1909 Detroit Tigers Season - Regular Season - Season Highlights

Season Highlights

• April 14: George Mullin pitched a 1-hit, shutout as the Tigers beat the White Sox, 1-0, on Opening Day at Bennett Park.
• April 18: The Tigers announced plans to build a new concrete and steel stadium. The team won its fifth straight game to start the season, 5-0, as George Mullin got his second win, a 3-2 victory over Cleveland.
• May 2: The Tigers beat the White Sox, 6-5. Ty Cobb was ejected from a game for the first time. He tried stretching a double and was called out at third base.
• May 16: The Tigers lost, 3-2, to Boston. George Moriarty was tagged out in the 9th inning trying to steal home to end the game. After tagging Moriarty, Boston catcher Bill Carrigan spit tobacco on Moriarty‚ saying‚ "don't try that and pull that on a smart guy." Moriarty then flattened Carrigan. Both players were suspended for fighting.
• June 10: The Tigers beat the New York Highlanders, 2-1, as George Mullin won his 11th straight game. Mullin lost to the A’s, 5-4, in his next start on June 15.
• June 22: The Tigers bought the rest of the vacant Bennett Field grounds as the site for a new baseball stadium.
• June 26: In Detroit‚ the Tigers beat the Browns and Rube Waddell‚ 6-2. It was the 8th straight game between the two teams‚ and the Tigers won all eight.
• July 15: Ty Cobb hit two inside-the-park homers to lead the Tigers to a double header sweep of the Senators. Detroit won‚ 9-5 and 7-0.
• July 16: At Bennett Field‚ Detroit and Washington played the longest scoreless game in AL history - 18 innings. Ed Summers pitched the complete game‚ holding the Senators to 7 hits‚ two walks (one intentional)‚ while striking out 10. The Senators' 30-year-old rookie‚ Bill "Dolly" Gray‚ allowed only one hit before leaving with an injury after 8 innings.
• July 22: The Tigers beat Boston, 6-0, as Ty Cobb stole second, third and home in the 7th inning‚ against pitcher Harry Wolter. In all, Cobb had three hits and four stolen bases. Ed Killian got the win for Detroit.
• August 20: The Browns and Tigers traded first baseman: Tom Jones went to Detroit for Claude Rossman.
• August 24: The Tigers beat the A’s, 7-6. A's catcher Paddy Livingston threw out Ty Cobb trying to steal 3rd base during an intentional walk to Sam Crawford. Cobb intentionally spiked third baseman Frank “Home Run” Baker on his bare hand during the play‚ prompting howls of protest from the A’s. A's manager Connie Mack complained to AL president Ban Johnson about Cobb's dirty play, and Cobb received a warning from Johnson.
• August 28: The Tigers beat New York, 2-1. The first six New York batters reached base safely‚ and two cross the plate‚ but only one run counted. Engel hit a leadoff single and stayed on first base when Chase chopped a ball in the air and Engel thought it was a pop up. Engel was tagged out. Four more singles drove in one run but the Knight was called back to third base when a hit ball touched an umpire. Ty Cobb had a single‚ double, and triple for Detroit.
• September 2: Detroit beat Boston‚ 8-5‚ and completed a sweep of every series against visiting Eastern teams‚ winning their 14th game in a row. The Tigers regained first place by a half game.
• September 13: Ty Cobb hit his major league leading ninth home run in a 10-2 Detroit win over the Browns. All of Cobb’s home runs in 1909 were inside-the-park. He was the only player in the 20th century to lead the league in home runs without hitting one out of the park. Only Sam Crawford (12 in 1901) hit more inside-the-park home runs in a year.
• September 18: Before 35‚409 in Philadelphia‚ the largest paid baseball attendance ever‚ the A’s Chief Bender beat Detroit’s Bill Donovan, 2-0, to keep the A's in the pennant race. The A's were 14-8 against Detroit in 1909‚ setting an AL record for most wins against the pennant winner.
• September 21: Detroit was shut out by Walter Johnson, 2-0.
• September 25: The Tigers swept the Highlanders in a double header, 2-1 and 10-4. During the second game, Detroit manager, Hughie Jennings, discovered that the Yankees were stealing the catcher’s signs, using a telescope and sending signals to the batter by moving a crossbar in a hat advertisement in center field. Jennings sent the team trainer to investigate. The trainer destroyed the crossbar. In the off-season, the AL announced that a manager or player responsible for sign-tipping would be banned from the league for all time.