Four Games In Chicago
A Rarity
Four Games In Chicago
I came across something interesting in this 1908 replay. I’m not sure if it’s rare or not; I haven’t really studied it much.
On May 10, 1908, there were four games in Chicago. Both the Cubs and White Sox played home doubleheaders.
I’m not sure if this was common or not in those days. You’d have to think that the owners of both teams were at least somewhat frustrated with the setup. I mean, the audience would have to be divided between both games, right?
Well, not necessarily.
The Cubs played the Pirates, winning one and losing one. The amazing part is that they attracted the biggest crowd of the season to date:
Baseball Reference gives the attendance as 26,000, though I don’t know what the source of that figure is. I was unable to find anything in The Chicago Daily Tribune.
Meanwhile, the White Sox hosted the Cleveland Naps across town.
You’d think that the Sox wouldn’t draw well with 26,000 people across town, right? You’d be wrong.
Baseball Reference gives the attendance of this game as 18,000. Again, I’m not sure what the source is. It’s clear, however, that the crowd really was large:
Now, apparently this wasn’t a completely rare event, since both the Cardinals and Browns hosted home doubleheaders on the same day. I didn’t include those games because I couldn’t find descriptive newspaper coverage. However, this extremely well-attended Chicago doubleheader really stood out to me.