The Retro Sheet
Official Publication of Retrosheet, Inc.
After a number of exciting developments in the first quarter of the year 2000 (see the last issue of TRS), it has been pretty quiet in the vault. Steady progress is being made on the data proofing front and we continue to enjoy good relations with some Major League teams, but it appears that the dramatic events have calmed down for the time being.
Remember that the Retrosheet annual meeting takes place during the SABR convention. Getting together with those who donate their time so selflessly to the RetroCause is always a highlight of my year and I hope to see many of you in West Palm Beach.
In the last issue of TRS we announced that Retrosheet had received the initial approval from the IRS concerning our tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status. On May 20, Dave Smith received the official letter from the IRS approving our tax-exempt status. Better yet, they made it effective RetroActive to January 7, 1994, the date of our incorporation!
Donations to the organization now are tax-deductible. Please check with your tax advisor for more information, especially regarding any donations made in the past.
However, Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda came running out of the dugout, claiming that Roenicke had swung at the pitch and asked Williams to appeal to first-base umpire John Kibler. Charlie finally did motion to Kibler, who ruled that Roenicke had indeed swung, making the pitch a strike, even though it did hit him. Roenicke and his manager, Chuck Tanner, argued to no avail and Gary returned to the plate. He took one more pitch for strike three to end the inning.
As the Times said about Roenicke: "He swore and motioned at Kibler, who ejected him. When he reached the dugout, Roenicke threw his bat at the umpire". The Braves scored a run in the 10th to win, 10-9.
Retrosheet’s official web site [www.retrosheet.org] contains many useful items for the baseball researcher. Our most important product is the game data that we have collected. Since the last issue of TRS, we have released the 1979 data files, bringing our public collection to five years. In addition, we have been allowed to release part of the collection that belongs to Baseball Workshop. Here is the current available file list:
Data Files Available Retrosheet 1967 AL, 1979-1983 Baseball Workshop 1984-1989
The 1990 BB Workshop data will be released by the All-Star Game and our 1978 data is close to release.
Also at the site is our Most Wanted Games list, which appeared in our last issue. The online copy will be kept up-to-date as we acquire new game accounts with an occasional mention in the newsletter.
Strange plays have been a long-time feature of TRS. The collection of these unusual events is available at the site. Those are always great for a laugh!
One of the records in our game data is a ballpark code. We have released a list of those codes that can be used to interpret the data files for park-specific data.
Related to that is the field location chart for batted balls. The official chart that is used by Retrosheet was developed for Project Scoresheet. A copy of that chart is available for download if you do not have one or have worn your copy out.
This is the 21st newsletter to be published by Retrosheet since October 1994. All editions have been made available in various formats through our web site so you can go back and read issues that you do not have.
If you want to know the power of our web site, go to your favorite internet search engine and ask for Retrosheet. On May 31, Yahoo yielded 85 and IWon.com 88 matches. There is even a web site devoted to the Seattle Pilots that has box scores and play-by-play accounts of their games provided (with credit) by Retrosheet. In addition, many sites have links to our location.
Thanks to the web site development team for a great job: Leanna Bush, Tim Cashion, Sean Lahman and Mark Pankin.
While inputting games from the 1945 Dodgers from the scoresheets of a New York sportswriter, Clem Comly came across an unclear inning in which it appeared that the team scored three runs and left the bases loaded. However, the inning summary showed that six runs scored. The following three paragraphs are from the game story in the New York Times, which explains what happened.
Eddie Miller made a costly error when he dropped Al Unser's throw as Rosen was trying to steal second. Clean singles by Luis Olmo and Frenchy Bordagaray followed the second out, then McCormick, Mesner and Unser clustered around Bill Hart's high pop between the plate and mound only to let it fall for a hit.
The wild pitch came with Art Herring at bat, two runners scoring on that. Andrews, who had been purposely passed with two strikes on him after Hart had pilfered second, tallied also when Unser made a wild throw to Dasso at the plate.
Comment from Dave Smith:
This is clearly an exciting inning, but what I like best is the intentional walk with two strikes, just because the runner stole! Great managing!
This chart shows the gradual slowing of our game inputting as we run out of accounts.
The annual report of our holdings reveals that we have 60% of all games played from 1901 through 1983. Now take a deep breath, go back and re-read that last sentence. We have 60% of those games. The first time we published a summary of the contents of the vault was in July 1995. That report was about games processed, not the games in hand. However, it is interesting to note that we had 15,704 games input at that time (that total is now 60,746.) The current input total is 53% of the games played and 87% of what we have. The one game in 1979 that is “not done” is a forfeit-Disco Demolition Night.
There are many more game accounts available that we have not collected. The chief source is afternoon newspapers that published play-by-play of the local team. We need volunteers to do two things: find these accounts and copy them from microfilm. Money spent on this can be reimbursed from the treasury.
One other note: we are collecting game data for the 2000 season and it will be available as soon as possible after the season.
This is an abbreviated edition of The Retro Sheet for two reasons. The last issue was late and we are not inputting as many games now as we have in the past. That gives us fewer items to run in the newsletter. All contributions are gratefully accepted by the editor at GrandSlams@aol.com
Assistance provided by Shelley and Tim Vincent
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Page Updated: 7/5/00
Year Played Have Done Missing %Have
1901 1110 318 181 792 29
1902 1115 257 24 858 23
1903 1114 222 83 892 20
1904 1249 2 1 1247 0
1905 1237 176 0 1061 14
1906 1228 18 0 1210 1
1907 1233 2 0 1231 0
1908 1244 3 0 1241 0
1909 1240 10 2 1230 1
1910 1249 74 74 1175 6
1911 1237 754 690 483 61
1912 1232 706 62 526 57
1913 1234 157 1 1077 13
1914 1256 159 0 1097 13
1915 1245 163 0 1082 13
1916 1247 162 4 1085 13
1917 1247 303 117 944 24
1918 1016 126 0 890 12
1919 1118 163 7 955 15
1920 1234 653 536 581 53
1921 1229 923 922 306 75
1922 1238 570 418 668 46
1923 1233 719 529 514 58
1924 1231 363 137 868 29
1925 1228 862 844 366 70
1926 1234 565 375 669 46
1927 1236 255 249 981 21
1928 1231 393 393 838 32
1929 1229 420 417 809 34
1930 1234 590 589 644 48
1931 1236 402 293 834 33
1932 1233 342 137 891 28
1933 1226 463 191 763 38
1934 1223 595 344 628 49
1935 1228 453 0 775 37
1936 1238 337 121 901 27
1937 1239 197 78 1042 16
1938 1223 112 0 1111 9
1939 1231 100 50 1131 8
1940 1236 213 155 1023 17
1941 1244 78 29 1166 6
1942 1224 236 94 988 19
1943 1238 78 37 1160 6
1944 1242 205 174 1037 17
1945 1230 432 432 798 35
1946 1242 379 207 863 31
1947 1243 665 220 578 53
1948 1237 502 302 735 41
1949 1240 670 450 570 54
1950 1238 841 601 397 68
1951 1239 904 735 335 73
1952 1239 998 470 241 81
1953 1240 973 817 267 78
1954 1237 974 871 263 79
1955 1234 898 817 336 73
1956 1239 1069 417 170 86
1957 1235 1052 980 183 85
1958 1235 1166 1009 69 94
1959 1238 1222 1219 16 99
1960 1236 1222 1222 14 99
1961 1430 1430 1430 0 100
1962 1621 1564 1548 57 96
1963 1619 1572 1565 47 97
1964 1626 1581 1575 45 97
1965 1623 1570 1565 53 97
1966 1615 1561 1561 54 97
1967 1620 1542 1540 78 95
1968 1625 1568 1568 57 96
1969 1946 1870 1869 76 96
1970 1944 1914 1914 30 98
1971 1938 1869 1869 69 96
1972 1859 1851 1851 8 100
1973 1943 1929 1928 14 99
1974 1945 1945 1945 0 100
1975 1934 1934 1934 0 100
1976 1939 1939 1939 0 100
1977 2103 2103 2103 0 100
1978 2102 2102 2102 0 100
1979 2099 2099 2098 0 100
1980 2105 2105 2105 0 100
1981 1394 1394 1394 0 100
1982 2107 2107 2107 0 100
1983 2109 2109 2109 0 100
115717 69524 60746 46193 60
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