BONEHEAD MERKLE | Fred Merkle is best remembered for a base running blunder that cost the Giants the 1908 pennant. In the bottom half of the ninth inning in a game played September 23, 1908, with Moose McCormick on third base and rookie Merkle on first, Al Bridwell singled in what appeared to be the winning run against Chicago. Merkle, anxious to avoid the crush of jubilant fans pouring onto the field, went halfway to second base before running to the centerfield clubhouse. "I think that under the circumstances any ballplayer on any ball club would have done the same thing Merkle did," insisted Bridwell. "They did it all the time in those days." But on this occasion Chicago second baseman Johnny Evers somehow found a ball in the throngs Of spectators, stepped on second base, and argued for the forceout. Umpire Hank O'Day, a former Giants player, agreed with the Cubs' appeal. He called Merkle out, negating the run and setting off a firestorm of controversy.

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