The 1908 World Series was significant for being the last World Series championship the Cubs would win until the World Series (108 years later). Before the 2016 series, the team would go on to appear in seven World Series; in , , , , , , and , losing each time. The Cubs had been one of baseball's most dominant teams in the early 1900s. This was the year of the infamous "Merkle's Boner" play that allowed the Chicago Cubs to reach the World Series after beating the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants) in a one-game "playoff", actually the makeup game for the tie that the Merkle play had caused.