The Retro Sheet
Official Publication of Retrosheet, Inc.
Although Retrosheet still has some 20,000 game accounts left in the filing cabinets awaiting input, it has been true for quite some time that we are doing computer entry faster than we are acquiring more game accounts. It is conceivable that in about two to three years we will reach the point where we have to stop inputting because we have depleted our stock, even though there are still many thousand more accounts to be had from microfilmed newspapers. Several people have sent me photocopies they have made from microfilm, although Joe Dittmar is the only one to have completed a whole season, making copies from each day's edition of the 1921 Chicago Daily News. Of the other 4500 microfilm accounts we have on hand, over 95% of them have been copied by me.
I very much enjoy this work and love reading the news of the day along with the ball games, so my summary here is not to complain about spending time with the microfilm machines, but to note that by myself I will never be able to keep up with the voracious inputters we have. I understand that many people don't have the opportunities that I do to have access to the film (University based Interlibrary Loan is a wonderful service). However, very simply, I will need some help within the next few years to avoid our grinding to a halt for lack of games on hand. Therefore, I ask for volunteers to make copies from microfilmed newspapers in their home libraries. If you can help in this way, let me know and I can point you to some good newspapers to work on. The organization has some money in our bank account and we can reimburse for copying and postage costs, although we continue to rely on volunteer donation of the most important ingredient, namely the labor of people who know and love baseball.
Bob Yahr is an economics professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He personally scored many Cubs games from 1956 through the 1970s. Some of these were missing from our Cubs' collection, which has many holes. Bob also has spent dozens of hours in libraries in Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities in the area researching microfilmed newspapers.
The result of Bob's work is new accounts of about 50 Cubs games against the Pirates, Braves and Reds from 1958 through 1964. These teams all have large holes in their scoresheet collections and one of the immediate results of Bob's work is getting us much closer to completing the 1964 season. Many thanks to Bob for his fine work.
From the Chicago Daily News, 4-28-1930
Sidney Weil, president of the Cincinnati Reds, has evinced an interest in night baseball. He plans to go to Des Moines Friday to make a personal inspection of the working of the system installed by the Western League club there.
"So many people are unable to attend in the forenoon, except Sundays and holidays," Weil said, "that I am much interested in the experiment. If it works in the minors it might be a good thing in the majors, too. Anyway, any new idea in baseball is always worthy of investigation."
The July 20, 1997 issue of the Wilmington (Delaware) Sunday News-Journal carried the above headline on the front page of its sports section. The article starts:
"Much of Major League Baseball's history dwells in its numbers, culled from box scores that affirm Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941, Cy Young's 511 lifetime wins and Henry Aaron's 755 career homers.
To David Smith, that doesn't go far enough.
So Smith, a University of Delaware microbiology professor, has embarked on a seemingly impossible mission, while keeping in mind that, when you sift through history, a few grains of sand will slip between your fingers.
His aim is to collect and computerize play-by-play accounts of every game in major league baseball's modern era, which dawned in 1901. Not just box scores, but a detailed inning-by-inning, batter-by-batter, base-by-base description.
Microbiologist? You need to be an archeologist to unearth all that data."
The article continues on to tell the tale of Retrosheet, including examples of our discoveries and updates of records. There is also a discussion of the state of MLB's own record keeping as well as that of the Hall of Fame.
Perhaps the best part of the story is a quotation from Chairman Dave. The writer notes that Smith sits in his basement office surrounded by filing cabinets packed with copies of scoresheets. Smith says "I'm a scientist. I like evidence."
Thanks to the News-Journal for the article.
"I had always thought the pitchers from the dead-ball era worked so many innings in part because they threw fewer pitches per game. But then, while searching for ejections, I found this game-summary paragraph." - Doug Pappas
8/26/11 Sporting Life: Reporting on Christy Mathewson's start of 8/16/11: "Mathewson also set a record for the major leagues in the few number of balls pitched during a full game. He retired the 30 batters who faced him with 92 pitched balls, a trifle over three pitches to a man and ten pitches in an inning."
In 1925, both a stolen base and a passed ball could be credited on the same play. The input program won't allow that to happen so we need to make it two plays and note the problem with a comment:
play,1,1,barnc102,??,,SB2# play,1,1,barnc102,??,,PB.2-2# com,"last 2 on same play"A similar situation comes with the unusual sac fly rules in place from 1926 through 1930. Any runner advance granted the batter a sac fly and the input program will ask about it. Remember to place a comment in the file noting the unusual SF.
Joe Dittmar has published his new book, titled Baseball Records Registry which is an excellent presentation of over 200 remarkable games, covering such things as a team drawing 18 walks in a nine inning game (Red Sox in 1948) and a team using nine pinch hitters in a nine inning game (Dodgers, 1959). Retrosheet supplied the play by play accounts for many of these games to Joe and he gives the organization a very nice acknowledgement in the Introduction.
Lyle Spatz has also just published a book, "New York Yankee Openers", presenting a unique view of the history of the franchise with attention to the context of the times, not just the games themselves. Retrosheet was also able to help Lyle and he was kind enough to say some nice things about us in his Preface. Congratulations to both authors on jobs well done and thanks for help in getting out the Retro-word.
Rob Neyer points out that having two different accounts, even for the old games where we rely on newspapers, doesn't always help:
In the game of 5-23-24, (DET @ NYA) one paper gave Ty Cobb an error (in the box score) while another gave him a double (in the play-by-play).
5-5-23 BRO @ BSN - In the top of the first with a runner on 3b and 1 out, Bernie Neis hits a grounder to ss and Boston traps Jimmy Johnston between 3b and home. Neis overruns 2b during the rundown and when Tony Boeckel threw to Jocko Conlon, Neis ran for 3b. Boeckel muffed the return throw and Neis scored as it rolled to the Braves' bench. FC6.3XH(625);BXH(54E5)
In the bottom of the fourth of the same game with runners on 1b and 3b and 1 out, Tim McNamara hit a ball back to the mound and Brooklyn caught Larry Kopf in a rundown. He made it back to 3b but Mickey O’Neil was also standing there and tried to make it back to 2b. The putout was made by cf Gene Bailey. FC1.1X3(15258);B-2
5-5-23 PHA @ NYA - In the top of the first, Wid Matthews is on 3b with 1 out. Sammy Hale hits the ball back to the pitcher and the Yankees throw the ball around a little for a double play. FC1/DP.3XH(1256);BX3(61)
In the bottom of the first, the Yankees had the bases loaded with 1 out. Wally Pipp (remember him?) singled to lf. Whitey Witt scored from 3b but Joe Dugan stumbled around 3b. He made it back to the bag safely, but when Ruth got in a rundown between 2b 3b, Dugan tried for home and was nailed. S7.3-H;2XH(725641);1-3;B-2
5-7-23 NY1 @ PHI - Casey Stengel, beaned in the second, is nearly beaned again in the fourth. He hurls his bat at pitcher Lefty Weinert and rushes out to the mound. The two get into it, and both benches empty! Stengel had to be escorted off the field by 3 policemen. Both he and Weinert are ejected.
4-19-24 BSN @ NY1 - There was a weird managerial move in the bottom of the ninth. Down a run, with Hank Gowdy due up McGraw sent up pinch-hitter Bill Terry. Terry made out ... and then McGraw allowed reliever Rosy Ryan to hit for himself. And no, Ryan wasn't a particularly good-hitting pitcher. But it worked, as Ryan walked and wound up scoring the winning run. Go figure.
7-2-1925 CIN @ PIT - Vic Aldridge had to be removed from a game after he cut his hand on some glass in the dugout. He attempted to rub some stuff off the bench before sitting down after coming in from the field and a piece of glass was among the debris.
7-22-1925 PIT @ PHI - This game was called in the middle of the fifth inning by umpire Charlie Moran due to rain. The account in the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times noted some unusual events. In the top of the fifth, the Pirates, ahead 7-3 at the time, hustled through their three outs and took the field hoping to make this game official. Howie Sand was due to bat for the Quakers but manager Art Fletcher called him back and sent Walter Kimmick in his place. All of this required time. Kimmick then played a "waiting hand" with Bucs pitcher Vic Aldridge and eventually drew a walk. Cy Williams followed Kimmick and he also waited out the poor pitching in the downpour. With the count 3-1, Moran called a halt to the proceedings.
Earlier in the game, Phillie George Harper came to the plate and had his bat examined by umpire Moran. According to Charles Doyle of the Gazette-Times "the official found nails or something of that nature in the cudgel and refused to let him use it." After getting another bat, Harper struck out on three pitches.
8-15-1925 CIN @ PIT - In the bottom of the fifth, Eddie Moore hit a liner to right fielder Curt Walker. Walker ran to 1b to double Glenn Wright for an unassisted DP - 9(B)9(1)/LDP
8-23-1925 (G2) PIT @ NY1 - In the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded, Billy Southworth tapped to first baseman George Grantham. The first sacker threw home and umpire Ernie Quigley appeared to call Travis Jackson out but then reversed himself. Southworth was credited with a hit on the play.
8-25-1925 PIT @ BSN - In the top of the fifth after two outs, Johnny Rawlings was on 2b and Kiki Cuyler on 1b. Clyde Barnhart singled to left and Rawlings slid past catcher Mickey O’Neil and the plate. O’Neil took a chance, went after Rawlings and tagged him. Umpire Cy Rigler, in the opinion of many of the reporters, was tricked by O’Neil’s stunt and called the runner out. The unexpected ruling drew vehement protests from Rawlings, manager Bill McKechnie and others. From the press box it appeared that Rawlings’ foot got about half the plate.
9-4-1925 CIN @ CHN - In the top of the third, Sam Bohne walked and Ernie Krueger singled to center. Jakie May then tried to sacrifice his mates over. However, Gabby Hartnett pounced on the ball and fired to 3b for the force out. Howard Freigau then relayed to 1b for a double play. The relay throw was caught by second baseman Sparky Adams for a play scored: 25(2)4/GDP/BG.1-2
9-8-1925 CHN @ PIT - In the bottom of the second, there were runners on first and third with one out. Johnny Gooch hit a popup behind the plate that was caught by Mike Gonzalez who threw to 2b in an attempt to double George Grantham who was running after the catch. Shortstop Glenn Wright returned the throw home to double Glenn Wright at the plate: 2/FL/FDP.1-2;3XH(262)
Later in the game, Max Carey hit a drive that bounced off a grandstand seat in right field and caromed back onto the field for a triple. The "lost home run" came off Grover Cleveland Alexander to lead off the seventh inning.
5-27-1930 (G2) CHA @ CLE - Right fielder Smead Jolley pulled off an unassisted double play in the top of the fourth off the bat of Pete Appleton. Carl Lind was the hapless runner at 1b.
6-4-1930 NYA @ CHA - In the top of the first, Earle Combs was on 2b and Lyn Lary on 1b with one out. Tony Lazzeri bounced back to pitcher Pat Caraway, who chased Combs back to 3b and tagged him out when Lary was also on the bag. Lazzeri started for 2b and when Caraway threw to second baseman Bill Cissell, Lary started for home. Lary was doubled at the plate for an unusual play with the runner on 3b out at 3b and the runner on 2b out at home: FC1/DP.3X3(1);2XH(142)
4-30-55 WS1 @ DET - Game called with 2 outs in bottom of the 8th because Washington had to catch a train!
6-26-55 DET at WS1 - Harmon Killebrew was yanked for a pinch hitter in this game. But WHAT a pinch hitter-- it was pitcher Mickey McDermott!
4-23-67 (G2) PHI @ NYN - In the bottom of the sixth, Bud Harrelson led off the inning with an infield hit to short, bringing Met starter Bill Denehy to the plate. Mgr Gene Mauch obviously figured the Mets were going to bunt, since the Phillies were leading 2-1. Mauch swapped third baseman Dick Allen with ss Bobby Wine and put the rotation play on. Denehy's bunt was fielded by Clay Dalrymple, who threw to 2b Tony Taylor, covering at first. Harrelson kept running to 3b where... nobody was covering! So much for that idea. Wine and Allen swapped back after the play.
5-15-1970 NYN @ PHI - In the top of the second, Ron Swoboda reached on a dropped throw by Deron Johnson (5E3). Joe Foy flied to center, but Oscar Gamble dropped the ball. Swoboda retreated to first, thinking the ball was caught. Foy ran by Swoboda on the basepaths and was called out.
7-24-1970 LAN @ NYN - In the bottom of the tenth, Tug McGraw singled to cf. Tommie Agee tried to bunt him over, but bunted too hard. Wes Parker fielded the bunt and fired to 2b only to have Billy Grabarkewitz drop the ball. Al Weis ran for McGraw at 2b and got picked off. Agee stole 2b and went to 3b on a wild pitch while Bud Harrelson struck out and Ken Singleton walked. Donn Clendenon batted for Mike Jorgensen and also walked to fill the bases. With the count on Cleon Jones 1-1, Agee stole home to win the game.
8-10-1970 NYN @ PIT - The start of the game was delayed 27 minutes because the lights would not come on.
8-26-1970 ATL @ NYN - A near phone number play ended the bottom of the first with Art Shamsky on 1b and Ken Boswell hitting: S9.1XH(963642).
8-22-71 MIN @ BAL - Don Buford hit the ball over the 1b bag; John Stevens ruled foul, then signaled fair. The ball boy down the rf line picked up ball, then put it down. Rich Reese picked it up and got Dave McNally at home.
6-9-77 NYA @ MIL - Ted Turocy notes: "This game looks like a real winner in terms of defensive originality: we have a 232/FL, 313, a rather mundane 825 to get a trailing runner... and my personal favorite, a CS2(284) on Nettles. Are these defensive plays or area codes?"
Have you ever wondered if the protest of a game has ever been allowed? Ron Fisher found one for the 1921 Pirates. On May 28, CIN at PIT in the bottom of the 8th Ron notes: "On the play at the plate, Luque made the tag, but got so mad at the safe call he threw the ball into the Reds dugout! Someone threw it out to Wingo and the rundown on Barnhart started! The Pirates complained, but the umps ruled in favor of the Reds!" The game was replayed from this point after the league President ruled that the assistance from the dugout was a little too much. The New York Times story on the game played the next day by the same two teams notes another interesting fate of a ball: "The ninth inning was featured by a freak home run when Barnhart's hit into right field went under a roll of canvass. The ball was recovered by a small boy, who fled with it, and the hit went for a homer". Apparently there was no protest about this!
Joe Dittmar posted the following on the SABR e-mail list; it comes from his book.
On June 14, 1924, George "Highpockets" Kelly became the first twentieth-century player to hit three home runs in one game--twice in his career. However, his third home run this day, which was out of the park and the game winner, was clouded in controversy. As was tradition in the Polo Grounds, Kelly was mobbed by the hometown fans before he got to second base and opted to head directly to the center field clubhouse rather than continue around the bases. This he did despite a warning from first base umpire Ernie Quigley. Considerable debate ensued as the rules were unclear at the time about the necessity of a batter who hit a game-winning homer to touch all the bases. As fans milled around the press box amid general chaos, umpire-in-chief Hank O'Day said that official scorer had the right to credit Kelly with a home run as there was nothing in the scoring rules about touching all the bases in this situation. According to The New York Times, the matter wasn't settled finally until that night when NL president, John Heydler, declared Kelly's act a home run. Heydler said that the wording of the "scoring rule" relating to hits winning games was faulty and in conflict with the "playing rules." He permitted Kelly's run but condemned his act of not circling the bases and promised future supplementary scoring instructions requiring such a batter to touch every base in order to receive proper credit.
Dave Smith had commented to Greg Beston last spring that he was concerned that Greg's intense Retrosheet activity might be academically damaging. Greg's response:
"Just so that you are not concerned about me forgetting my school work to do Retrosheet, there are a few reasons why I have been able to do more games than usual recently. First, I have only two classes this semester, and both have a light work load. Second, I have already written 37 pages of my senior thesis, and should be done with my 80-85 page rough draft over the course of the next few weekends. Finally, ever since I quit baseball here at Princeton, I have put on about 5 lbs. a year. When I returned to school after Christmas break, I began a diet to lose the weight, and get back down to my freshman year playing weight of 195. I have been able to lose quite a bit already because I can keep busy doing a variety of things (most often entering a game). Because once I run out of things to do, I watch TV, and then I get hungry. Hope this makes sense to you."
So Retrosheet is non-fattening along with everything else!
In the last issue we mentioned that the 1921 Pittsburgh Gazette-Times had a daily "Truth about Ruth" feature with his at bats for the day detailed pitch by pitch. Ron Fisher has gone through all those reports and entered them into a file so we can amend the game accounts that he already input.
Speaking of Ruth, his 1920 and 1921 seasons are usually offered as the two greatest offensive seasons by an individual player. Clem Comly has finished the New York accounts from 1920 and Ron Fisher has completed the 1921 games we have. Although we don't have either season complete, we have a good sample for both years. We are pleased to present here the first situational breakdowns ever published for those two seasons. There are so many gems in these reports, but note that he had a significant decline against left-handed pitchers in 1921, but had no such effect in 1920.
Babe Ruth -- Incomplete batting statistics for the Yankees (1920)
G AB H 2B 3B HR TB R RBI TBB IW SO HP SH SF SB CS SB% DP BA OBA SA
115 356 140 30 6 46 320 126 115 118 29 55 3 0 2 10 12 45 4 .393 .545 .899
BA OBA SA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO
Totals .393 .545 .899 356 140 30 6 46 115 118 55
vs. Left .388 .518 .988 85 33 6 0 15 32 23 18
vs. Right .395 .553 .871 271 107 24 6 31 83 95 37
at Home .415 .556 1.005 183 76 18 6 26 63 57 30
on Road .370 .534 .786 173 64 12 0 20 52 61 25
April .308 .308 .385 13 4 1 0 0 2 0 2
May .383 .513 1.033 60 23 5 2 10 22 15 7
June .471 .580 1.029 70 33 6 3 9 32 17 11
July .430 .610 .924 79 34 7 1 10 25 37 15
August .290 .511 .694 62 18 4 0 7 15 28 10
Sept/Oct .389 .521 .903 72 28 7 0 10 19 21 10
Bases Empty .423 .559 1.040 175 74 17 2 29 29 52 29
Leadoff .467 .574 1.120 75 35 11 1 12 12 17 13
Not Leadoff .390 .548 .980 100 39 6 1 17 17 35 16
Runners On .365 .532 .762 181 66 13 4 17 86 66 26
First Base Only .355 .430 .908 76 27 5 2 11 25 10 15
Scoring Pos .371 .585 .657 105 39 8 2 6 61 56 11
Bases Loaded .556 .583 .778 9 5 2 0 0 14 2 1
Late, Close .262 .456 .571 42 11 3 2 2 13 15 8
Babe Ruth -- Incomplete batting statistics for the Yankees (1921)
G AB H 2B 3B HR TB R RBI TBB IW SO HP SH SF SB CS SB% DP BA OBA SA
138 427 160 35 12 49 366 135 133 117 24 71 3 0 3 10 13 43 2 .375 .509 .857
BA OBA SA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO
Totals .375 .509 .857 427 160 35 12 49 133 117 71
vs. Left .320 .420 .721 122 39 13 3 10 32 21 23
vs. Right .397 .541 .911 305 121 22 9 39 101 96 48
at Home .401 .544 .968 222 89 22 7 30 71 73 32
on Road .346 .468 .737 205 71 13 5 19 62 44 39
April .424 .512 .939 33 14 5 0 4 11 7 4
May .323 .457 .754 65 21 3 2 7 20 15 14
June .398 .559 .989 93 37 10 3 13 28 34 18
July .340 .514 .720 50 17 2 1 5 15 17 7
August .431 .577 .944 72 31 8 1 9 27 25 11
Sept/Oct .351 .440 .789 114 40 7 5 11 32 19 17
Bases Empty .379 .488 .820 206 78 23 4 20 20 42 35
Leadoff .523 .613 1.077 65 34 11 2 7 7 14 13
Not Leadoff .312 .429 .702 141 44 12 2 13 13 28 22
Runners On .371 .527 .891 221 82 12 8 29 113 75 36
First Base Only .408 .547 1.071 98 40 9 4 16 38 30 9
Scoring Pos .341 .512 .748 123 42 3 4 13 75 45 27
Bases Loaded .400 .417 .800 10 4 0 2 0 12 1 1
Late, Close .367 .556 1.000 30 11 4 0 5 13 14 3
Please remember that these are not complete season statistics. However, in 1920 we have 78% of his at bats and in 1921 we have 79%. Certainly enough to enjoy!
The Babe as a Boston Brave, 1935 (above)
Batting practice, 1922 (right)
These team-season have been completed since the last issue of The Retro Sheet:
1958 Baltimore by Dave Lamoureaux with help from Tim Cashion
1957 Baltimore by Dave Lamoureaux
1970 Mets by Scott Fischthal
1966 Mets by Mark Dobrow
Congratulations, guys!
Doug Pappas continues his quest of collecting major league ejections. He currently has over 8,000 documented. This information is being passed both ways between Doug and the Retro-files. Many of his notes are now in the Retrosheet data files and many of the instances have come from Retrosheet volunteers. If you see one, please send it to DougP001@aol.com.
One of the items that the Dave2 (Smith and Vincent) are searching for is players who pinch hit for Hank Aaron. That search lead to a discussion of guys who homered as pinch hitters for "home run hitters." The following chart is the list of pinch hit homers that were hit for a player who is now a member of the 300 home run club and is drawn from the Tattersall/McConnell Home Run Log. The list is sorted by the total homers by the "hittee." There are a lot of interesting names in the first column with some bizarre home run totals!
Note that Dave Stapleton debuted 14 days before his and that Ted Simmons hit a grand slam. Most innings are 7 through 9. Two players pinch for a pinch hitter: Danny Litwhiler hit for Ted Kluszewski who hit for Joe Adcock and Art Shamsky hit for Tony Perez who hit for for Gordy Coleman.
Pinch Hitter Pinch Hittee Date HRs Art Shamsky Frank Robinson 05/02/65 68/586 Jackie Jensen Mickey Mantle 05/30/51 199/536 Jim Bolger Ernie Banks 06/18/57 6/512 Ruben Amaro Eddie Murray 08/09/94 13/501 Gene Freese Willie Stargell 04/21/64 115/475 Dave Stapleton Carl Yastrzemski 06/12/80 41/452 Jeff Burroughs Dave Kingman 06/12/84 240/442 Max Venable Andre Dawson 08/16/84 18/438 Tommy Harper Billy Williams 09/26/75 146/426 Bruce Edwards Duke Snider 05/22/51 39/407 Don Demeter Duke Snider 05/25/60 163/407 Gordy Coleman Tony Perez 08/27/66 98/379 Art Shamsky Tony Perez 08/31/66 68/379 Frank Howard Norm Cash 08/06/73 382/377 Jim Price Norm Cash 06/23/69 18/377 Bill Johnson Yogi Berra 09/24/48 61/358 Willie Aikens Lee May 08/27/82 110/354 Willie Mays George Foster 09/22/69 660/348 Dave Parker Don Baylor 06/19/88 339/338 Danny Litwhiler Joe Adcock 05/21/50 107/336 Randy Ready Harold Baines 05/30/92 40/323 Reggie Jackson Ron Cey 06/08/87 563/316 Roy Smalley Gary Gaetti 08/18/87 163/315 Kent Hrbek Gary Gaetti 07/21/85 293/315 Ted Simmons Reggie Smith 06/23/75 248/314 Jose Cruz Reggie Smith 09/29/74 165/314 Bob Molinaro Greg Luzinski 08/23/81 14/307 Deron Johnson Greg Luzinski 08/02/72 245/307
The 1,609 games entered since the July issue of The Retro Sheet have put us over the 40,000 mark for computerized games. This is an extraordinary milestone that once again shows that WE ALL NEED A LIFE! Just kidding, I think. Well done, group!
The smallest number of games entered in a single week during this period was 82 and the highest was 807.
Total Games in Computer (All Years before 1984) 40,823 Games Entered since last Report 1,609 Days since last Report (7/12/97 to 9/6/97) 49 Games Entered per Week (7 weeks) 229.9 Games Entered per Day 32.8
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Page Updated: 9/22/97
Copyrighted: Retrosheet, 1997