1908 Nashville vs. New Orleans baseball game

The 1908 Nashville vs. New Orleans baseball game dubbed by Grantland Rice "The Greatest Game Ever Played in Dixie" was a 1–0 pitching duel to decide the Southern Association championship in the dead-ball era, on the last day of the season.[1] The Nashville Vols won the game and thus the pennant by .002 percentage points, after finishing the prior season in last place. Both teams had the same number of losses (56), but the New Orleans Pelicans were in first place with 76 wins to the Vols' second-place 74.[2] Carl Sitton used his spitball to out-pitch Ted Breitenstein for a complete-game, nine-strikeout, four-hit, shutout.[3] According to one account, "By one run, by one point, Nashville has won the Southern League pennant, nosing New Orleans out literally by an eyelash. Saturday's game, which was the deciding one, between Nashville and New Orleans was the greatest exhibition of the national game ever seen in the south and the finish in the league race probably sets a record in baseball history".[4]

1908 Nashville–New Orleans Southern Association championship game

A panorama of the field that day
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E New Orleans Pelicans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 Nashville Vols 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 X 1 8 0
Date	September 19, 1908
Venue	Sulphur Dell
City	Nashville, Tennessee
Managers	Charlie Frank (New Orleans Pelicans) Bill Bernhard (Nashville Vols)
Umpires	Carpenter Fitzsimmons
Attendance	10,700

Nashville scored in the seventh inning with the bases loaded. With two outs, catcher Ed Hurlburt hit a single. Then Sitton did too. Harry "Deerfoot" Bay bunted perfectly down the third base line, Bay's fondest memory in his long baseball career.[5] Julius Augustus "Doc" Wiseman then drove in the winning run. Sitton was thrown out at home after Hurlburt scored.[5] The time of the game was one hour and forty-two minutes.[1]

Box score

Pelicans AB R H PO A E Roy Montgomery, RF 4 0 0 1 0 0 George Rohe, 3B 4 0 0 0 4 0 Bris Lord, CF 4 0 0 0 1 0 Bob Tarleton, 1B 4 0 2 12 2 0 Charles Dexter, SS 3 0 1 3 3 1 Joe Rickert, LF 3 0 1 1 0 0 Gus Dundon, 2B 3 0 0 2 2 0 Harry Matthews, C 3 0 0 4 0 0 Ted Breitenstein, P 1 0 0 1 3 0 Pelicans IP H R BB SO HR Ted Breitenstein, L 8.0 8 1 1 3 0

Vols AB R H PO A E Harry Bay, LF 4 0 1 0 0 0 Doc Wiseman, RF 3 0 2 1 0 0 Walter East, 2B 4 0 1 1 3 0 Pryor McElveen, 3B 3 0 1 3 1 0 Johnny Siegle, CF 4 0 0 1 0 0 Jake Daubert, 1B 4 0 1 10 1 0 Kid Butler, SS 3 0 0 1 3 0 Ed Hurlburt, C 3 1 1 9 0 0 Carl Sitton, P 3 0 1 1 1 0 Vols IP H R BB SO HR Carl Sitton, W 9.0 4 0 2 9 0

References

1. The Reach Official American League Base Ball Guide For 1908. A.J. Reach Company. 1908. p. 215.
2. Simpson 2007, p. 164
3. Simpson 2007, p. 172
4. Hamilton Love (October 10, 1908). "South Sayings" (PDF). Sporting Life: 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 13, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
5. Simpson 2013, p. 62

Bibliography

• Simpson, John A. (2007). The Greatest Game Ever Played In Dixie. ISBN 9780786430505.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Simpson, John A. (2013). Hub Perdue: Clown Prince of the Mound. ISBN 0786472251.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)