One gaffe prevented Tigers-Giants World Series in 1908

The first World Series game between the Tigers and Giants will occur tonight, more than a century after it almost did.

The Tigers won the American League pennant in 1908. They didn't meet the New York Giants in that year's World Series because of a combination of the most infamous baserunning mistake in history, the inability of a great pitcher to win the biggest game of his best season, and the fortitude of the defending world champions: the Chicago Cubs.

With two weeks left in that season, the Cubs and Giants were tied for first when they met in New York.

The Giants appeared to win on a tie-breaking single in the bottom of the ninth.

But 19-year-old Fred Merkle, the runner on first, never touched second base as the apparent winning run scored. He bolted for the Giants clubhouse in centerfield at the Polo Grounds as fans came on the field.

Chicago second baseman Johnny Evers saw his chance. He called for the ball in the bedlam, got one and stepped on second, claiming to the umpire that he forced out Merkle and the inning was over and the run didn't count.

Eventually, the authorities saw it Evers' way. The game was declared a tie.

The Giants had plenty of time left in the season to overcome Merkle's mistake and finish first and advance to the World Series. (This was six decades before a team had to prevail in the playoffs to go to the Series.) But when the schedule ended, the Giants and Cubs remained tied for first.

So the teams had to make up the Merkle game, the one the Giants apparently had won and, all other things being equal, would have given them the pennant by a game.

The replay of the Merkle game -- one game for the pennant and the right to play the Tigers -- occurred Oct. 8, 1908, in New York.

The Giants pitcher was Christy Mathewson, who Babe Ruth later called "the great Mathewson." He was finishing his fourth season of at least 30 wins, and he entered this game against the Cubs with a career-high 37 wins.

In that '08 season, Mathewson walked 42 and struck out 259. The 28-year-old right-hander pitched 390 2/3 innings and 11 shutouts -- both of which remained his career highs.

But he lost this game and the pennant to the Cubs, 4-2.

Merkle soon became a regular and remained one for a decade. He played in five World Series (his team lost all five). But because he didn't touch second base in 1908, he remains locked in infamy.

He has since been joined there by the Cubs, who have won't another World Series since they won their second straight from the Tigers of Ty Cobb in 1908.

Mathewson and Cobb were elected to the Hall of Fame in the first year of voting, 1936. This overwhelming pitcher and magnificent hitter never faced each other in a game that counted. They could have done so in the 1908 World Series, but Merkle didn't touch second, and Mathewson couldn't beat the Cubs.