Fred Merkle's Baserunning Blunder Costs the Giants

On September 23, 1908, the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs played to a disputed tie at the Polo Grounds in what became the most controversial game in baseball history. The Cubs and Giants were locked in a tight pennant race, tied for first place when the day began.

The score was knotted 1-1 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Moose McCormick stood on third base and 19-year-old Fred Merkle, the youngest player in the National League, stood on first. Al Bridwell lined a single to center field. McCormick trotted home with the apparent winning run. Fans poured onto the field in celebration.

Merkle, seeing the crowd rush the diamond, turned and headed for the clubhouse in center field without touching second base. Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers saw the mistake. He called for the ball, touched second base, and argued to umpire Hank O'Day that Merkle was forced out, nullifying the run. In the chaos of the crowd, the exact ball that Evers used became a point of dispute. But O'Day ruled Merkle out on the force play, and the game was declared a tie because the field could not be cleared.

The tie held. The Giants and Cubs finished the regular season deadlocked, and the game was replayed on October 8. The Cubs won the makeup game 4-2, captured the pennant, and went on to win the World Series.

Merkle carried the nickname "Bonehead" for the rest of his life, though baseball historians have noted that his baserunning was common practice at the time. Players routinely left the field without touching the next base once a game-ending hit appeared to score the winning run. Merkle had the misfortune of doing it in the most consequential moment.