Hilltop Park

1908, April 4, Opening Day, NY Highlanders & Phila.Ath

Wikipedia - "Hilltop Park was the nickname of a baseball park that stood in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. It was the home of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball club from 1903-1912 when they were known as the 'Highlanders'. It was also the temporary home of the New York Giants during a two-month period in 1911 while the Polo Grounds was being rebuilt after a fire. The ballpark's formal name (as painted on its exterior walls) was American League Park. Because the park was located on The Hilltop of Manhattan Island, it came to be known as Hilltop Park, and its team was often called the New York Highlanders as well as the Americans or the Yankees."
Wikipedia

SABR - "The cramped wooden ballpark had few admirers. Inconveniently located in the far northern reaches of Manhattan, it had been hastily erected in spring 1903 and was constantly in need of refurbishment. The team that it housed was a fitting occupant, a second-fiddle mediocrity that never won a pennant and only rarely contended for one. Unloved and short-lived – it served as a baseball venue for only ten years – scant tears were shed when the confines passed from the major-league scene after the 1912 season. Yet without Hilltop Park, the American League would have been unable to secure a foothold in New York City. And the fortunes of the game’s dominant franchise might well have played out far differently."
SABR: Hilltop Park

Hilltop Park Historical Analysis
"The first ballpark used by the American League in New York City was Hilltop Park. The park got its name because it was situated on the top of a hill overlooking the Hudson River. Hilltop was built for the American League franchise that had spent its first two seasons in Baltimore (the original Baltimore Orioles). The park opened on April 30, 1903, as the home park of the then New York Highlanders-later better known as the Yankees. The location of Hilltop Park was at the Southwest corner of Broadway and One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Street on the northwest portion of the island (and borough) of Manhattan in the city of New York."
Baseball Almanac

Hilltop Park And the Church of Baseball
"Perched on a hill overlooking the Hudson River at the southwest corner of Broadway and 168th Street in Washington Heights was Hilltop Park, the original home ball field of the New York Yankees (known then as the Highlanders).
Deadball Baseball

Hilltop Park

Baseball Library

zigzagger

A curveball or erratic throw. "Keith swung his right are in a wide sweep, balancing himself on his right foot, and shot over a zigzagger which Manny missed by inches" (Burt L. Standish, Courtney of the Center Garden, 1915; David Shulman).
Paul Dickson, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary

Crazy ’08

NYT - "Chicago Cub fans, that numerous and inexplicable cohort, have a weird rallying cry: 'Remember 1908!' Not one of them really does remember that season, the last time the Cubs won the World Series. That is all the more reason for them to join Cait Murphy on her jaunty walk through that tumultuous season. All other baseball fans should tag along. So should anyone interested in the rough texture of this bumptious nation in the early 20th century, when 25 cents — not a piddling amount for a low-skilled factory worker making $7 a week — would get you into a ballpark where whiskey, waffles and pigs’ knuckles were served."
NYT: Perfect Season - George F. Will

"A few days later, I started reading Crazy ’08, Cait Murphy’s electrifying tale of the 1908 major league baseball season. The narrative of her insightful, irreverent, illuminating book barrels forward like a high-speed train through a wonderland—you want the train to slow down so you can study the wealth of details flying by, but you can’t help charging ahead to see what’s around the next corner. Even before I was finished I knew the book would be hurtling like that train, or like Ty Cobb, spikes-high, into my personal top ten. I haven’t yet had the privilege of speaking with any of the other authors on my list, but happily for me the newest member, Cait Murphy, was kind enough to answer a few questions about the book, the 1908 season, and her own history in the game."
Cardboard Gods: Interview with Cait Murphy

Mordechai "Three Finger" Brown

"1908 was the greatest season in baseball history. With thrills on the field and drama off the field, the players, the teams, the owners and the times themselves all conspired to make 1908 epochal. Consider: Both leagues had multi-team pennant races that lasted until the last day of the season. Honus Wagner had perhaps the greatest season ever. Christy Mathewson and Mordecai Brown locked horns in fabulous pitching duels throughout the season. Ed Walsh struck out 15 batters in a crucial game early in October, only to lose to Addie Joss's perfect game. Personalities abounded, from Mathewson and John McGraw to Tinker to Evers to Chance. It was Cy Young's last good year, Walter Johnson's first and Ty Cobb's second season."
Hardball Times: Crazy '08

Crazy ’08 by Cait Murphy - "... At first glance, Crazy ’08 by Cait Murphy looks like it’s going to be yet another chronicle of the Lovable Losers. It even takes care to point out in the flap that 1908 is the last time the Cubs won the World Series. But I don’t have to repeat what is often said about judging books by covers, now do I? Amazingly enough, the Cubs aren’t really the focal point of Crazy ’08. Yes, they play a prominent role, but they’re in the book mainly because they just happen to play one of the main roles in the story."
Lit Bases

Frank Chance, Chicago

Crazy ’08 - "From the perspective of 2007, the unintentional irony of Chance's boast is manifest—these days, the question is when will the Cubs ever win a game they have to have. In October 1908, though, no one would have laughed: The Cubs were, without doubt, baseball's greatest team—the first dynasty of the 20th century. Crazy '08 recounts the 1908 season—the year when Peerless Leader Frank Chance's men went toe to toe to toe with John McGraw and Christy Mathewson's New York Giants and Honus Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates in the greatest pennant race the National League has ever seen. The American League has its own three-cornered pennant fight, and players like Cy Young, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and the egregiously crooked Hal Chase ensured that the junior circuit had its moments. But it was the National League's—and the Cubs'—year."
amazon: Crazy '08

Chief Wilson

SABR - "Owen Wilson is most remembered for hitting 36 triples in 1912, which is not only a major league record, but also a record for all of organized baseball. To the modern fan, that fact conjures up images of a speedy leadoff hitter racing around the bases, but that image does not square with Owen Wilson. At 6' 2" and 185 pounds, the left-handed hitting slugger was powerfully built and not particularly fast (his 1912 stolen base total of 16 was one shy of his career best), and he typically batted sixth or seventh in the batting order. Wilson typically blasted his triples over the heads of rival outfielders."
SABR: Chief Wilson

Wikipedia - "John Owen 'Chief' Wilson (August 21, 1883 – February 22, 1954) was a professional baseball player. He played nine season in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1908–13) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1914–16), primarily as a right fielder. Born in Austin, Texas, Wilson was an outfielder with a strong throwing arm. He broke into the majors in 1908 with the Pirates and helped them win the pennant and World Series the following year." 
Wikipedia

Interview with “Chief Bender’s Burden” Author Tom Swift
"Hall of Famer Charles Albert “Chief” Bender played one season with the Phillies, but he is much better known for the 12 seasons he spent across town with the Philadelphia A’s. He won over 63% of his starts, and the higher the pressure was, the better he performed, winning six World Series games with a 2.44 ERA in the Fall Classic. He is also credited by many as being the inventor of the slider. While he loved Philadelphia, he also struggled here, as his Native American heritage caused him to be taunted both home and away, and belittled in newspaper reports. Even his nickname, Chief, was an insult."
Philly Sports History

Chief Bender's Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star
"The greatest American Indian baseball player of all time, Charles Albert Bender was, according to a contemporary, “the coolest pitcher in the game.” Using a trademark delivery, an impressive assortment of pitches that may have included the game’s first slider, and an apparently unflappable demeanor, he earned a reputation as baseball’s great clutch pitcher during tight Deadball Era pennant races and in front of boisterous World Series crowds. More remarkably yet, “Chief” Bender’s Hall of Fame career unfolded in the face of enormous prejudice."
amazon

Baseball Reference