1908 Season Wrap Up
Northern League
The dominant team from the first two season of the Arizona League is back on top -- the Cottonwood Monsoon. And for the first time ever, the Kayenta Turquoise Warriors make the playoffs as the wildcard team! The Warriors had been third 2-3 times but never second or first... Some celebrating for sure in Navajo Country...
Cottonwood wasn't a stellar hitting team (9th out of 16th in the league) but had the top pitching staff (2.30 ERA, opponent's average .216).
Jack Combs won an amazing 31 games and finished with a 1.50 ERA.
Harry McIntyre won 25 games and
Ed Walsh 21. Infielder
Harry Davis paced the offense with 104 RBIs and 15 homers... Nice...
Al Orth (26-11) and
Rube Waddell (24-16) had the best pitching arms for Kayenta ...
Here are the NL standings:
Code:
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Cottonwood 92 70 .568 - 98-64 -6 44-37 48-33 6-10 27-26 * W1 8-2
Kayenta 87 75 .537 5.0 80-82 7 42-39 45-36 11-9 34-32 - L3 6-4
Flagstaff 82 80 .506 10.0 89-73 -7 40-41 42-39 8-13 21-30 - L1 4-6
Prescott 79 83 .488 13.0 84-78 -5 42-39 37-44 10-17 26-37 - W2 4-6
Grand Canyon 78 84 .481 14.0 73-89 5 40-41 38-43 13-10 35-31 - L3 5-5
Jerome 78 84 .481 14.0 75-87 3 39-42 39-42 17-5 34-27 - W3 5-5
Payson 78 84 .481 14.0 79-83 -1 34-47 44-37 9-8 31-27 - L1 3-7
Sedona 74 88 .457 18.0 71-91 3 37-44 37-44 10-12 33-31 - W1 5-5
Southern League
You couldn't have asked for a more dramatic ending to the SL. Six teams finished within eight games of each other at the top. Only Tucson and Bisbee were really out of it over the last month or so...
Despite a three-game losing streak to end the season, Yuma held on to win the top spot. Not sure why they played one less game than Tempe, I'll just say it was a rain out issue ...
Poor Carefree. The Blues had fans raving in their first season in the Southern League and got hot at the end, winning seven of the last 10 games. But the Blues lost to Tempe on the final day of the regular season 3-2 to lose the wildcard spot to the Sun Devils. So close.
Tempe RF
Irv Waldron was definitely the hero in the decisive final game. The 32-year-old designated hitter went 4-for-4, hitting a home run in his last at-bat in the bottom of the eighth to break a 2-2 tie. It was only his seventh homer of the season but propelled the Sun Devils into the playoffs! Waldron, an 11th round pick in the initial AZL draft in 1901, ended up being named Batter of the Month for September. (Gosh, I love this game and the storylines it produces)...
As for Yuma, the Prisoners were led by pitcher
Addie Joss (28-9 record), a 28-year-old standout. Eight guys had 45 or more RBIs for Yuma...
Here are the complete SL standings for 1908:
Code:
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Yuma 87 75 .537 - 85-77 2 49-32 38-43 14-8 36-29 * L3 4-6
Tempe 87 76 .534 .5 90-73 -3 46-36 41-40 6-7 25-25 - W1 5-5
Carefree 86 77 .528 1.5 87-76 -1 41-40 45-37 12-3 33-29 - L1 7-3
Nogales 85 77 .525 2.0 91-71 -6 44-37 41-40 4-9 27-28 - W1 7-3
Tombstone 80 82 .494 7.0 72-90 8 37-44 43-38 8-3 25-20 - L1 4-6
Phoenix 79 83 .488 8.0 75-87 4 44-37 35-46 9-9 28-26 - L1 5-5
Bisbee 73 89 .451 14.0 73-89 0 38-43 35-46 7-10 25-23 - W2 4-6
Tucson 72 90 .444 15.0 77-85 -5 42-39 30-51 7-18 19-38 - W1 5-5