The Awful Highlanders

Tigers at Highlanders, May 16, 1908

The Awful Highlanders

The 1908 Highlanders are a bad team.

There’s no question about it. This team is simply awful.

This team was heavily influenced by Hal Chase in real life. Chase was every bit as much a gambler in 1908 as his later reputation would indicate. As a result, I feel dirty every time I play with this team — almost like I need to take a long bath to get rid of the stench.

In real life, the Highlanders finished at 51-103, easily in last place in the American League. Only the 49-105 St. Louis Cardinals managed to field a worse team.

But, you know, the team still has the ability to come back every now and then.

New York was down 6-4 going into the bottom of the 9th of this game. They were facing the defending American League champions to boot.

Detroit hasn’t had a great start to the season, but they’re certainly better than the Highlanders.

However, Tigers starting pitcher George Mullin simply didn’t have enough in him to finish this one out. Before two men were out, Mullin had walked the bases loaded, and faced Walter Blair:

Blair’s single scored one, keeping the bases full, and setting things up for Kid Elberfeld.

I put Ed Willett in to pitch for the Tigers in a sort of last ditch effort to keep the Highlanders at bay. Did it work?

No, it didn’t work.

It’s almost lost in the mess of the boxscore, but Ty Cobb quietly went 3 for 5 in this game, bringing his batting average up to .286. If (or, rather, when) Cobb gets hot, the Tigers will be tough to beat.