Approximately two week’s after Merkle’s Boner took place, the Cubs faced off once again against the New York Giants on October 8, 1908. The two teams had finished the season tied in the race, so the tie game that resulted from Fred Merkle’s base-running blunder was replayed in order to determine a National League pennant winner. In the makeup game, Christy Mathewson was out-pitched by Three Finger Brown as the Cubs defeated the Giants, 4-2.
It never ceases to amaze me how some people who can easily be written off achieve such great heights of success and overcome their so called limitations. He is a credit to the game of baseball.
If anything, he turned it to his advantage. Pretty impressive.
My favorite ‘pee’ joke :
Sister Mary burst into the office of the principal of Our Lady of Perpetual Motion parochial school in an advanced state of agitation.
“Father!” she cried, “just WAIT until you hear this!”
The priest led the sister to a chair, and said, “Now just calm down and tell me what has you so excited.”
“Well, Father,” the nun began, “I was just walking down the hall to the chapel and I heard some of the older boys wagering money!”
“A serious infraction, indeed!” said the priest.
“But that’s not what has me so excited, father” replied the nun. “It was WHAT they were wagering ON !! They had wagered on a contest to see who could urinate the highest on the wall !! ”
“What an incredible wager!” exclaimed the priest, “What did you do?”
Sister Mary said, “Well, I hit the CEILING, father.”
He asked, “How much did you win?”
The Merkle game is arguably the most famous game in Deadball baseball. But most people don’t know about the replay. Thanks for reminding us.
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I think most people believe that the Merkle game is what ended it, when actually, the Giants lost several games after that to necessitate the makeup game. They did it to themselves as a team, not just one guy. Poor Merkle.