Merkle's Boner

"Merkle's Boner refers to the notorious baserunning mistake committed by rookie Fred Merkle of the New York Giants in a game against the Chicago Cubs in 1908. Merkle's failure to advance to second base on what should have been a game-winning hit led instead to a forceout at second and a tied game. The Cubs won the makeup game later, which proved decisive as they beat the Giants by one game to win the National League pennant in 1908. It has been described as 'the most controversial game in baseball history.' ... Pfiester remained on the mound for Chicago. Cy Seymour led off with a groundout to second. Art Devlin singled, putting the winning run on first base with one out. Moose McCormick grounded sharply to second, but Devlin's aggressive slide prevented a double play and allowed McCormick to reach first base safely on a fielder's choice. With two outs and McCormick on first, Fred Merkle came up to bat. Merkle, who only had 47 plate appearances in the entire 1908 season, singled down the right-field line. McCormick, the potential winning run, advanced to third base."
W - Merkle's Boner

"... On September 23, in the final two weeks of a sweltering National League pennant race between the Giants, Cubs, and Pirates, Merkle substituted at first base for the injured Fred Tenney. In the bottom of the ninth at the Polo Grounds, the Giants and Cubs were tied, 1-1. With two out and Moose McCormick on first base, Merkle drove a long single into the right-field corner, sending McCormick to third. The next batter, shortstop Al Bridwell, lined Jack Pfiester's offering up the middle, knocking umpire Bob Emslie from his feet. When McCormick scored the would-be winning run, the fans at the Polo Grounds went wild and swarmed onto the diamond. According to his own affidavit, Merkle was about 15 feet from second base when he veered towards the clubhouse in center field. Chicago center-fielder Artie Hofman had fielded Bridwell's hit and thrown the ball to second-baseman Johnny Evers, but somehow Giants pitcher Joe McGinnity came up with the ball and lobbed it deep into the crowd. While Evers was trying to recover Hofman's throw, Merkle claims he returned to second base and stood there while the Cubs protested. He remained there until Christy Mathewson came along and said, 'Come on, let's go to the clubhouse. Emslie said he would not allow the claim.' Evers, who eventually found another ball somewhere, clamored for the attention of home-plate umpire Hank O'Day, claiming that Merkle had failed to touch second. O'Day called Merkle out on a force play."
SABR

Boneheads, Goats & Flops
"History can't tap all of us for laurels and accolades: someone has to suffer the slings and arrows of defeat. For every heroic deed performed on the anxious field of play, there is a corresponding bungle, muff, error or bonehead play. From 'Merkle's Boner' to Snodgrass's muffed fly, the dead-ball era had its share of notable boneheads, goats, and flops. bone head. (bõn'hed') noun. Slang. A term of opprobrium denoting a person who acts thoughtlessly or stupidly. A word common in early 20th century parlance; can be used as a noun or an adjective. In baseball history, bonehead (and it's truncated verb form "boner") refers almost always to luckless Fred Merkle and his baserunning gaffe against the Cubs in late 1908. ... goat. (gõt) noun. Idiom. Short for scapegoat. ... flop. (flõp) noun. Slang. An utter failure."
Baseball Cards

"The Merkle Ball"

"Merkle's Boner is one of the most prominent incidents in the history of major league baseball. It occurred in 1908 and involved many future Hall of Fame players. Fred Merkle was a 19-year-old player filling in for veteran Fred Tenney at first base for the New York Giants when the famous play occurred. During the first decade of the 1900s, the top National League teams were the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Giants, and the Chicago Cubs. During the 1908 season, the Giants and Cubs were in a close battle for first place. The Cubs had previously won the pennant in 1906 and 1907, while the Giants had won in 1904 and 1905. A few days prior to the game in which the play occurred, Cubs captain and eventual Hall of Famer Johnny Evers warned an umpire that he was going to insist on the umpires calling a runner out if he failed to touch the succeeding base at the end of a game. It was common, at the time, if a batter batted home a runner who was on third base to win a game, for a runner on first base to just leave the field instead of bothering to touch second base. The player whom Evers had seen supposedly failing to touch second base was Warren Gill in a game played on September 4th between the Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates."
Baseball Reference

2012 September: Crazy ’08