6, 1907

Philadelphia Phillies owners A.J. Reach and John Rogers are acquitted of damages resulting from the 1903 Baker Bowl disaster. A balcony collapsed at the Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue ballpark, killing 12 and leaving 232 fans injured.

March 16, 1907

Tiger manager Hugh Jennings tries to deal 21 year old Ty Cobb to the Indians for outfielder Elmer Flick.

March 17, 1907

After yesterday’s vicious attack on the groundskeeper’s wife by his troubled outfielder, Tigers owner Frank Navin makes an all-out effort to trade Ty Cobb. Indian skipper Nap Lajoie turns down a straight swap for former league batting champ Elmer Flick, calling the ‘Georgia Peach’ a problem player, and Connie Mack of the A’s, given his already strong outfield, shows only a passing interest.

March 28, 1907

Chick Stahl commits suicide while travelling with the Red Sox in West Baden Springs, Indiana

April 2, 1907

Luke Appling is Born

April 9, 1907

In St. Louis, the Cardinals defeat the Browns, 9 – 1, to take the City Series four games to three. The two teams will reprise the rivalry in the fall, and the Cardinals will also take that one, 5 games to 2.

April 11, 1907

Bresnahan debuts leg guards

May 8, 1907

Christy Mathewson tosses his second straight shutout, stopping the visiting Pirates, 4 – 0, on four hits. Lefty Leifield takes the loss. First-place New York has now won 10 in a row and holds a slim lead over Chicago.

May 8, 1907

Frank Pfeffer of the Boston Doves pitches a 6 – 0 no-hitter against the Reds. He will be known as “Big Jeff” until his younger, and bigger, brother Ed “Jeff” Pfeffer becomes a star hurler for Brooklyn in 1913.

May 16, 1907

The Highlanders swap P Walter Clarkson and OF Frank Delahanty – both siblings of future Hall of Famers – to Cleveland for P Earl Moore. New York is hoping that Moore will return to the form he showed before a Highlander line drive injured his foot the previous season, limiting him to six games.

May 18, 1907

Hooks Wiltse pitches the New York Giants to a 6 – 2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. For New York, it is their 17th straight victory to run their season record to 24-3. Despite the run, the Giants stand in first place by just one game over the Chicago Cubs.

May 21, 1907

National League president Harry Pulliam dismisses the Opening Day protests of Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke over Roger Bresnahan’s shin guards. As yet, Bresnahan is the only catcher using them.

May 21, 1907

Three-Finger Brown and Christy Mathewson hook up in a pitching duel, with the Chicago ace emerging the winner, 3 – 2. Matty’s batterymate Roger Bresnahan commits two errors to cause Mathewson to lose his first of the year. Mobbed at the Polo Grounds after the loss, umpires Hank O’Day and Bob Emslie require police protection. The crowd is egged on by manager John McGraw, who will be thrown out of games seven times this year.

May 22, 1907

American League umpire Billy Evans needs a police escort after argumentative Detroit Tigers manager Hughie Jennings incites a riot. Jennings will be suspended.

May 23, 1907

Before a packed house of 23‚000‚ John McGraw uses his entire pitching staff of six against the Cubs‚ but Chicago still wins‚ 5 – 2, to move into first place over New York. Hooks Wiltse lasts just one inning‚ giving up two Chicago runs. Jimmy Sheckard’s three-run homer in the 5th off Christy Mathewson‚ pitching on a day’s rest‚ seals the win for Chicago.

May 24, 1907

At the Polo Grounds‚ Boston pitcher Pat Flaherty clubs the first grand slam by a National League pitcher when he connects in the 2nd inning off Hooks Wiltse of the Giants. Boston wins‚ 7 – 5.

June 3, 1907

Stoney McGlynn of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches both games in a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds, winning a 1 – 0 five-hitter in the opener. The Reds win the nitecap, 5 – 1.

June 7, 1907

1907 – The Boston Red Sox send former player-manager Jimmy Collins to the Philadelphia Athletics for infielder John Knight. Collins guided the Red Sox to two American League pennants and the 1903 World Series title. Boston then buys 43-year-old Deacon McGuire from the New York Highlanders and makes him manager. He will have a 98-123 record this year and in 1908.

June 11, 1907

At St. Louis‚ the Giants use three pitchers to beat Stoney McGlynn‚ 8 – 7. Christy Mathewson‚ the third pitcher‚ picks up the victory. Ex-Card Spike Shannon provides a key triple to give New York the win.

June 12, 1907

Eight different Highlanders commit a total of eleven errors en route to a 16-4 loss to Detroit. Shortstop Kid Elberfeld commits four of the fielding miscues in the contest played in New York’s American League Park.

June 16, 1907

1907 – In the Pacific Coast League, Bob Groom pitches a no-hitter as Portland beats Los Angeles, 3 – 0.

June 17, 1907

The Boston Red Sox sign their fourth manager of the season, with Deacon McGuire replacing Bob Unglaub.

June 21, 1907

The Cubs top the Cardinals, 2 – 0, C Johnny Kling throws out all four would-be St. Louis base stealers

June 22, 1907

At New York, the Boston Doves blow Christy Mathewson out of the game after four innings with 10 runs on eight hits. But the Giants claw back to win, 11 – 10, in 12 innings.

June 24, 1907

In a Tri-State League contest at Williamsport, a game with Altoona ends in the 4th inning when a bolt of lightning sets fire to the grandstand. Williamsport pitcher Rube Vickers is so stunned by the ordeal that he needs medical attention.

June 27, 1907

At the Baker Bowl, Christy Mathewson and Hooks Wiltse combine to beat the Phillies, 2 – 0. Lew Moren pitches a fine game but loses. The Giants, playing .625 ball, are still 10 games in back of the Cubs. New York buys the contract of Larry Doyle for $4,500 from the Springfield Senators of the Three-I League.

June 28, 1907

Washington Senators steal an American League record 13 bases in a 16-5 win over the New York Highlanders.

June 29, 1907

Sensational Fielding by Tommy Leach saves the Pirates

July 8, 1907

Bombarded by pop bottles in Brooklyn, irate Cubs manager Frank Chance throws one back into the stands where it cuts a boy’s leg. Chance is mobbed and leaves the park in an armored car with a police escort after the Cubs’ 5 – 0 victory. Three-Finger Brown emerges with the shutout win.

July 12, 1907

Roger Bresnahan returns after a 24 day absence to beat Andy Coakley, the pitcher who caused the absence

July 13, 1907

The Reds manage 11 hits off Christy Mathewson, but no runs, and the Giants win, 4 – 0.

July 14, 1907

The commissioner that will over see integration – Happy Chandler is born

July 15, 1907

The Chicago White Sox pound the New York Highlanders, 15 – 0, the second time this season they’ve beaten New York by that score. They’ll beat them in 1950 by the same score, which will be the Yanks team record for most runs by an opponent in a shutout until 2004.

July 16, 1907

Ed Walsh sets another major league record for fielding chances for pitchers, handling 12 assists and three putouts in a 13-inning game.

July 17, 1907

In a second place battle Vic Willis tops Mathewson 2-0

July 18, 1907

Al Orth becomes the first pitcher to win 100 games in both the American and National League, tossing a two-hitter to beat future Hall of Famer Ed Walsh, who also throws a complete game, in the Highlanders’ 4-0 victory over the White Sox at Chicago’s South Side Park. The 34 year-old New York right-hander, known as the Curveless Wonder, broke in with the Phillies where he won precisely 100 games during his seven seasons the club, before jumping to the Junior Circuit in 1902, signing with the Washington Senators, along with many of his Philadephia teammates.

July 20, 1907

1907 – Chicago’s Carl Lundgren and New York’s Christy Mathewson are stingy today with the Cubs twirler allowing just four hits while the Cubs scratch three off Matty. The Giants score in the 4th when Cy Seymour parks a drive in the bleachers with two on. Prevailing rules make the hit a single, with just one run scoring: it is enough as Matty wins, 1 – 0. Joe Tinker is hitless against Matty, the only time this year that Mathewson shuts down his nemesis.

July 23, 1907

1907 – The Austin Senators (Texas League) steal 23 bases and beat San Antonio, 44 – 0.

July 25, 1907

Red Sox manager Deacon McGuire becomes is the oldest player to ever hit a pinch homer

July 28, 1907

1907 – The Reds take their third game in a row from the Giants, and winning pitcher Jake Weimer adds insult to injury with a swipe of home. An incensed John McGraw gets into a fight with a park security man and belts him. Police break it up and no arrests are made.

July 29, 1907

Giants edge the Cards, 4 – 3 in 11 innings.

July 30, 1907

Cincinnati Reds manager Ned Hanlon, whose managing days began in 1889 at Pittsburgh, announces this will be his last season

August 1, 1907

The Red Sox collect 23 hits in defeating Cleveland, 14 – 1.

August 2, 1907

The Senators’ 19-year-old rookie right-hander Walter Johnson makes his major league debut

August 2, 1907

Three Finger Brown tops Christy Mathewson for the third time this season, allowing just four hits in shutting out the Giants, 5 – 0. The first-place Cubs paste Matty for nine hits, and will take four out of five games in the series with New York.

August 7, 1907

Walter Johnson picks up his first major league victory

August 7, 1907

The A’s Socks Seybold socks a homer off Ed Killian to beat the Tigers. Killian had not given up a homer since September 19, 1903 – 1001 innings. He lost that game as well, and will tee up just nine homers in his short career.

August 8, 1907

At Pittsburgh‚ the Giants sweep two from the Pirates‚ 4 – 3 and 7 – 0. 

August 11, 1907

Cardinal Ed Karger pitches a seven-inning perfect game in game two of a doubleheader, beating the Boston Braves, 4-0. The contest was shortened by a prior agreement between the clubs.

August 11, 1907

Ed Karger of the Cardinals throws a perfect game against the Boston Doves in the second game of a doubleheader, shortened to 7 innings by prior agreement.

August 11, 1907

Just enough to win. The first place Cubs beat the visiting Phillies twice by scores of 1 – 0. Orval Overall and Jack Pfiester apply the calcimine.

August 12, 1907

1907 – At Chicago‚ Ed Walsh loses to the Red Sox and George Winter‚ 5 – 3‚ but ties the American League record for assists by a pitcher in a game with 11. It is the second time this year he’s had 11 assists.

August 15, 1907

At the Polo Grounds, Hooks Wiltse edges the Reds for a 4 – 3 Giants win. Christy Mathewson preserves the win with a scoreless 9th.

August 15, 1907

Chief Bender wins his 11th straight for the Athletics, 4 – 2, over Cleveland, to tighten the pennant race with the Tigers. The Chief is helped by right fielder Socks Seybold who pulls off an unassisted double play. He’ll pull off another on September 10th against Boston.

August 16, 1907

The Washington Post reports that Browns SS Bobby Wallace is the highest-paid player in either league at a salary of $6,500.

August 17, 1907

A match-up of Three Finger Brown and Christy Mathewson attracts a crowd of 20,000 at the Polo Grounds. Matty is unhittable for eight innings, with only a bunt single for the Cubs. But Chicago scores two in the 9th to tie as reliever Jack Pfiester matches Matty for the last three innings. Johnny Kling wins it, 3 – 2, for the Cubs in the 12th with a drive into the LF bleachers.

August 17, 1907

Tommy Leach leads the Bucs to a 5 – 1 win over Boston with three great catches and a steal of home.

August 18, 1907

Boston’s Rube Kroh wins his only game of the year, a complete game 2 – 1 victory over the Browns.

August 18, 1907

Detroit’s first Sunday game at home since 1902, and the first at Bennett Park, is a 16 – 3 win over New York.

August 22, 1907

1907 – The Pirates cut up a trio of Giants pitchers to win 20 – 5 in a game mercifully called after eight innings. The Bucs notch 20 hits, gather eight walks, and the Giants add four errors. George Ferguson, the second pitcher, gets the loss having allowed 11 of the runs.

August 23, 1907

The Pirates top the Giants, 4 – 2 in 10 innings, then win the second game, 1 – 0, when Howie Camnitz spins a 5-inning no-hitter. The Bucs score when Ed Abbaticchio singles home Honus Wagner, who had singled and stolen second base. The Giants also lose Frank Bowerman, hit on the head by a Camnitz pitch. The doctors predict that the burly catcher will miss the season, but he is back in action in three days.

August 24, 1907

1907 – Christy Mathewson pitches for the third day in a row, beating the Pirates, 7 – 4. Matty allows just one hit over the last six innings.

August 27, 1907

 Christy Mathewson fashions a 3-hit shutout over the Cardinals and drives in the only run with a double. Ed Karger takes the hard-luck loss.

August 28, 1907

1907 – Highlander pitcher Tex Neuer, begins baseball’s most successful short career by besting the Red Sox 1 – 0 in his first start, the nitecap of a doubleheader. In one month he will pitch six complete games, win 4, including three shutouts, and then disappear from the ML scene. In the first game, Boston’s Cy Young wins his 20th game, defeating the Highlanders, 5 – 3.

September 1, 1907

Cubs P Ed Reulbach‚ who will be 17-4 with a 1.69 ERA‚ goes into the 9th with a 2 – 0 lead over the Cardinals at Chicago. He gives up 8 straight hits‚ 7 runs‚ and loses the game. The nitecap is stopped after 7 innings.

September 3, 1907

1907 – The Giants and Superbas split a doubleheader. New York takes the opener, 2 – 0, behind Dummy Taylor, then Brooklyn takes the nitecap 1 – 0, in seven innings, behind the 8-hit pitching of Jim Pastorius. The Superbas score on a single, two walks, and a wild pitch by Christy Mathewson.

September 4, 1907

1907 – For his 32nd birthday tomorrow, Cleveland fans give manager Nap Lajoie a wagon-load of gifts, including a live black sheep. Addie Joss pitches a one-hitter against Detroit.

September 7, 1907

Walter Johnson tops the Red Sox, 1 – 0, for the first of his 38 career 1 – 0 wins

September 8, 1907

Future Negro League Star Buck Leonard is born

September 9, 1907

The Giants play their 5th doubleheader in a week, splitting shutouts with Boston. New York takes the opener, 10 – 0, then Irv Young outpitches Christy Mathewson, 1 – 0, in the 7-inning nitecap.

September 9, 1907

Boston’s Cy Young and the A’s Rube Waddell battle to a 13-inning scoreless tie. Neither pitcher walks a batter.

September 11, 1907

Chicago’s Doc White blanks the Browns, 2 – 0 but ends his streak of 65 1/3 innings pitched without issuing a walk

September 12, 1907

Boston loses to the Athletics, 7 – 1, to start a 16-game losing streak.

September 12, 1907

In a 2 – 0 win against the Highlanders at Hilltop Park, Washington’s Walter Johnson strikes out five batters, though it will be recorded as four K’s. Researchers in the 1990s will find the extra K, resulting in Johnson’s lifetime total of 3,509. The issue crops up again on Opening Day, 2001, when Roger Clemens ties (or beats) the mark.

September 13, 1907

Pittsburgh’s Nick Maddox makes his major league debut and tosses a nifty 4 – 0 shutout over the St. Louis Cards.

September 13, 1907

At Washington Park, Christy Mathewson tops Jim Pastorius, 2 – 1, striking out 11 Superbas batters. Dan McGann is 4 for 4 for New York, while teammate Jack Hannifin collects a single, double, triple and two walks in his five trips to the plate.

September 14, 1907

At the West Side Grounds, Chicago beats the visiting Reds, 12 – 5. The Cubs collect 19 hits to the Reds 10 hits – all 29 are singles.

September 14, 1907

Washington’s Sam Lanford, 21, has one of the worst debuts any pitcher ever endures. Lanford walks two New York batters, hits 2, including Frank LaPorte in the head, throws a wild pitch, and balks – all in the first inning. Six runs score, but it is not all Lanford’s fault. Two errors and a passed ball add to his woes.

September 15, 1907

Boston slugger Dave Brain hits his 10th homer, off the Giants’ Red Ames. Brain’s ten round trippers will lead the National League this year, but he will never hit another. The same fate befell Fred Odwell two years ago. Brain will be sold to the Reds in February, the same route that will taken by the 1910 homer champion, Fred Beck.

September 15, 1907

At the Browns-Tigers game in St. Louis, a soda bottle thrown by a fan, Hugo Dusenberg, fells umpire Billy Evans. The crowd beats up Hugo before the police come to his rescue; he is fined $100. Evans is carried from the field and hospitalized, but is not very seriously injured.

September 20, 1907

At Exposition Park in Pittsburgh, Nick Maddox no-hits the Dodgers, 2-1. At the age of 20 years and ten months, the Pirates hurler becomes the youngest pitcher and the second rookie to throw a no-hitter.

September 21, 1907

1907 – Against the Reds, New York jumps to a 6 – 0 lead against Charlie Smith, and Christy Mathewson coasts to a 6 – 2 win. Fred Merkle makes his first appearance for the Giants, playing 2B.

September 23, 1907

At the start of the Giants match in Pittsburgh, John McGraw hands Bill Klem the lineup card with Roger Bresnahan’s name in the lineup. The two argue about whether the catcher can play after yesterday’s ejection and then, when Klem turns away, he is hit in the face with a glass of water. No culprit comes forward but Klem gets his revenge in the 6th by ejecting McGraw and Art Devlin for arguing a call. The Pirates win, 2 – 1.

September 23, 1907

Chicago Cubs clinch the pennant by beating the Phillies, 4 – 1

September 24, 1907

Bill Klem continues his battle with the Giants by tossing four more, including John McGraw.

September 25, 1907

Pittsburgh’s Honus Wagner steals four bases, including second base, third, and home in the 2nd inning against the Giants. Not to be outdone, his teammate Fred Clarke also swipes four bases for the only time in his career.

September 26, 1907

After Cleveland’s Addie Joss fired a one-hitter against the Highlanders yesterday, teammate Heinie Berger matches him today, also against hapless New York. This is the second time this century that teammates have thrown back-to-back one-hitters.

September 27, 1907

After leading the American League most of the month, the Athletics (83-54) are beset by pitching problems as Detroit (86-56) comes into Philadelphia for a three-game showdown. Detroit win the first game, 5 – 4, to take over 1st place.

September 27, 1907

Pirate star Honus Wagner is hit on the hand by a pitch from Rube Dessau, and will miss the last 12 games of the year.

September 29, 1907

Phillies’ freshman hurler George McQuillan begins his major league career with 25 shutout innings, establishing a rookie record. The 22 year-old right-hander’s mark will not be matched for 101 years until broken by A’s reliever Brad Ziegler, who will extend the record to 39 1/3 innings in 2008.

September 30, 1907

At Robison Field in St. Louis, 21 year-old rookie first baseman Ed Konetchy steals home twice in the Cardinals’ 5-1 victory over Boston. The last-place Redbirds swipe home plate three times during the contest.

September 30, 1907

An overflow crowd lines the outfield at Philadelphia’s Columbia Park for the showdown doubleheader between the A’s and Tigers. In the first game, the home team gets off to a 7 – 1 lead against 25-game winner Bill Donovan. But Rube Waddell, who relieves in the 2nd, fails to hold the lead. A 2-run home run by Ty Cobb ties it 8 – 8 in the 9th. Both teams score once in the 11th; an umpire’s ruling costs Philadelphia the game in the 14th: Harry David hits a long fly into the crowd in left-centerfield, ordinarily a ground-rule double. As Tiger CF Sam Crawford goes to the crowd’s edge, a policeman stands up and moves, either to interfere or to get out of the way. Home plate umpire Silk O’Loughlin says there is no interference, then reverses his ruling when base umpire Tom Connolly offers a different opinion. When play resumes, the Athletics’ Danny Murphy hits a long single that would have scored Davis. The game is called because of darkness in the 17th, a 9 – 9 tie. The second game is never played. The Tigers, in first place, leave for Washington where they will win 4. They will finish 1 1/2 games in front.

September 30, 1907

Cardinals’ first baseman Ed Konetchy steals home twice in the same game. St. Louis swipes home plate three times during the contest.

October 5, 1907

1907 – The Philadelphia Athletics’ Rube Vickers pitches a five-inning 4 – 0 perfect game against the Washington Senators. Vickers also wins the 15-inning first game of the twin bill, 4 – 2, with a spectacular 12-inning relief effort. The two wins are the only ones for Vickers this season.

October 8, 1907

Tigers and White Sox tie game 1 of the 1907 series

October 9, 1907

In Game 2 of the World Series played at Chicago’s West Side Grounds, Tigers third baseman Bill Coughlinusing the hidden ball trick

October 12, 1907

Mordecai ‘Three Finger’ Brown throws a 2-0 shutout, beating the Tigers to capture the World Championship for the Cubs

November 5, 1907

1907 – The New York Highlanders trade second baseman Jimmy Williams and outfielder Danny Hoffman to the St. Louis Browns for pitcher Fred Glade, 2B Harry Niles and OF Charlie Hemphill. Glade will pitch just five games in 1908 before retiring.

December 30, 1907

The Mills Commission on the origins of baseball reports that the game was invented by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839