Nap Lajoie resigns as the manager of the faltering Cleveland club. The fans still show their support for the popular skipper when a response to a newspaper poll indicates the overwhelming choice is to keep the team name as the Naps instead of choosing a new one, which will not happen until they become the Indians following the 1914 season.
Red Sox reliever Smoky Joe Wood fans 10 Cleveland batters in just four innings as visiting Boston wins, 6 – 4.
Boston Red Sox trade Cy Young to the Cleveland Naps
On the last day of the season, future Hall of Famer Addie Joss hurls a perfect game, beating Ed Walsh and the White Sox, 1-0. The Wisconsin right-hander’s performance kept the Naps’ hopes alive, but the Tigers edge Cleveland by a 1/2 game for the American League pennant.
1908 – Near Lexington, Kentucky, the train carrying the Cleveland Naps is struck by two bricks, shattering windows. Elmer Flick, Bill Bradley, and Harry Bay are hit by the flying glass while playing euchre, but no injuries occur. Tomorrow, the team will arrive safely in Macon, Georgia for spring training.
After watching Ty Cobb quarrel with a black groundskeeper and with teammate Charlie Schmidt, Tiger manager Hugh Jennings tries to deal him to the Indians for outfielder Elmer Flick. The Tribe’s manager Napoleon Lajoie turns down the deal for the ‘Georgia Peach.’
1907 – The St. Louis Browns trade second baseman Pete O’Brien to the Cleveland Naps in exchange for catcher Fritz Buelow.
Cleveland Naps’ (Indians) hurler Bob Rhoads holds Boston hitless until Chick Stahl singles with two outs in the ninth. In four years, the right-hander will become the first pitcher ever to no-hit the Red Sox.
With Napoleon Lajoie lining a major-league record three triples, Cleveland rolls past the Highlanders, 16 – 3.
In a game shortened due to darkness, the Americans clinch their first AL pennant when they beat the Cleveland Naps at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds, 4-3. Boston will go on to defeat the Pirates, 5 games to 3, in the first World Series the fledgling circuit plays against an established National League foe.
Enjoy our free trial and start listening to games, interviews and shows! Ruth, Mantle, Aaron, and Seaver!