The Retro Sheet
Official Publication of Retrosheet, Inc.
The view from the vault these days is tremendous! The details can be found elsewhere on this page and throughout this issue, but lots of things have gone right for us in the last four months. Of course, lots of things have gone right for us in the last 10 years, but the recent events are especially dramatic and I will summarize them here.
The biggest news has to be the IRS approval of our tax-exempt status. It was a long battle, but we have finally made it. It is nice to have official recognition of our status as an educational and historical organization.
Our visibility continues to increase in many places, as we have received excellent publicity in national publications. This generates new volunteers as well as increasing our legitimacy as a valuable data source.
We have continued to release data files, with 1988 and 1989 being posted as this issue is being prepared. Our next scheduled releases will be 1990 and 1999 at the All-Star game. Older seasons will also be out soon, with 1979 probably released by the end of April. The release of the data files has been made possible by the diligent, time-consuming efforts of several people, most especially Retrosheet secretary David Vincent. David has handled the final stages of preparing the files by inserting debut dates, marking individual unearned runs and doing a lot of syntactical cleanup. In addition we thank Total Sports for allowing us to release the post-1983 seasons. Detailed statistical proofing is crucial in the construction of high quality data suitable for release. Major work in this area has been done by Pete Palmer, John Jarvis, Jay Wigley, Marc Stephenson, and Jon Dunkle. Many thanks to these stalwarts as well as those who work so hard on the older seasons. For example, Ron Fisher is making detailed corrections on the 1921 season, which is very much his baby.
So, you can see that Retrosheet continues to hum along, gathering friends as we provide our unique services. I have written many times before what a pleasure it is to be associated with such a selfless group of people who share a love for our great game. However, I want to be sure we all remember what a collective effort this is and how much we all owe to each other.
Play Ball!
Retrosheet was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in 1994. However, non-profit and tax-exempt are entirely different things. About three years ago, we began the process of application to the Internal Revenue Service for classification as a 501(c)(3) organization. In case you are unfamiliar with that designation, it means that donations to such an organization are deductible as charitable contributions, as are donations to the United Way, churches, etc (including SABR!).
The application is daunting and the IRS estimates that it takes about 15 hours to complete. I can assure you that is an underestimate as I handled the details, which include detailed statements of purpose and activity along with financial data and projections. We had many false starts in the application process due to changes in forms (we had to resubmit when the forms changed), and various deadlines. However, the "final" application was submitted by me in October, 1999. On December 27, 1999 I received notification that a decision had not yet been reached, but that it appeared our application would be rejected. They noted that we seemed to be "... more of a hobby than a charitable organization ..." and they asked for some additional supporting information and gave us until January 5, 2000 to have it submitted. I immediately prepared a response and circulated it among the Retrosheet Board members (e-mail was essential here for a fast turnaround). Modifications were made, with some great improvements from Clem Comly. One example from this additional material summarizes the thrust of our argument. I reviewed our decisive role in the procedure that led to the changing of Hack Wilson's 1930 RBI record and concluded that "Retrosheet is seen in the professional baseball community as an authority, not as a collection of hobbyists." On March 9 I received a phone call from the IRS (usually a pretty scary thought!) telling us that our application was going to be approved and informing me of a few details that need to be cleaned up. We are in the process of attending to these matters and hopefully our status will be official and final by the time of the annual meeting during the SABR convention in West Palm Beach. Stay tuned for the effective date of the approval.
What does all this mean for the organization? As you know, we have always operated on a very small budget, with almost all of our expenses being covered by the people who perform the services. We have had two large expenditures in our history: copying of scoresheets from the St. Louis Cardinals (about $1000) and copying of microfilm with the official National League daily records that we borrowed from The Sporting News (about $1200). The money came from donations in response to specific requests that I sent out. In the future, any donations of this sort will be tax-deductible for the donor. Will this tax status affect the number of donations that are made? That is hard to say, and I don't think it is the major point, at least not to me. I see the winning of 501(c)(3) status as an important, external validation of what we do. I have always tried to stress that Retrosheet is an educational and historical organization and furthermore that baseball is a legitimate subject to be viewed in this scholarly way. It is enormously gratifying to have some "official" endorsement that this is indeed the case.
The annual meeting of Retrosheet, Inc. will be held during the weekend of June 23-25, 2000 at the Sheraton West Palm Beach Hotel. The exact time and room location will be announced but mark your calendars now. See you there.
The terms of two members of the Board of Directors expire this summer: President and Vice-President. Anyone wishing to be considered by the Nominating Committee must have a valid e-mail address. Please submit your name to David Vincent at:
GrandSlams@aol.com
if you wish to be considered. The election will take place during the annual meeting in June and the term of office starts July 1, 2000.
Not only the out-of-town fans, but the home-grown type, as well, will give the visiting team a treatment it cannot possibly receive, as a regular practice, in any other locale. Yes, they did hoot Babe Ruth in the sunset of his career. But those were not native fans. Occasionally, when Joe DiMaggio is not going so well, you will hear some boos as he comes to bat. But those are strangers from Brooklyn, who wish they had Joe over in Flatbush.
Major leaguers tell me that they like New York best of all cities, that the fans in the Stadium and at the Polo Grounds are the fairest and most appreciative in the country. They are kind to visitors, they are utterly fair to their own players.
This attitude doubtless stems from the sports pages, since there rarely are diatribes against erring players, against managers, in the newspapers of the big city. Nowhere else is your umpire treated with such kindness. In no other city is there so keen an appreciation of the fact that the player is doing his best, that the umpire is a trained honest official who calls them as he sees them.
For all this, Pop Knickerbocker does not arrogate unto himself any special distinctions, nor does he ask for special accolades. It's just the way he was brought up.
5-27-1914 -- It was Willie Keeler’s batting maxim to hit ‘em where they ain’t. Solly Hofman, the Brookfeds field captain and second baseman, has discovered a new and better theory, which is to hit ‘em where the umpire can’t see ‘em. Before the game between Brooklyn and Chicago started at Washington Park yesterday, Manager Joe Tinker of the visiting team insisted upon a ground rule that a ball hit into lf which rolled behind the bleachers out of the sight of the umpire at home plate should go as a home run.
When the game had gone eleven innings with the score tied at 3 to 3, Artie apparently got weary of working out in the hot sun and decided to employ this peculiar ground rule, which had never before been used at Washington Park. He straightened out one of McGuire’s offerings into just the spot which Tinker had insisted should be home run territory. The ball was returned to the infield in time to hold Hofman at 3b, but umpire McCormick said that the ball had gone out of his sight and waved him across the plate with the run that gave the Brookfeds a 4 to 3 victory.
On 4-15-1933, the Philadelphia Athletics played at Yankee Stadium. In the third inning, the Yanks had runners on 1b and 2b with one out when Bill Dickey hit into a force out at 2b. The visitors thought that was the third out and left the field, allowing Ben Chapman to score. Chapman had reached on an error in the infield so evidently the Athletics counted that play as an out!
We are expanding our list yet again. For the complete list: Courtesy Runners
Cliff Blau found another instance of a courtesy runner -- this time in 1934 in the first game of a doubleheader between the Reds and Giants on 9-18. In the bottom of the fifth, Freddie Fitzsimmons was hit on the left arm by a pitch and Jack Salveson ran for him. Fitzsimmons returned to the mound for the sixth inning. Congratulations to Cliff.
In the last TRS we mentioned the establishment of the RetroList as an electronic community for those interested in Retrosheet. One spinoff has been the creation of another list, called retrofile (the pun is intentional). Ted Turocy is leading this group which is exploring the very thorny question of how we will deal with the many partial game accounts from early years. These partial accounts have a lot of information that we want to capture in our system, but the difficulty is that our system is set up to deal with complete games only, so many modifications will be necessary. If you have an interest in this topic, contact Ted at: retrofile@oskar.kellogg.nwu.edu for more information. It is not necessary to have computer expertise; the goal is to decide what we wish to put in our files and what the formats will be.
We have had a bonanza in terms of flying our flag in the last few months. Several teams contacted me for data to use in their media guides (Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago White Sox, San Francisco) and we usually receive a nice acknowledgement in the final product.
On a broader level, we have been mentioned prominently in at least four national publications. First is a great column that Paul White, editor of Baseball Weekly, wrote in the March 1-7 issue. His fun piece explained how I had helped him get the play by play for some games from his past, including the first one he ever attended in 1958 in Cleveland (the same year as the first Major League game I saw, but I went to see Sandy Koufax in the Los Angeles Coliseum). Since I like getting information on a "first game" for anyone, I gave Paul my permission to offer my/our services and to print my e-mail address. Well, I have received over 150 requests in the three weeks since then! I have answered about 100 so far and we have the requested game data for about 95% of them, which is pretty pleasing. I think that disseminating our data this way is one of the most important reasons for Retrosheet's existence. Along the way we have made a lot of new friends. I have been fascinated by some of the stories people tell in their requests (and my wife thinks it's by far the best part of Retrosheet). There are powerful emotions associated with baseball games for many people and I feel privileged to be the contact person with whom these feelings are shared.
The next publication was the current version of the Big Bad Baseball Annual, by Don Malcolm and a few others, including Retrosheet's Tom Ruane. I provided our play by play data for the 1975 Reds and Red Sox which Don used to write a very fine detailed retrospective on that excellent season. He graciously made me the senior author on the article and gave Retrosheet great publicity as the source of the data. This is the second year in a row that Don and his band have used our data and sounded our praises, and I hope the relationship will continue.
A few days later I received the new edition of the "2000 Insider", a publication of Baseball Weekly written and edited by Gary Gillette and Stuart Shea, longtime friends of Retrosheet. Last year's edition of the book had a flattering section about us, but this year Gary went even further. He has an engaging six-page essay beginning on page 8 entitled "Retrosheet: Restoring Baseball's Past". We owe a great thank you to Gary for the prominent placement of this highly complimentary article. The essay also appeared on their web site. The sentence which brought the biggest smile to my face was "David W. Smith, an unassuming biology professor at the University of Delaware, personifies Retrosheet's heart and soul". The "unassuming" part will surely bring a chuckle or two, since I have rarely been described that way! After this essay, Gary presented a nicely edited version of a presentation I made at last year's SABR convention comparing Sandy Koufax and Greg Maddux. Of course, I think the research is interesting, but more importantly Retrosheet once again received nice praise.
The final book to give us credit is just getting to the stores. It is entitled "Baseball Dynasties" and is written by Eddie Epstein and Rob Neyer, two excellent analysts, long-time Retrosheet supporters and gifted writers. I provided them some detailed data and they gave us a fine acknowledgement. In addition Rob mentions us in the "Links" section of his personal web site (www.robneyer.com) calling us "... a fine organization, which is run by selfless individuals who will do just about anything to help just about anybody". Thanks to Rob for this tremendous support.
Link to the list. Use your browser's back button to return here.
On 10-4-1904, the Cardinals were in New York to play the Giants in a season-ending double header. The New Yorkers had clinched the NL pennant and were playing out the season, losing the first game to the visitors. Umpire Jim Johnstone forfeited the second contest to the Redbirds in the fourth inning because of constant interruptions by the home team. Two of the Giants, Doc Marshall and Bill Dahlen, were ejected. Marshall argued when Jack Dunn homered but was called out for missing 1B.
When the arbiter left the field after the game, one of the spectators tried to strike him. The man was arrested but Johnstone refused to make any charge against him so the fan was released. The NL president, Henry Pulliam, attended the game and agreed with Johnstone’s forfeiture ruling.
NY World-Telegram, 8-22-1933 -- The American League is reported to be lining up solidly in favor of another All-Star Game next summer and is willing to let it come to New York. But it is said that there is opposition to the scheme in the National League. It is up to John A. Heydler to break down this failure to discern a tremendous benefit for the game.
The Sporting News, 12-29-1948 -- The score tied, the last of the ninth, the winning run in position to come home. Who would you rather have at the plate: Stan Musial of the Cardinals, Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees, or Ted Williams of the Red Sox? Believe it or not, but Musial and DiMaggio got 80 per cent of the votes in the impromptu quiz circle during the baseball meeting, with the vote pretty much along party lines depending upon whether you were an American or National Leaguer.
RetroVolunteers Greg Beston, Ron Fisher, Dave Smith, Ted Turocy and Jim Wohlenhaus contributed to this list.
5-4-1910 NY1 @ BRO - The top of the second ends when Devlin was caught stealing at third while Schlei was batting. When the top of the third began, Ames (the next batter in the order) came to the plate, "with one strike against him made by Schlei in the former half on the advice of the umpire"!
8-28-1929 PHA @ NYA - In the top of the seventh, Cochrane hit to Durocher who tagged Haas on the line between 2B and 3B but dropped the ball. He recovered it and threw to Lary and Haas was hung up. Lary threw to Lazzeri who returned the throw but as Lary tagged Haas he also dropped the ball so that Haas was safe at 3B. Cochrane took 3B and Bishop scored. This play is a simple one: FC6.3-H;2-3;B-2
9-25-1934 CIN @ CHN - The Reds pulled an interesting double switch. Andy High pinch hit for the pitcher and remained in the game at 3B. Bucky Walters moved from 3B to the mound.
5-14-1950 PIT @ CHN (G1) - The play is: FC1.2X3(165435636);B-2. A few things make this interesting besides the fact the ball was touched nine different times: every infielder in fair territory touched the ball before anyone touched it a second time; the first baseman got into the act at the end on the left side of the infield and Pete Castiglione was already on 2B and never made 3B but the batter, Ralph Kiner, made it to 2B.
5-17-1950 PIT @ BSN - Braves pitcher Ernie Johnson could not seem to stay out of everyone's, including the ball's, way. With Johnson on the mound in the top of the ninth inning, Pittsburgh's Clyde McCullough led off the inning with a single off Johnson's shins. Cliff Chambers followed with what appeared to be a 6-4-3 double play, but umpire Bill Stewart ruled that Johnson obstructed Chambers on his way to first base. After a big argument, Pete Castiglione followed with a single, this time off Johnson's knee. The Boston pitcher was then able to strike out Tom Saffell and retire Ralph Kiner on a comebacker.
8-4-1950 BOS @ CHA - With one out in the bottom of the third, Chicago's Nellie Fox blooped a double to center that struck his own glove lying in shallow center field.
6-13-1951 DET @ BOS - In the bottom of the eighth, Ted Williams took a close pitch with two strikes that plate umpire John Stevens called a ball. Dizzy Trout argued and Fred Hutchinson was ejected for arguing from the bench. Williams then doubled off the left field wall to drive in a run.
7-7-1951 BSN @ NY1 - In the top of the tenth inning, Sam Jethroe of the Braves was on 1B with one out. He stole 2B, and raced to 3B when New York catcher Sal Yvars threw the ball wildly to 2B. Jethroe then scored when second baseman Eddie Stanky threw the ball wildly to 3B in an attempt to get Jethroe. Jethroe had to slide into 2B, 3B, and home to score on a steal and two errors, SB2.1-H(E2/TH)(E4/TH)
7-28-1951 BSN @ PIT - In the top of the third inning, the Braves had Warren Spahn on 1B with one out. Roy Hartsfield then hit a ball which caromed off the first base bag and hit Spahn, thus giving Hartsfield a single, S/BR.1X2(3)
9-13-1951 NY1 @ SLN & BSN @ SLN - For the last time in baseball history, a team plays two different teams on the same day. Due to a rainout, the Cards were forced to play the New York Giants in an afternoon game prior to their regularly scheduled night game against the Boston Braves. St. Louis won the first contest 6-4, but were 1-hit by Warren Spahn in the nightcap, losing 2-0.
7-13-1979 BOS @ OAK - In the top of the ninth, the Red Sox had Yaz on 3B, Bob Watson on 2B and Fisk on 1B. Dwght Evans hit a grounder to Jim Essian who stepped on 3B and then threw home where catcher Jeff Newman completed a very unusual GDP.
Chicago, 9-15-1915 -- A fist fight between Umpire Byron and “Red” Smith, third baseman of the Boston Braves, marked the final game of the year between Chicago and Boston today. Chicago won the baseball contest 1 to 0 and the umpire seems to have got a “shade” in the bare-knuckle contest.
At the conclusion of the game, Smith rushed up to Umpire Byron and the arbiter walked to meet him. Both exchanged words and Byron dodged around several of those who had gathered about the two and made a lunge at Smith. He apparently made two swings at him and was rushing his man when Big Bill James, the Boston pitcher, put his arms about the umpire and lifted him to one side.
Smith came back with his arms swinging wildly and Umpire Orth attempted to stop him. Smith was infuriated and seemed about to hit Orth when his teammates stepped into the fray and escorted Smith to the clubhouse. The umpire then walked to the dressing room. Several hundred of the fans who witnessed the clash cheered Byron.
Umpire Byron refused to comment on the affair, merely stating that he would make his report to the President of the League. However, several of those who were close to the participants said that Smith was nagging Byron because of his decision on balls and strikes and that the two had engaged in strong personalities prior to their coming together.
Chicago Daily News, 6/7/1923
CUBS LACK IN TEAM WORK, SAYS MCGRAW
Leader of Giants Declares This Is Due to Young Players
and Will Be Overcome
By John J. McGraw
To analyze another manager's ball club in print is not always the pleasantest job in the world. Still, I have known Bill Killefer since he started out as a young player, and I know that a man of his intelligence would prefer that I be perfectly frank and sincere in my observations. If I were not frank I would not be honest.
A couple of West Side fans, old friends of mine, who have rooted for the Cubs for twenty years, called on me last night.
"Tell us, Mac," they said, "just what do you think of the Cubs as a team?"
"That's a rather big order," I suggested. "Just what do you want to know?"
"A lot of things," one of them said. "Suppose," he suggested, "you take the witness stand and let us ask questions. I have several written down that I want to get answered."
"All right -- shoot."
So, when they had finished, it struck me that a repetition of those questions and answers would serve pretty well for my analysis.
"To begin with," my friend opened up, "what's the matter with the Cub infield?"
"Why, the infield really hasn't had a chance to show what it really could do. All the season it has been handicapped by the absence and partial sickness of Hollocher and Grimes, its most important members. If those two men were in regularly the Cubs would have a dandy infield, one of the best in the league."
"What kind of player in Grantham?" was the next question. "Just what do you think of him as a second baseman?"
"Grantham is just ordinary so far. As yet, he has not shown the qualities that go to make a finished major league player. He lacks experience, and is awkward in some of the finer points of play. But you can never tell about a ball player's improvement. In time Grantham may develop into a first class second baseman."
"How does the outfield rate among big league clubs?"
"Just fair. Statz in center is a great outfielder, but Miller has much to learn. The outfield, I should say, lacks coordination and punch. As yet it doesn't work like a machine."
"How do you account for the team making such a splurge at home and then losing so many games on the road?"
"The answer is that the Cubs are a young team. Nearly all young teams do that. Away from the home crowd that is always encouraging them they get upset when everything is hostile to them. Time will overcome that."
"Just how good is the pitching staff?"
"It's fair. With a wonderful artist like Alexander in there the pitchers ought to improve rapidly. His perfect control and his knowledge of the weakness of opposing batters ought to be a great lesson to the younger pitchers."
"Is Hartnett a great ball player?"
"He will be. He is a great backstop and thrower, but as yet he is not a consistently hard hitter. He has a barrel of nerve -- game to the core - and he is very ambitious."
"Why does Cheeves always go so good against the Giants?"
"He doesn't. He did at first, but, if I remember right, we have trimmed him the last six or seven times in succession.
"Killefer has a young ball club and will continue to experiment with it until he strikes the right combination. It takes time." [End of McGraw story]
George Grantham was in his rookie year with the Cubs, but batted third in the lineup everyday. He hit .281 but led the league in strikeouts and caught stealing. At 2B, he led the league in games, putouts, assists, and errors. In 1925 he would find himself playing 1B for the World Champion Pirates, and went on to have a decent career (.302 BA).
Gabby Hartnett was also playing in his rookie year in 1923 and went on to have a Hall-of-Fame career. Hartnett spent almost half his playing time at 1B his first year, so McGraw's observations of him were certainly on target.
Part of a drawing that appeared on the front page of the 7-17-1897 issue of Sporting Life:
Chicago, 7-24-1958 -- Will Harridge, president of the American League, today fined Ted Williams $250 for spitting at Kansas City fans who booed the Red Sox slugger last night. In assessing the fine, Harridge called Williams’ spitting “conduct detrimental to baseball.” Harridge based his action on a report from Eddie Rommel, the chief umpire at the game.
It was the second time in Williams’ long and colorful career that he had been fined for expressing his resentment with saliva. In 1956, Tom Yawkey, the club’s owner, slapped a $5,000 fine on his slugger for spitting at the fans in Fenway Park. The assessment tied the record fine imposed Babe Ruth in 1926 after feuding with the Yankees’ manager, Miller Huggins.
Williams drew the $5,000 penalty for his behavior in a game with the Yankees on Aug. 7. He was booed for making an error and, when he made a redeeming circus catch later in the game, he turned toward the fans and spat in contempt.
Last night’s incident occurred when the Athletics’ fans booed Williams for not running out a roller to first base. In the fourth inning, Williams had rapped the ball to the Athletics’ first baseman, Harry Simpson. Williams, figuring he was going to be out anyway, stopped running as Simpson stepped on first base. As Williams turned towards the Boston dugout, boos went up from the crowd. Williams spat and the crowd booed all the more.
[The incident aroused little interest in the Kansas City press. In Boston, however, it was front page news.]
Although Retrosheet is not actively working on games before 1901, there are still interesting stories from that era. The following are a sample taken from Sporting Life.
8-8-1894 CL4 @ PIT - In the ninth inning with two of the Cleveland men out, Tebeau commenced to abuse Umpire Hoagland for certain decisions and threatened to put on the gloves with the umpire and settle it according to prize ring rules. Hoagland was willing to accompany Tebeau to the clubhouse and have it out, but the crowd was so angry at Tebeau that he had to be hustled out of their reach. O’Connor also exhibited his qualities by grabbing the ball out of Hartman’s hand and throwing it out of the grounds. Beckley, too, was guilty of “dirty” ball playing. He interfered with Childs’ running to first, and as a result Childs turned two or three somersaults, fracturing his collar bone.
7-17-1896 PHI @ PIT - It was anybody’s game up to the ninth inning. In this inning the conduct of the Philadelphias gave two runs to Pittsburgh and the winning run was scored on a hit by Beckley. The trouble arose when the bases were full over a close decision at 2b that went in the local team’s favor. Then the entire visiting team surrounded the umpire [Betts], threatened, pushed and pulled him about until he called the police and retired Clements and Taylor, who struck the umpire. During the squabble Ely stole home, Carsey and Grady took the place of Clements and Taylor and commenced warming up practice. Betts called balls [during the practice] and Carsey made a balk, bringing in Stenzel.
7-16-1897 NY1 @ LS3 - Both games were red hot ones. The first one was enlivened by a fist fight between Fred Clarke and Davis, both being put out of the game. In the second game, Umpire Lynch, as usual, refused to umpire, he, like a day laborer, concluding that he had earned his stipend for that day at least. The ex-player, Jimmy Wolf, was chosen to umpire. Rusie was put in to pitch the ninth with the bases full. When Umpire Wolf called four balls on Bill Wilson, forcing in the tying run, the New Yorkers acted like crazy men. Park Wilson tried to strike the umpire but was prevented by Hock. Wilson then assaulted Hock. Two police officers then caught Park Wilson and escorted him off the field.
8-4-1897 CL4 @ LS3 - Burkett called Umpire Wolf a vile name and was ordered out of the game. Captain Tebeau refused to put a man in to bat for Burkett, and after waiting five minutes Wolf gave the game to Louisville. In the ninth inning [of the second game], Burkett again insulted Wolf and was ordered out of the game. He refused to leave first base and the umpire called two policemen and Burkett was forcibly ejected from the grounds.
8-6-1897 BLN @ BSN - In the eighth inning, Umpire Lynch, enraged at the frequent tongue lashings and vile epithets Doyle had inflicted upon him, kept piling up fines until $300 was marked. Then, losing his temper, Lynch planted a powerful blow on Doyle’s jaw. The ground in front of the grandstand became a scene of fierce conflict. Players on both sides swarmed around the combatants, and the mob from the bleachers surged along ready for fight. The police came on the double quick and ran for the mob. Joe Corbett staggered out of the melee with his arm hooked around Lynch’s neck. The Baltimore players shook their fists, swore and threatened Lynch with bodily abuse. Blows were struck freely in the crowd and it took the police ten minutes to secure order so that the game might proceed with Doyle out. In the ninth inning, McGraw knocked Tenney down at 1b and ran to 2b. Tenney started for him but was checked and a conflict avoided. No such disgraceful scene was ever witnessed on the Boston grounds before.
8-30-1897 CHN @ NY1 - The Colts [Chicago] knocked Sullivan out in two innings and touched Seymour up for enough hits in the eighth inning to win. At the end of the eighth inning Anson abused umpire Emslie for refusing to call the game and was fined $25 and put out of the game. Everett and Decker also caught $10 each. With Anson out of the game the visitors were one man short and Emslie pulled his watch and called the batsmen up. Ryan endeavored to bat but was called from the plate. One minute having expired and no one coming up the man who should have faced the pitcher was declared out and play resumed. In the ninth Anson put Friend [a pitcher] in left field in his street clothes covered with a robe. The New Yorks raised vigorous objections to the playing of Friend, who, they claimed, was not in uniform. Two men went out in succession and Joyce and Gleason began to protest again. McCreary was instructed not to go to bat and Emslie called the game, the score reverting to the eighth inning.
From Lyle Spatz:
I would like to comment on Herm Krabbenhoft's article about guys who fell just short of .300. While I firmly believe you have to play the cards you are dealt, several of those guys (Slaughter, Mantle, Snider) would have been .300-hitters had they had the benefit of the sac fly rule for their entire careers. Same is true for many non HOFers like Carl Furillo (.29947).
Brooklyn, 5-6-1916 -- George Cutshaw, Brooklyn’s energetic second baseman, kept the Robins a jump ahead yesterday by beating the Phillies with a home run in the eleventh inning at Ebbets Field, the score being 3 to 2. Neither baseball historians nor anybody else will ever truthfully relate the strange story of how Cutshaw’s long drive became a decisive blow when it bounded over the fence into the street. It was a freak of fortune that turned an ordinary two-base hit into a four-base smash, for after dropping in rf near the wall, it started slowly to climb the fence and then rolled lackadaisically over the top.
Cutshaw brought to a strange climax a baseball game that was all that could be desired from every angle. Instead of receiving the plaudits from 20,000 spectators, which ordinarily would follow a winning home run in the eleventh inning of a hard-fought battle, the Dodger second baseman crossed the plate amid a storm of laughter, which eventually turned into meek applause. Even Lord Byron [the umpire] had to laugh.
Cutshaw drove the ball into rf and it appeared to be heading for the foul territory. The ball swerved, however, and dropped just inside the chalk mark. It bounded and some say it hit the reserves’ bench in right while others say it must have hit a rock, but at any rate it bounded high and continued to climb the fence and then rolled over.
The Sporting News 4-19-1950 -- One August evening in 1948, while the Yankees were embroiled in a Stadium game with another pennant contender, Radio Station WOR in New York received a long distance phone call. The call was routed to Paul Jonas, sports director of the Mutual Broadcasting System. "Listen, bud," came the urgent voice at the other end of the phone, "I'm in a hotel suite down in New Orleans. My darned radio can't pick up the broadcast of the Yankee game that started a few minutes ago. Do me a favor and leave your phone receiver alongside a radio tuned in to tonight's game. I'll take care of the phone bill when the contest is over."
Nine innings and $340 in phone tolls later, the wealthy Yankee fan had his pitch-by-pitch account of the game and Jonas had the germ of an idea - a great idea. Jonas figured out that this millionaire must be one of 50 or 75 million Americans marooned outside the direct radio range of major league ball. Why not bring them the national pastime by national network broadcasts?
Jonas kicked the idea around with other MBS executives. Eventually they came up with Mutual's "Game of the Day," real pioneering progress that will bring live-action detail direct from American League parks with National League games intermingled, to a coast-to-coast audience of 75,000,000 for six days a week throughout the 1950 season.
The Sporting News, 6-21-1950 -- Ralph Kiner had one pertinent observation to make on Greenberg Gardens at Forbes Field.
"If they remove the Gardens, it won't hurt me too much, because I've been hitting most of my home runs over the fence," Kiner pointed out. "But it could mean the difference between setting a new home run record and missing it." Kiner hit 54 homers last year, 29 at Forbes Field, 25 on the road. Of the 29 at home, 15 dropped over the wall, 14 into the Gardens. Without the benefit of the Gardens, Kiner would have had 40 for the year.
New York, 5-10-1910 -- Because he talked "too much baseball" Arthur Lacayette, a wealthy Cuban who lives in this city, has been committed to Bellevue hospital for examination as to his sanity. The committal was made at the request of his daughter, who became alarmed over her father's condition after he remarked in the lobby of an uptown hotel that he was confident he could "beat any ball player in the National League".
Cliff Blau recently input a Yankee game of some historic interest. The New Yorkers were in Detroit on 7-14-1934 and Lou Gehrig was sick. Manager Joe McCarthy placed Lou in the first slot of the batting order as the shortstop. Lou led off the game with a double to right and was immediately replaced by pinch runner Red Rolfe, who stayed in the game as the shortstop. This trick kept Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak alive as the rule states a player must complete a plate appearance or play a half inning of defense. Gehrig went back to the hotel to rest and (of course) was in the lineup the next day.
A recent discussion on the SABR electronic list server (SABR-L) concerned Bob Uecker’s performance against Sandy Koufax. Dave Smith prepared the definitive analysis and we present it here.
Uecker has proven himself to be a great self-promoter (assuming that he is the source of the legend, which seems likely). His overall performance against Koufax was poor, with more strikeouts than hits! He did collect 3 doubles and 1 homer in his 7 hits, however. The categories are presumably self-explanatory with the exception of OPS, which is the sum of on-base average plus slugging average.
Batter AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO RBI BA OA SA OPS Uecker, Bob 38 7 2 0 1 3 8 2 .184 .244 .316 .560
The list below presents the top 15 batters by OPS with at least 20 at bats. Although there are some great hitters here, including Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Roberto Clemente and Frank Robinson, there are some surprises as well, such as Hal R. Smith, Bill Virdon, and Jim Davenport. I note two names on the list who were known to all Dodger fans as Koufax-killers, namely Gene Oliver and Deron Johnson, who always seemed to be very similar players to me. By the way, the most home runs Koufax allowed to any single batter was 7, a total reached by four men: Aaron, Ernie Banks, Felipe Alou and Frank Robinson. I note that there were only 4 left-handed batters on this list: Walt Moryn, Stan Musial, Bill Virdon, and Smoky Burgess. Two of the three Alous are here (brother Matty had only 6 at bats against Koufax, going hitless and receiving one walk).
Batter AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO RBI BA OA SA OPS Aaron, Hank 116 42 6 3 7 14 12 16 .362 .431 .647 1.078 Oliver, Gene 51 20 1 0 4 3 11 9 .392 .426 .647 1.073 Smith, Hal R. 33 12 4 1 1 3 4 9 .364 .417 .636 1.053 Mays, Willie 97 27 8 1 5 25 20 14 .278 .426 .536 .962 Moryn, Walt 29 9 3 0 1 7 9 4 .310 .444 .517 .961 Musial, Stan 38 13 1 0 2 6 5 7 .342 .432 .526 .958 Johnson, Deron 44 13 2 0 4 3 6 9 .295 .340 .614 .954 Virdon, Bill 52 21 4 0 0 7 8 3 .404 .467 .481 .948 Alou, Felipe 68 18 4 0 7 3 15 9 .265 .296 .632 .928 Clemente, Roberto 111 33 6 2 6 10 20 15 .297 .355 .550 .905 Stuart, Dick 63 18 2 0 5 5 7 12 .286 .348 .556 .904 Davenport, Jim 62 18 1 0 4 9 16 5 .290 .380 .500 .880 Burgess, Smoky 22 7 1 0 1 2 5 4 .318 .375 .500 .875 Alou, Jesus 34 12 1 0 1 2 7 4 .353 .389 .471 .860 Robinson, Frank 103 24 7 0 7 16 20 24 .233 .347 .505 .852
In the interest of fair play, I used the same cutoff of 20 at bats and sorted for the worst performances against Koufax. The next list has the 15 who had the roughest time. There is one pitcher on the list, Dick Ellsworth, most are pretty forgettable hitters, although we see that the young Willie Stargell and Rusty Staub must have been pretty happy when Sandy called it quits after the 1966 season. In addition to these two Gordy Coleman, Lee Maye, and Dick Ellsworth were lefties, while Tito Fuentes was a switch-hitter. Dodger fans may remember that Harvey Kuenn made the last out in two of Koufax's four no-hitters, including the perfect game on September 9, 1965.
Batter AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO RBI BA OA SA OPS Kindall, Jerry 28 2 0 0 0 1 18 0 .071 .103 .071 .174 Coleman, Gordy 30 2 0 0 0 2 8 0 .067 .125 .067 .192 Coker, Jimmie 22 2 0 0 0 1 8 2 .091 .130 .091 .221 Roach, Mel 32 4 0 0 0 0 13 1 .125 .121 .125 .246 Maye, Lee 24 3 0 0 0 0 8 0 .125 .125 .125 .250 Stargell, Willie 23 2 1 0 0 1 10 2 .087 .125 .130 .255 Kuenn, Harvey 70 8 2 0 0 2 12 3 .114 .135 .143 .278 Fuentes, Tito 21 3 0 0 0 0 11 0 .143 .143 .143 .286 Ellsworth, Dick 20 3 0 0 0 0 12 0 .150 .150 .150 .300 Cannizzaro, Chris 21 2 0 0 0 3 5 0 .095 .208 .095 .303 Staub, Rusty 33 5 0 0 0 0 4 0 .152 .152 .152 .304 Malkmus, Bobby 20 3 0 0 0 1 7 2 .150 .182 .150 .332 Smith, Hal W. 35 5 0 0 0 2 11 2 .143 .189 .143 .332 Lillis, Bob 52 6 2 1 0 2 5 2 .115 .148 .192 .340 Klaus, Bobby 22 3 0 0 0 2 8 0 .136 .208 .136 .344
The final list has the 15 batters who had the most at bats against Koufax. Some of them did very well and are on the first list above. Some of the others did much worse. The data for Ernie Banks are very interesting. Ernie had 10 extra base hits and 10 walks, but also struck out almost one fourth of the time. The only left-handed swingers on this list are Vada Pinson, Bill White and Eddie Mathews. White did not post good numbers, but the other two did.
Batter AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO RBI BA OA SA OPS Banks, Ernie 133 23 1 2 7 10 31 18 .173 .231 .368 .599 Groat, Dick 133 24 4 1 1 10 14 10 .180 .236 .248 .484 Pinson, Vada 118 34 8 1 2 6 34 10 .288 .323 .424 .747 Aaron, Hank 116 42 6 3 7 14 12 16 .362 .431 .647 1.078 Boyer, Ken 112 26 4 1 4 11 22 9 .232 .298 .393 .691 Clemente, Roberto 111 33 6 2 6 10 20 15 .297 .355 .550 .905 Flood, Curt 108 32 5 1 2 7 6 7 .296 .333 .417 .750 Robinson, Frank 103 24 7 0 7 16 20 24 .233 .347 .505 .852 White, Bill 102 18 4 0 1 9 28 6 .176 .243 .245 .488 Mazeroski, Bill 100 19 1 1 0 8 19 5 .190 .248 .220 .468 Mays, Willie 97 27 8 1 5 25 20 14 .278 .426 .536 .962 Post, Wally 92 21 2 1 4 7 32 19 .228 .280 .402 .682 Taylor, Tony 91 24 7 1 0 6 21 4 .264 .309 .363 .672 Mathews, Eddie 89 25 3 0 3 13 22 7 .281 .373 .416 .789 Thomas, Frank 85 21 3 0 3 12 16 10 .247 .347 .388 .735
Last tidbits. The batter who struck out the most against Koufax was Vada Pinson with 34 and Willie Mays received the most walks, 25, followed by Richie Ashburn with 19.
You may have missed the Scoreboard in this issue. Since our inputting has slowed down while we spend more time on proofing and releasing data, this report isn't as urgent as it once was. Look for it to be an annual feature along with the graph of our holdings. Assistance provided by Shelley Vincent
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