Batting Out of Turn

Occasionally, a player will bat out of turn according to the lineup provided to the umpires by the manager before the game. This can cause great confusion on the part of the managers and umpires trying to decide what to do about the mistake. Rule 6.07 discusses at great length the concept of batting out of turn. Rule 10.03 (d) discusses the scoring of such plays. If the team at bat does not gain by the illegal action, the opposing manager usually says nothing. However, when that illegal batter does advance the cause of his team by advancing or scoring a runner, then it is time to speak out. This is not always done, however, since many times the opponents are unaware of the mistake.

Our research page has a presentation given at SABR in 2019 that explains the rule in addition to discussing its history, some reasons why it happens, and a few of the more interesting instances. It also explains that there are times when teams should not point out that the wrong batter has just reached base. See Batting Out of Turn (BOOT): The Most Confounding Rule

The order in which batters hit in the early years of major league play could be quite different from the current rules. For more information see Early Practices.

Here are the instances of this event that we know:

Links to boxscores and play-by-play accounts where available by clicking on the date

9/15/1881 - Davy Force of the Buffalo Bisons was called out in a game at Worcester. No further details are known.

6/6/1882 - The Buffalo Bisons were in Providence to play the Grays. Pitcher Pud Galvin was listed as batting eighth for the Bisons with Tom Dolan in the ninth spot in the order. In the second inning, Dolan batted in Galvin's spot and singled. Umpire Joe Quinn called Galvin out but allowed the single to stand. The Grays won the contest, 15-7.

7/10/1883 - The Buffalo Bisons hosted the New York Gothams, whose official line up had Frank Hankinson hitting 7th and Tip O'Neill, the pitcher hitting 8th. In the second inning, they batted in the opposite order and both made outs, so Buffalo did not protest. O'Neill again batted out of order in the 4th when he made the third out. As Hankinson came up to lead off the 5th Buffalo protested. The umpire, Stewart Decker, sent Hankinson off the field and had O'Neill, who was a weaker hitter, bat again without anyone being called out. Under current rules, the number nine hitter, Dasher Troy, would have been allowed to bat without penalty.

7/14/1884 - The Buffalo Bisons were in Cleveland playing the Blues when in the bottom of the first the Sam Moffet, led off for Cleveland. He doubled, but he was the number eight hitter on the official lineup card. He was declared out. Under today's rules, the correct lead off hitter, Bill Phillips, would have been called out.

5/21/1887 - Mike Morrison of the Cleveland Blues was called out in a home game against the Philadelphia Athletics. No further details are known.

6/1/1887 - The Louisville Colonels were playing in Philadelphia against the Athletics when Lave Cross batted out of order and made outs in the second and fifth innings. In the seventh, he singled and this time Philadelphia pointed out that he was not the proper batter. However, Ned Cuthbert, the umpire ruled that since he had been allowed to bat out of order twice, that the protest was denied. There was nothing in the rule of the time that allowed for that ruling.

7/4/1887 - In the first game of a doubleheader between Metropolitan and St. Louis on July 4, 1887, in the top of the 9th, Tip O'Neill was called out for failing to bat in his proper turn. He was supposed to lead off the inning but Charlie Comiskey did instead. That day's St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested that O'Neill skipped batting intentionally because he had hurt his finger in the 8th inning.

7/21/1887 - The Chicago White Sox batting order in Boston against the Beaneaters had Mark Baldwin hitting 8th and Tom Daly 9th. The first time through the order they batted in reverse order. The second time through with two out Daly again hit before Baldwin and reached second on two errors. After the first pitch, a ball, was thrown to Baldwin, Boston protested, and after some discussions by the umpires and the teams' captains, Phil Powers ruled Baldwin out for batting out of order. He was not the proper batter as the lead off man would have been under today's rules. The rule in place at the time was as clear as the current one, but under both Chicago should have been able to put the proper batter up with a 1-0 count.

9/15/1887 - The NY Giants were in Chicago playing the White Stockings (now Cubs). Jim O'Rourke was listed twice in the batting order. The first was "O'Rourke or Brown, catcher" and the second was "Nelson or O'Rourke, third base." In the second inning, O'Rourke was out at 1B batting out of order but nothing was said. In the fourth, he hit a home run into the carriages beyond the outfielders but was called out after Chicago manager Cap Anson appealed to umpire Phil Powers.

9/16/1887 - The Indianapolis Hoosiers lineup for their home game against the Philadelphia Quakers has the pitcher Lev Shreve batting eighth and the catcher John "Tug" Arundel ninth. At one point in the game Arundel batted ahead of Shreve and John Valentine correctly called Shreve out. No further details are known.

7/18/1889 - The Philadelphia Phillies were hosting the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. The home team elected to bat first and scored three runs in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, Pittsburgh had a man on first and two outs with the number four hitter, Al Maul, due to bat. However, James "Deacon" White, the number five batter in the lineup hit a double that scored the runner. The Phillies appealed, and Tom Lynch, the umpire, correctly called Maul out to end the inning without the run counting.

4/18/1890 - The Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association won 12-9 at home against the Rochester Hop Bitters. According to the boxscore in the Philadelphia Inquirer the next day, Wilbert Robinson of the Athletics batted out of turn, but the story about the game had no additional information.

5/30/1890 - In the first game of the Memorial Day double header, Henry Gruber of the Cleveland Infants was called out for batting out of order in the Players League game in Brooklyn against the Wonders. No further details are known.

6/28/1890 - Less than a month later, the Brooklyn Wonders batted out of turn against the Cleveland Infants in Cleveland. Although he batted in the proper order in the second inning when Brooklyn scored five runs, and presumably again before the fifth, Paul Cook batted out of order in that inning. No further details are known.

5/7/1891 - The Brooklyn Bridegrooms lineup in its home game against Philadelphia had the pitcher William "Adonis" Terry batting eighth followed by the catcher Tom Kinslow. However, Kinslow made the last out of the first inning batting ahead of Terry. Terry started the second inning with a double and was called out when Philadelphia pointed out the correct batting order.

6/17/1891 - The Colts (now Cubs) played in Cleveland. Through the seventh inning, the Colts' Bill Hutchinson batted in Malachi Kittridge's place in the batting order but the Spiders let it go. In the seventh, Fred Pfeffer walked and Hutchinson, batting out of turn, singled, moving Pfeffer to third. As Kittridge stepped to the plate, the Spiders told umpire Tim Lynch that Hutchinson batted out of turn. This out ended the inning, killing the Colts' rally.

6/19/1891 - Dick Johnston of Cincinnati Kelly's Killers (AA) was called out in this game against the Louisville Colonels. No further details are known.

9/2/1891 - The Phillies were visiting Pittsburgh when they had two players called out for batting out of turn. Manager Harry Wright listed Billy Shindle sixth in the batting order and Ed Mayer eighth. In the second inning, Mayer batted in Shindle's place because that was how the order had been the day before. After Mayer struck out, Pirates manager Bill McGunnigle talked with umpire Jack McQuaid about the Phillies batting out of order. McQuaid declared Shindle and William Brown (in the seventh spot) out for allowing Mayer to bat ahead of them.

9/10/1891 - Bill Dahlen of the Chicago Colts was called out for batting out of turn in the first inning of the game in Philadelphia against the Phillies. No further details are known.

9/29/1891 - According to the Milwaukee Sentinel, John Carney of the American Association Milwaukee Brewers was out in the top of the second for batting out of turn in a 10-5 loss at home against the Louisville Colonels. No further details are known.

4/30/1892 - In a game in Louisville, in the first Brooklyn had three runs in with one out and the bases empty with the number five hitter due up. However, William Darby O'Brien, number six in the order hit. He walked, stole a base, and scored on a passed ball. At that point, his batting out of turn was discovered (we don't have the details), and he was called out.

5/5/1892 - The Phillies were in Pittsburgh. Before the game, a preprinted scorecard from the previous day was posted in the Philadelphia dugout showing Lave Cross batting sixth and Joe Mulvey batting seventh. However, the two had been switched by manager Harry Wright. The two players batted in the order specified on the scorecard (out of turn). In the top of the fourth, Mulvey singled and was called out. The Pirates won the contest, 5-2.

7/4/1892 - In the first game of a holiday double header in Chicago, the Giants catcher, Jack Boyle has hurt by a foul tip in the first inning and had to leave the game. The starting shortstop, Jack Doyle, who was batting in the number five spot took over as catcher while Abram Hardy Richardson went to short and hit in Boyle's number seven slot. In the second game, Richardson and Doyle reversed with the former hitting fifth and the latter seventh. Apparently, they did not pick up on the switch because Doyle came up in the first with two outs and flied out. Richardson was called out since he was the proper batter. We do not know how it was pointed out the Doyle was out of order. The Colts had no reason to do it since Doyle had made an out. The umpire, Tom Lynch who had more than four years of experience might should not have acted on his own, but perhaps he did. According to the Chicago Tribune, Doyle batted first in the next inning. However, the proper batter to lead off once Richardson is ruled out is the number six hitter, Denny Lyons.

10/3/1892 - The Louisville Colonels visited Pittsburgh to play the Pirates. Sometime during the game, Lou Bierbauer of the Pirates was called out for batting out of turn. No further details are known.

10/7/1892 - The St. Louis Browns were playing in Cleveland against the Spiders when this puzzling one happened. We have found only a brief story that said with Cleveland ahead 8-3 in the fifth inning and it was starting to rain, the Spiders George Davis intentionally batted out of turn in order to make the third out of the inning quickly. The game ended after five innings because of the rain. There are a couple of reasons for it being puzzling. We don't know if Cleveland was batting last since in those days the home teams sometimes elected to bat first so they could hit against the new ball in the first. If they were batting last, it was already an official game due to a rule revision for the 1892 season. The original 1876 rule required five full innings to be played for a game to count. However, the Spiders may not have known about the new rule. The batting out of turn rule in effect was the original one from 1876, and it said in effect that the improper batter would not be out until his plate appearance was completed. So a Cleveland hitter could have just swung and missed at the first three pitches to make a quick out. The umpire of the game was John Gaffney, who was quite experienced. However, perhaps he was not fully versed on the rule and ruled Davis out after a pitch had been thrown and maybe Davis pointed out that he was not the proper batter. We will try to get more information about the game.

5/24/1893 - The St. Louis Browns were in Pittsburgh playing the Pirates. The Browns scored two runs in the ninth and lost the game 8-7. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Joe Gunson made his first appearance and batted out of turn. That paper did not have a box score for the game. However, the boxes in three other papers and a brief mention in the Boston Globe indicated that Gunson was a pinch hitter for the pitcher, and as such he was not batting out of turn.

6/30/1893 - The New York Giants order for the game in Chicago had William "Shorty" Fuller hitting in the eight spot followed by George Davies. In the second, the Giants manager, Monte Ward, incorrectly told Davies to bat before Fuller. Fuller hit next and was called out for batting out of turn.

7/6/1893 - The New York Giants difficulties batting in the correct order arose again just six days later. In a game at Louisville in which the home team was batting first, Michael "King" Kelly replaced Jocko Milligan at catcher in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, the number five hitter, Jack Doyle, was due to lead off, but Kelly who had replaced Milligan in the number six spot came up instead. He struck out, but the umpire Ed Seward, who had a bad day according to newspaper stories, allowed the out stand and also called Doyle out. Given the batting out of turn was being enforced, the correct call was to call Doyle out and have Kelly bat again. The next hitter reached third on a single and error, but the following one made the third out. The wrong ruling may have cost the Giants the game. It ended as an 11-11 tie after nine innings due to darkness.

8/1/1893 - In the first game of the day, Tommy Dowd was called out for batting out of turn for the St. Louis Browns at home against the Pirates. No further details are known.

9/8/1893 - Pop Schriver of the Chicago Colts (Cubs) was called out in a contest against the Phillies. No further details are known.

6/8/1894 - This was another time the rule was applied incorrectly to the detriment of the team. The St. Louis Browns were playing the Beaneaters in Boston, and the home team elected to bat first. In the bottom of the first, the lead off batter, Tommy Dowd, walked. The next batter due up was Frank Shugart, but the number three hitter, Charlie Frank, came up instead and struck out. Shugart hit into a fielders choice with Dowd being put out. Boston then pointed out that Frank had batted out of order, and the umpire, Bob Emslie, incorrectly called Frank out ending the inning. Frank had already made an out, so it made no sense to call him out again. The original 1876 rule, which was in effect in 1894, was poorly written and incomplete, but it did not allow for a batter to be out twice when he batted out of order. More importantly, Frank was not the proper batter when he hit, so the proper batter then, Shugart, should have been called out, but he was allowed to bat. Apparently, some umpires interpreted the rule in a different manner.

8/12/1895 - In the top of the first in a game at Boston, The Washington Nationals had two on and two out when the proper number five hitter was Win Mercer. However, Bill Hassamaer, tbe number six hitter, came up out of order. After he fouled off a pitch, Boston pointed out the mistake to the umpire, George Burnham. He called Mercer out to end the inning, but since the Hassamaer at bat was not completed, that was incorrect. He should have allowed Mercer to bat taking on the current count. Washington played the game under protest, and Boston won 4-3 in ten innings. The National League upheld the protest and ruled that the game did not count and had to be replayed.

9/4/1895 - John Dolan, the starting pitcher for the Chicago Colts (Cubs) in a game in Boston batted out of turn, most likely in the second inning, and an out was called. No further details are known.

6/29/1897 - This game played in Louisville had at least examples of confusion. The Colonels were batting first in this game, and in the top of the third the Chicago Colts had Tom Delahanty replace Abbie Johnson at second base. Delahanty was supposed to lead off in the bottom of the inning, but the pitcher, Jim Jones, batted and apparantly made an out since there was no protest. It looks like l,ater in the game, Fred Clarke, who played for Louisville also batted out of turn (No further details are known.) Adding to the confusion after another inning, Chicago took the field after making only two outs. The umpire called out one of the Colts to provide a third out. Since the Colts won the game 36-7, maybe they were getting tired running the bases, which may explain some of the strange things that happened.

5/9/1898 - St. Louis was playing in Cincinnati, and it manager Tim Hurst's lineup given to home plate ump Charles Cushman had Russ Hall batting seventh and Jack Crooks eighth. However, the lineup in the dugout had the two reversed. In the second, Crooks came up out of order and walked. Hall then batted and sacrificed. Under the current rule, and the rule in place then was the same according to our research, the correct batter would have been the number nine hitter once Crooks walk was allowed to stand. The Reds protested after Hall's sacrifice, and Cushman was apparently confused about the rule. He called Hall out even though he was already out on the sacrifice, not the ninth spot hitter, Jim Hughey. More amazingly, rather than sending Crooks back to first, he had him bat again, and this time he struck out.

5/22/1898 - The Chicago Orphans (now Cubs) were hosting Washington when in the bottom of third with two outs Bill Dahlen stole second with Jimmy Ryan at bat. However, Ryan interfered with the throw to second be jumping in front of the plate. The umpire, Tommy Connolly called interference and apparently ruled Dahlen out. (The Chicago Tribune story says Connolly, the only umpire due to the other one assigned refusing to work on Sundays, had his back to the plate as he ran to call the play at second and could not see Ryan's interference.) Ryan came up to lead off the fourth and singled. Washington objected by pointing out the Ryan should have been called out for interference and was batting out of order. Connolly agreed and called Ryan out although he should have called out Sam Mertes, the batter after Ryan in the order. All of that got the crowd upset, and eventually Connolly ejected Dahlen who rushed out to complain.

6/17/1898 - Washington was in Boston and its official lineup had Zeke Wrigley seventh, and Bert Myers eighth. Apparently, they batted out of order in the second although that is not desribed completely in any newspaper story we have seen. In the fourth with a runner on second and one out, the number seven hitter was due up. Myers came up and made an out. With the Myers play accepted by Boston, the proper next batter was the number nine hitter, the pitcher Win Mercer. Wrigley then came up, singled in a run, and Bostson objected. The home plate umpire, Tom Lynch, called Wrigley out to end the inning, not Mercer who had failed to bat when his turn came.

5/25/1899 - St. Louis hosted Brooklyn with a batting order that was different than the usual one employed by the team. Cupid Childs hit fourth, making an out to end the first inning. It was Lou Criger's spot, but nothing was said about the mistake. Bobby Wallace, the proper next batter, started the second with a hit and then it should have been Patsy Tebeau's turn at the plate. However, Criger hit and singled. Criger was called out for hitting out of turn and Tebeau sent to the plate. Brooklyn beat St. Louis, 8-1, as the home team made five errors.

8/7/1899 - The New York Giants were playing at the Brooklyn Superbas, and in the top of the second Pop Foster singled in a run. Brooklyn captain Joe Kelley protested to the umpire, John Gaffney, that Foster had batted out of order. In fact, Foster was not on the lineup card the umpires had because the Giants had mistakenly given him one from a previous game. That meant other Giants had also batted out of turn. After a considerable discussion about who was at fault and what should be done, Gaffney decided to call Foster out. At that point, the Giants captain, Kid Gleason, said he would pull his team off the field if that happened. Gafner relented, possibly due to unrest by the fans who wanted to see a game, and let the Giants bat in the order they wanted. Brooklyn protested the game, a 9-3 New York win. It likely would have been upheld, but Kelley withdrew it the following day feeling that enough bad will had been created and he did not want to increase it.

9/19/1899 - Brooklyn was playing host to the Chicago Orphans. In the bottom of the first, John Anderson, who was in the five spot in the order came up batting fourth ahead of Fielder Jones, the proper hitter, and singled in a run. Chicago did not realize it, so the run which could have been canceled stood. In the rest of the game Brooklyn batted in the proper order.

9/11/1900 - In the first game of a doubleheader between Chicago and New York, Frank Chance batted out of turn to end the top of the second inning. When Barry McCormick, who was supposed to have batted in the second inning, tried to lead off the third inning, the umpire pointed out the error and insisted that Nixey Callahan, who followed Chance in the official lineup, lead off the inning. Callahan grounded out for the first out of the inning and McCormick lost his at bat.

8/17/1901 - In the first game of the day between Brooklyn and New York, Frank Bowerman was playing second base and hitting sixth in the New York lineup. However, as he was not a regular in the lineup, he went to the plate too early in the first inning. After the third hitter, Algie McBride, reached on an error with two out, Bowerman walked to the plate and was hit by a pitch. Fourth place hitter Charlie Hickman, who should have hit after McBride instead of Bowerman, made an out to end the inning and Brooklyn did not realize the two mistakes. (Once Bowerman reached base, the proper hitter was the seventh-place batter, John Ganzel, not Hickman.) In the second inning, New York hit correctly, starting with the #5 hitter, Sammy Strang. Then when Bowerman came to the plate again, Brooklyn protested to umpire Frank Dwyer. The arbiter looked at the batting order and proclaimed Bowerman to be the proper batter and the game went on.

7/6/1902 - George Yeager of the New York Giants ended the sixth inning. When the Giants came to bat in the seventh, Yeager led off in Heinie Smiths batting spot and singled. As Smith came to bat, the St. Louis fans started to make noise about the mistake. Umpire Hank O'Day called out Smith and removed Yeager from first base.

9/22/1904 - In the Giants' 100th victory of the season which clinched the National League pennant, the Reds had trouble with their lineup. Pitcher Win Kellum batted in place of Tommy Corcoran and struck out. When a protest was lodged, Corcoran was called out and Kellum batted again.

7/25/1905 - With the Cardinals in Brooklyn for the second game of their series, Jimmy Sheckard ended the bottom of the seventh by striking out. However, the same batter started the eighth with a walk but nothing was said. The Redbirds scored twice in the top of the ninth on a passed ball to win, 4-3.

8/11/1905 - Brooklyn was visiting Chicago. Catcher Bill Bergin struck out to end the fifth inning but then came up again to start the sixth. He singled and eventually scored but the Cubs won, 3-2.

6/4/1906 - The Tigers were hosting Washington. In the top of the eighth inning, Howard Wakefield fouled out to start the inning but then Jake Stahl realized he was the person who was supposed to have batted. When he reported this to umpire Tim Hurst, the latter declared Stahl out and play proceeded. Stahl had cussed out Hurst earlier in the game and later in the eighth cussed out base umpire Tom Connor and was ejected. Not a great day for the Washington skipper.

5/25/1908 - The Cubs hit out of turn in the first inning against the Giants in Chicago. Pat Moran was listed seventh and Joe Tinker eighth in the lineup. However, when the seventh spot came up with two out in the bottom of the first, Tinker strode to the plate and made the third out. Moran then led off the bottom of the second with a single to center and eventually scored. In the third inning, the batters hit in the correct order and the Giants objected. However, umpire Bob Emslie showed John McGraw the lineup sheet and that was the end of that. The Cubs won the contest in 10 innings, 8-7.

6/1/1908 - In the top of the eigth of the second game of a double header, the Cardinals Ed Konetchy was picked off the third to end the inning with Billy Gilbert at the plate. Gilbert should have started the top of the ninth, but Irv Higgenbothman came up instead and singled. The Reds objected, and Gilbert was correctly called out and Higgenbotham batted again, grounding out this time.

7/2/1908 - The Phillies were at the Polo Grounds to play the Giants. Mickey Doolan (listed as Doolin in contemporary sources) batted seventh and Red Dooin batted eighth. Doolan made the last out in the seventh inning but then came to the plate to start the eighth. Doolan grounded out and then umpire Cy Rigler was notified that he had batted out of turn. Rigler called Dooin out. Since Doolan had already made an out the Giants should have ignored the confusion.

5/2/1910 - The Cards were in Cincinnati for the make up of a postponed game. Due to an oversight, the NL did not assign umpires for the game, so a respected local one, Jim Maginnis, was recruited. There were some close calls in the first that upset St. Louis manager Reger Bresnahan, and he then made a farce out of the game with quite a few changes of fielding positions including moving pitchers into the field and having position players pitch. In the seventh Miller Huggins who was in the lead off spot was hit by a pitch and Bresnahan came of the bench to run for him and then stayed in the game at catcher replacing Billy Kelly who was in the number six spot. In the eighth Bresnahan batted in Kelly's spot, but the proper batter was Elmer Rieger who went in to pitch and should have hit in Kelly's spot. Bresnahan was safe on an error, but the Reds did not notice the batting out of turn, so the play stood. The Reds won 9-4 after scoring five in the first, so it did not hurt them. Since there Bresnahan's play was accepted, the following batter, Arnold Hauser in the number seven spot was also out of turn since the proper batter was the number two hitter, Jap Barbeau. There were additional cases in the top of the ninth when Rudy Hullswitt pinch hit for Rieger in the number one spot, where Bresnahan was the proper batter.

8/16/1910 - In the bottom of the seventh in Boston, Harry Smith pinch hit for pitcher Buster Brown and singled. Rube Sellers pinch ran for Smith and scored two batters later. These changes took place in the ninth slot in the batting order. When Doc Miller's turn to hit came up later in the inning, Bud Sharpe was substituted for Miller in the fourth spot in the lineup. At the end of the inning, Sellers remained in the game as the new right fielder, thus hitting ninth, and Chick Evens entered the contest as the new hurler in the fourth spot in the lineup. With two out in the bottom of the eighth, the nine spot in the order came up but Evans batted and made the third out of the frame. He was out of order but accepted by St. Louis. This should have reset the batting order, making Ed Abbaticchio the next proper batter (in the fifth spot in the lineup). However, Bill Collins batted and made an out in the first spot in the order. Three batters later, it came around to Evans's spot again but Sellers hit in the fourth place instead. Sellers ended the game with an out. None of these instances of batting out of turn were protested by the St. Louis manager, Roger Bresnahan. It could have been since no one reached base batting out of turn or it could have been that no one on the Cardinals side of the field noticed.

10/2/1912 - At a game in Chicago the Pirates were leading 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Catcher Jimmy Archer, batting in the eighth spot in the lineup, doubled. Cy Williams ran for Archer and Wilbur Good pinch hit for Jimmy Lavender. Hank Robinson replaced Howie Camnitz on the mound and Dick Cotter was sent up to bat for Good. Cotter singled in the tying run, sending the game into the tenth inning, and took Archer's place as catcher. In the bottom of the tenth, Chicago had runners on first and second with two out and the eighth place in the lineup due to bat. Cotter came to the plate and singled to center to drive in the winning run. After the players had left the field Pirate manager Fred Clarke realized what had happened and sent the team's secretary to umpire Brick Owens to protest. Owens told the Pirates that it was too late for a protest since the team had left the playing field. However, NL President Tom Lynch upheld the protest on 10/13 and threw the game out. It was not replayed or completed.

5/19/1913 - The Yankees scored seven runs in the top of the eighth inning to beat the Browns, 8-6. In that inning Frank Chance ground out as a pinch hitter for the pitcher, Ray Fisher, who was in the ninth spot in the lineup. When the New Yorkers approached the bottom of the order again in the same inning, Chance hit in the eighth spot instead of shortstop Claud Derrick. This time Chance singled and knocked in two runs. St. Louis protested to umpire Hildebrand after the inning was over but he correctly told them that it was too late.

6/21/1913 - In the top of the seventh inning in Philadelphia, Les Nunamaker of the Red Sox pinch hit for pitcher Hugh Bedient. Nunamaker remained in the game catching and the new hurler, Charles Hall, entered in the eighth spot replacing starting catcher Bill Carrigan. The Sox started at the two spot in the top of the eighth inning. After Steve Yerkes made an out, five consecutive Boston players singled which scored two runs with one runner out at the plate. The next hitter should have been Hall, but Nunamaker batted out of turn and made the third out of the frame. Hooper should have started the ninth for the Red Sox but Hall batted out of turn. (They had the eighth and ninth place hitters reversed.) Once Hall made and out, Harry Hooper batted out of turn and singled. He eventually scored the winning run but the Athletics did not notice.

10/4/1913 - The meaningless last game of the season between the Red Sox and Senators in Washington was turned into a farce. Some players were not in their usual positions, and Senators owner and manager, Clark Griffith, at age 43 played in his only game of the season pitching a scoreless 8th inning and then moving to the outfield for the 9th. The Red Sox were down 10-3 going into the top of the ninth, and the Senators started moving players between positions, including Germany Schaefer who was primarily an infielder, but was playing in the outfield, coming in to pitch to start the inning, going back to the outfield so Walter Johnson, who was in the outfield, could come in to pitch. Then Schaefer relieved Johnson, and two more pitchers followed him as Boston scored six runs before falling 10-9. Duffy Lewis, the number four hitter, led off the inning, and many Boston players had already headed to the showers. The bases were empty with two outs when the number three hitter, Harry Hooper, was due up. However, he was already in the showers. The only person on the Red Sox bench at that point was their trainer, who was ready to bat. However, Lewis came up and grounded out to end the game. For obvious reasons, the Senators did not object.

5/26/1914 - Gavvy Cravath of the Phillies batted ahead of Fred Luderus in the second inning. With one out Cravath reached 2nd on an error by CF Bates. Luderus and Bobby Byrne then made outs to end the inning. Luderus correctly hit ahead of Cravath for the rest of the game.

5/31/1914 - In the seventh inning of the second game of a doubleheader in Cincinnati, Tommy Clarke pinch hit for Reds pitcher King Lear in the ninth spot in the order and hit a run-scoring single to center. Maury Uhler ran for Clarke and Johnny Rawlings hit for the leadoff hitter, right fielder Herbie Moran. Uhler stayed in the game in right field and the new pitcher, Phil Douglas, assumed the leadoff spot. As the ninth inning started, the ninth position in the batting order was due up . However, the Reds forgot the double switch and thought that the pitcher was next so Fritz Von Kolnitz was sent in to pinch hit for Douglas. A pinch hitter can not be out of order because he was officially batting for Uhler not Douglas. After Von Kolnitz grounded out, Douglas should have been the next batter in the leadoff position. However, Uhler came to the plate out of order and walked. Then the number two hitter, Buck Herzog, singled Uhler to third. He was also out of order but the Pirates never caught on either. The Reds scored two runs in that inning that could have been prevented. They were important as they tied the game at 5 runs apiece and at the end of the inning, the game was called due to darkness.

7/4/1914 - In the second game of a doubleheader at Pittsburgh, the Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League batted out of order. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Fred Jacklitsch replaced catcher Harvey Russell after two outs were made by the Pittsburgh Rebels. He entered the game in the eighth batting spot. When the tenth inning started, the seventh place hitter was due up but Jacklitsch went to the plate and singled. However, the Rebels told the umpire of the error and the proper batter, Mickey Doolan, was called out. Jacklitsch then batted in his proper spot and grounded out to first. Pittsburgh won the game in the bottom of the tenth, 8-7.

7/17/1914 - Cardinals manager Miller Huggins wanted Lee Dressen to bat 2nd in the order, but the lineup card he turned in had Walton Cruise in the 2nd spot. In the bottom of the 1st, Dressen walked when Cruise was due up. The Phillies did not notice that Dressen batted out of turn. In the bottom of the 2nd, the Cardinals figured out their mistake and Dressen correctly batted in the 8th spot. The Phillies objected to this but home plate umpire Cy Rigler agreed that Dressen was due up according the official lineup card. Cruise and Dressen batted in their correct spots for the rest of the game.

8/5/1914 - A Federal League contest featured St. Louis at Pittsburgh. Neither team scored in the first five innings. The St. Louis sixth frame went like this: John Misse singled to right. Mike Simon singled to left and Misse advanced to second base. Bob Groom tried to sacrifice but the bunt went for a hit to load the bases. Jack Tobin forced Misse at the plate. LeRue Kirby hit a fly to center that was misjudged by Rebel Oakes, turning a sacrifice fly into an inside-the-park grand slam. However, Kirby stepped to the plate in Delos Drake's batting spot. When Pittsburgh pointed out the mistake, Drake was ruled out and the three runners were sent back to their respective bases because of the batting out of order. Kirby stepped to the plate again and this time he singled to right to score two runs. When Frank Delahanty misplayed the ball, Groom scored and Kirby advanced to third base. Hughie Miller popped out to shortstop to end the inning. St. Louis scored three runs instead of four in the frame and Pittsburgh plated two runners in the bottom of the inning for the only runs of the game. So, the batting out of order did not cost the visitors the win.

8/18/1914 - The St. Louis Browns were in Washington playing the Senators. The Browns batted out of turn for most of the game without consequence. In the bottom of the eighth inning, 3B Jimmy Austin was ejected for arguing a safe call at 3B on Howie Shanks. SS Bobby Wallace moved to 3B and Doc Lavan entered the game at SS. Here is the lineup as presented to HP umpire Billy Evans and how they batted for the first eight innings.

Lineup                  As batted         Ninth Inning (proper)
Howard, 1B              Howard            Howard, 1B
Shotton, CF             Shotton           Shotton, CF
Pratt, 2B               Pratt             Pratt, 2B
E.Walker, LF            E.Walker          E.Walker, LF
Williams, RF            Williams          Williams, RF
Leary, C                Wallace           Agnew, C
Austin, 3B              Leary             Lavan, SS
Wallace, SS             Austin            Wallace, 3B
Hamilton, P             Hamilton          James, P

7/14/1915 - In the second game of a Federal League doubleheader between Brooklyn and Baltimore, Baltimore catcher Yip Owens (batting eighth) led off instead of the #7 hitter, Mickey Doolin. Owens popped out and pitcher George Suggs struck out before the umpires realized the mistake. Brooklyn did not formally object, Baltimore leadoff hitter Jack McCandless struck out to end the inning and Doolin's spot in the lineup was simply skipped.

7/25/1915 - In the first game, the Browns batting order given to the home plate umpire had Del Pratt hitting third, Tillie Walker fourth, and Ivan Howard fifth. The first two times through the order, Howard hit third, Pratt fourth, and Walker fifth. Babe Ruth held them scoreless in the first two innings, but the Browns rallied for four in the third, including hits by all three of the ones batting out of order. (Technically, Walker was in order once Pratt's at bat was not protested.) The Red Sox did not pick up on it, so the hits were allowed to stand. In the fourth, the Browns went back to the correct order and told the home plate umpire what they were doing. The Red Sox did not even realize that had happened until the fifth inning when they talked to the plate ump. He informed them that they were way too late in their objections, The Browns won the game 9-8.

9/6/1915 - The Cubs were in St. Louis for a holiday double header. In the bottom of the second inning of the first game, with two out and Tom Long on first, Bruno Betzel tripled. However, Frank Snyder was the proper batter but Cubs manager Roger Bresnahan did not notice. Snyder then batted (also out of order) and singled in Betzel. The mistake was not discovered by the Cubs until the fifth when Snyder and Betzel batted in the proper order, which they did for the rest of the contest. The Cardinals won the first game, 3-2, in 12 innings and then swept the Cubs, 10-0.

9/25/1915 - The Pirates had catcher George Gibson batting eighth and the pitcher ninth in their game against the Braves in Pittsburgh. In the seventh inning, Zip Collins pinch hit for Gibson and Leo Murphy for pitcher Al Mamaux. Murphy remained in the game catching and the new pitcher, Phil Slattery, was placed in the eighth spot in the lineup. However, in the bottom of the ninth, the Bucs had a runner on a two out. The next batter should have been Slattery but Murphy came up one slot early and struck out to end the game.

9/14/1916 - The Red Sox lineup had been Duffy Lewis hitting fifth, Everett Scott hitting sixth and Mike McNally seventh. However, this day, McNally was listed ahead of Scott on the lineup card presented to umpire Bill Dineen. In the top of the second inning, Scott and McNally reversed places without comment but, in the fourth frame, Lewis singled, then after Scott made an out, McNally singled to send Lewis to third base. The St. Louis Browns pointed out that McNally was out of turn and umpire Bill Dineen called McNally out.

10/3/1916 - In the last game of the season, Charles Bender entered the game as the Phillies' new pitcher batting sixth in the lineup. In the bottom of the 9th inning, the Phillies fourth and fifth hitters, Possum Whitted and Wilbur Good, made the first two outs bringing up Bender's spot in the lineup. Instead, #7 hitter Bert Niehoff batted. Niehoff flew out to center field, ending the game and the season.

4/12/1917 - In the top of the fourth, Lew McCarty pinch hit for the pitcher in the number nine spot in the order and tripled to drive in two runs as part of a six-run inning. In the bottom of the inning, he stayed in the game as the catcher replacing Bill Rariden who was hitting in the eighth spot. This was not a real "double switch," so the new pitcher should have batted in the number eight slot. In the sixth, McCarty hit out-of- order in the number eight position and singled. Boston pointed this out to the home plate umpire, and Slim Sallee, the new pitcher who should have been batting was called out.

7/9/1917 - In the top of the first inning in St. Louis, Yankees second baseman Paddy Bauman was hit by a pitch. The Browns appealed that Bauman had batted out of turn and the proper batter, Elmer Miller, was declared out.

10/3/1917 - In the first game of a double header at Philadelphia, Art Fletcher of the Giants, who was sixth in the batting order doubled in the top of the second (or possibly in the top of the fifth according to a second newspaper) when Dave Robertson should have hit. The hit was negated, but Fletcher managed to double twice in the game even without the one that was nullified. Perhaps due to the improper at bat, the box score for the game is not correct as it shows Fletcher with 6 AB, one too many, and the lead off hitter, George Burns with one too few.

5/23/1918 - The Giants were in St. Louis to play the cards. In the top of the second Walter Holke, the number six hitter walked. The number seven hitter was Jose Rodriguez, but the number eight hitter, Lew McCarty batted next out of order. He fouled out, and it would be expected that St. Louis would not protest, but they did. Rodriguez was called out correctly, and McCarty batted again. This time he singled, and when Jeff Tesreau, the pitcher hitting ninth, also singled, Holke scored. Had the Cards kept quiet, most likely Rodriguez would have batted after McCarty and he would have been out of order since Tesreau would have been the proper hitter. The Giants won the game 6-4 in fourteen innings, so what the Cards did in the second may have cost them the game.

6/28/1919 - The Cardinals played in Chicago, losing to the Cubs, 6-5. In the contest, the Redbirds batted out of order for the first eight innings, only correcting the mistake in the ninth. The batting order, as given to umpire Bill Klem, showed Doc Lavan batting seventh and Frank Snyder batting eighth. However, the two players batted in the opposite order starting in the second inning, when the Cardinals scored two runs. Those tallies would not have counted if the Cubs had spoken up about the miscue. Since St. Louis manager Branch Rickey changed the batting order for this game, neither the Cardinals players nor the Cubs realized that the two players were out of order. Lavan came to the plate in the ninth in his proper spot (for the first time in the game) and the Cubs protested that he was out of order when he was actually in order for the first time in the contest!

6/30/1920 - The Dodgers were playing a doubleheader against the Giants at the Polo Grounds. In the bottom of the seventh inning of game 1, Lew McCarty pinch hit for Jesse Winters in the ninth place in the batting order and singled. Al Lefevre ran for McCarty and stayed in the game playing second base. The new pitcher, Bill Hubbell, entered the game in the seventh spot in the lineup. In the ninth inning, Lefevre, actually in the ninth spot, batted in the seventh spot out of order but struck out. Frank Snyder, the eighth-place hitter, then came to the plate out of order and grounded out. The next hitter should be Lefevre in the ninth-hole in the order. Benny Kauff was sent up to pinch hit for Hubbell even though it was not his turn to bat. Kauff cannot be considered as batting out of order since he is a pinch hitter. Officially, he is hitting for Lefevre not Hubbell. Kauff singled in a run but none of this matters as the Dodgers beat the Giants, 7-3.

8/31/1920 - The Giants played in Pittsburgh and had one batter at the plate at the wrong time. Larry Doyle, batting in the seventh spot in the lineup, ended the seventh inning. In the bottom half of that frame the Pirates scored six times to pull ahead of New York, 6-5, for the eventual winning margin. The last two runs scored on a dropped fly ball. In the top of the eighth inning, fifth-place batter George Kelly started the inning with a single. The Bucs pointed out the fact that he was not the proper batter and Earl Smith was declared out.

6/10/1921 - Ty Cobb's Tigers were in Washington completing a series against the Senators. Before the game, Cobb changed his lineup by reversing Harry Heilmann and Bobby Veach. However, the skipper failed to tell the players of this switch. In the top of the first inning, Heilmann batted in Veach's spot and hit a two-run home run to left field. Umpire Billy Evans declared Heilmann out. When Veach finally got to bat in the fourth inning, he homered to right. There was also a Washington runner called out for coach's interference later in the game. The Tigers won, 6-3.

7/4/1921 - In the first game of the holiday twin bill in Chicago, the Reds managed to bat in the wrong order twice in the first three innings. Pat Moran, the Reds manager, thought he had put Ivey Wingo in the number five spot, but he was eighth on the official lineup card. In the second inning, he batted fifth and struck out for the first out, so the Cubs naturally did not object. The next batter should have been the pitcher in the number nine spot, but not surprisingly, Greasy Neale, the true number five hitter, hit next and drew a walk. The Cubs protested, and after some consultation, Neale was called out although it should have been the pitcher Dolf Luque. Pat Duncan, the number six hitter in the order batted next although if the rule had been applied correctly, the lead off hitter should have come to bat. Duncan fanned for the third out. The number seven hitter correctly started the third, and he also struck out. That meant Wingo was the proper batter, but Luque hit next and singled. The Cubs again protested. Bill Klem, the home plate umpire called Luque out and ordered the lead off hitter to bat. So even a Hall of Fame ump did not understand the rule, which was not applied correctly in the second inning. This time the other ump, Bob Emslie, talked to Klem and they got it right by calling Wingo out and having Luque bat again. He again singled so he was able to get two hits, one of which did not count, in one at bat. The Reds batted in the correct order after the third.

8/7/1922 - In the bottom of the first with a runner on second on two outs, William "Baby Doll" Jacobson hitting in the clean up spot drew a walk. However, he was the number five hitter, so the Senators objected. Based on the box score, it appears that the proper number four batter, Marty MacManus, was called out, and Jacobson led of the second as he should have.

5/20/1923 - This is not a real BOOT, but it is included to show some of the misunderstanding of the rule that can arise and to illustrate some of the rule's facets. In the bottom of the ninth of a game against the Senators, the Browns catcher Hank Servereid batting in the #6 position singled. Homer Ezzell came in to run for him. Next up, Pat Collins pinch hit for the third baseman and doubled in two runs to tie the game. In the top of the tenth, Ezzell took the field at third base, and Josh Billings went in at catcher, so Ezzell was the #6 hitter and Billings the #7 hitter. Washington scored a run in the inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Browns tied the game and had the bases loaded with two outs with Ezzell due to bat. Johnny Schulte came up as a pinch hitter, and the megaphone announcer said he was hitting for Billings rather than Ezzell. (We do not know the order shown on the umpire's official lineup card.) After the first pitch, a ball, was thrown to Schulte, Senators manager, Donie Bush, came to HP umpire Ducky Holmes and said Schulte should be called out because St. Louis had not informed the umpire who was batting in which position so Schulte should not be allowed to bat. There was no need for that to happen since Ezzell as a pinch runner was in the #6 spot automatically. Holmes denied the protest. Buch argued too much and was ejected. Schulte eventually was walked by Walter Johnson, which forced in the winning run.

There are several relevant points. One is that only the HP ump has the official lineup. Anything on the scoreboard or in this case said by an announcer may be wrong. More importantly, a pinch hitter can never by batting out of turn. Even if the Browns thought Billings was due up when it should have been Ezzell, it does not matter since an improper batter never came to the plate. Another facet of the rule is that if a team realizes that an improper batter has come up, it can replace him without penalty before the plate appearance is completed with the proper batter taking over the count when he comes in. So even if Bush had a valid point, he should have waited until Schulte had walked before appealing.

5/25/1923 - Red Faber of the White Sox beat the Tigers in Detroit, 5-3. In the bottom of the seventh, Johnny Bassler pinch hit for pitcher Herm Pillette and walked. Les Burke then ran for Bassler and remained in the game in the ninth spot in the order at second base. The new pitcher entered the game in the seventh spot previously occupied by the second baseman. With two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Burke batted in the seventh place in the order out of turn but grounded out to end the game.

5/25/1923 - A second team batted out of order on this day. The Pirates confused their lineup the first time though the order in this game at home against the Cardinals. The fifth-place hitter, Pie Traynor, had ended the first inning. Johnny Rawlings should have started the second inning but Charlie Grimm (listed seventh) batted and singled to center. Then Rawlings came to the plate and singled to right advancing Grimm to second base. The Cardinals then spoke with Umpire Bill Klem and he called Grimm out and removed him from the basepath. Rawlings was allowed to stay on first base. Pirates manager McKechnie told Klem that he intended to protest the game. The next hitter was the eighth-place batter, Johnny Gooch. Thus Klem seemed to call the wrong player out and allow the wrong batter to hit. The Redbirds had scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning. In the ninth, the Pirates scored two runs to win the game and make McKechnie's protest unnecessary.

7/19/1923 - The Cubs played in Philadelphia this day. Before the game the announcer listed John Kelleher playing third and batting fifth for the Cubs. However, when that spot in the lineup came up for the first time Bernie Friberg batted. He singled to left, knocking in the first run of the game but Umpire Bill Klem declared that Kelleher should have batted and called Friberg out for batting out of turn. Since Friberg was not in the lineup he should have been considered a pinch hitter and allowed to bat. When the Cubs took the field in the bottom half of the inning, Friberg went to third and played the rest of the game, which was won by Chicago, 7-1.

8/2/1923 - The St. Louis Browns had considerable trouble with the batting order in the first game of two in Washington, which they lost 5-0. Manager Lee Fohl changed the lineup order from the usual and the players did not adjust. A contemporary newspaper story said that Fohl changed the batting order frequently during the season. Two different swaps were made as Ken Williams and William Jacobson swapped the third and fourth positions and Wally Gerber and Hank Severeid swapped the sixth and seventh places. In the first inning, there was a runner on first and one out. Williams came to the plate instead of Jacobson and walked. When the Senators pointed out that Williams was the wrong batter, Jacobson was declared out and Williams batted again. This time he doubled to right but Eddie Foster was thrown out trying to score from first on the hit. Those two players batted in the proper order after that. Senators skipper Donie Bush noticed the other situation early in the game. In the second, fifth and seventh innings both Gerber and Severeid made outs so Bush said nothing. However, in the ninth inning, Gerber batted with two out and a runner on first base. He singled advancing the runner to third. Bush then spoke up and Umpire Ormsby declared the batter out to end the game.

8/9/1923 - In the top of the ninth inning in St. Louis, the Giants' Frank Snyder pinch hit for relief pitcher Jack Bentley in the ninth spot in the order. Snyder remained in the game as the catcher and the new pitcher, Jack Scott, entered the game in the eighth place in the order where the previous catcher had been. The seventh-place hitter, Travis Jackson, ended the tenth inning by grounding out. Scott should have started the eleventh inning but the Giants confused the order when Snyder batted in that place. Snyder singled to left and Hugh McQuillan ran for him. Then Scott, also out of order, singled to left. Both runners eventually scored and the Giants seemed to have the game in hand because the Cardinals did not protest the batting order. Alex Gaston entered the game as the new catcher in the ninth spot in the order and the Redbirds tied the game in the bottom of the eleventh. In the twelfth and fifteenth innings, Gaston and Scott batted in reverse order but both made outs in each case. The Cardinals never noticed the reversal since they were batting in the order that the defensive positions had been listed at the start of the game. St. Louis finally won, 13-12, in the fifteenth inning. A total of 37 players and 12 pitchers played in the game.

9/3/1923 - The St. Louis Browns confused their lineup in the first game of a doubleheader in Cleveland. Ken Williams usually hit in the third spot but the lineup given to the umpires had William Jacobson third, Marty McManus fourth and Williams fifth. In the first inning after Wally Gerber doubled and Jack Tobin reached on a bunt, Williams, hitting out of turn, doubled home the first run of the game. Then Jacobson, also hitting out of order, hit a run-producing ground out. McManus, hitting in his proper spot after Jacobson, walked. The next hitter should have been Williams but Pat Collins, the sixth-place hitter, came up and struck out. No more runs were scored in that inning. The Indians figured out that the Browns had hit out of turn later and tried to protest the runs scored but umpire Evans properly allowed them to stand. However, Cleveland came back to win the game, 4-2.

6/1/1924 - The Reds confused their lineup in a home game against the Cardinals. Hughie Critz, in his second major league game, was listed batting seventh, However, he batted sixth the first time through the order and singled to CF. The Redbirds pointed out the batting out of turn and Boob Fowler was called out.

6/19/1924 - With the Giants playing the Braves in Boston, the home team mixed up their batting order at the start of the game. After the leadoff batter had grounded out, Ray Powell came to the plate one spot early and also grounded out. The Giants pointed that out to Umpire Hank O'Day and he declared the proper batter, Les Mann, out and the inning over. The Giants beat the Braves, 4-1.

7/28/1924 - The Red Sox were in St. Louis to play the Browns. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Ernie Wingard pinch hit for shortstop Wally Gerber (in the eighth spot in the lineup) and singled. Norm McMillan then ran for catcher Hank Severeid (in the seventh spot in the lineup). McMillan remained in the game at shortstop, Tony Rego came in to catch and George Lyons to pitch. McMillan has to be in the seventh spot in the lineup so Rego and Lyons are eight and nine (or reverse). In the bottom of the ninth, after the sixth place hitter doubled, Rego batted at the insistance of home plate umpire Brick Owens and grounded out to end the inning. He was clearly out of order as McMillan should have batted. In the top of the tenth, Boston scored five runs. McMillan batted to start the bottom of the frame (out of order). After the Browns lost, Manager George Sisler protested the game due to the mis-application of the rules by Owens. The protest was upheld and the game declared a no-decision by AL president Ban Johnson.

9/23/1924 - In the bottom of the second, the Phillies had a runner on second and one out when Walter Holke, the number eight hitter, hit out of order in the number seven spot insted of the proper batter, Lew Wendell. Holke doubled driving in a run, so the Cardinals protested. Wendell was called out, and Holke hit again grounding out to end the inning without a run scoring. The Cardinals won the game 8-7 in ten innings.

8/11/1925 - The Braves were in Chicago playing the Cubs. The lineup showed Les Mann hitting fifth, Andy High sixth and Gus Felix seventh. In the top of the first inning, there was one out, one run scored and runners on first and second after four hitters had come to the plate. However, Felix (seventh) strode to the plate in Mann's place (fifth) and walked to load the bases. High then singled home two runs and Mann ended the inning by grounding into a double play. All three of those players batted out of turn and the Cubs could have spoken up multiple times about the situation. Two of the runs could have been eliminated had they protested to the umpires. Boston went on to win the game, 9-2.

10/10/1925 - In game three of the World Series, Nemo Leibold pinch hit for Senators pitcher Alex Ferguson in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Leibold walked, Earl McNeely ran for him. McNeely remained in the game in centerfield while Firpo Marberry entered the game as the new pitcher. Marberry was inserted into the fifth spot in the batting order. In the bottom of the eighth with one out, Muddy Ruel singled. The next batter should have been McNeely but Marberry walked to the plate and sacrificed Ruel to second. The Pirates did not protest the improper batter (possibly since Marberry came up in the usual spot for the pitcher). The next proper batter was Buddy Myer in the sixth spot but the Senators went to the top of the lineup and Sam Rice who grounded out to end the inning.

6/30/1926 - The Reds were in Chicago and in the first game of the doubleheader, Cincinnati shortstop Frank Emmer and catcher Bubbles Hargrave swapped spots (7th and 8th) the first three times through the order. Although Hargrave did have a single in the 2nd inning, he did not drive in any runs so the Cubs bided their time. In the 8th inning, Hargrave batted with two outs and singled to give the Reds an apparent 4-0 lead. At this point the Cubs noted the batting order problem and Emmer, the proper batter, was declared out, keeping the score at 3-0 in favor of Cincinnati. The Cubs scored two in the bottom of the 8th, but fell short, losing 3-2.

7/1/1926 - In the bottom of the first inning at Braves Field, Doc Gautreau was on second with two out. Eddie Brown walked but the Phillies pointed out that he had batted out of turn. Thus, Dick Burrus, who was the correct batter, was declared out and the Braves stranded Gautreau at second. The Braves eventually won the contest by scoring three runs in the seventh frame.

8/20/1926 - The Tigers were in Philadelphia to play the Athletics. In the second game of a twin bill, the team did not follow Ty Cobb's lineup at the start of the game but were not called on it the first two times through the lineup. However, in the fourth inning, Harry Heilmann doubled and, with two out, apparently scored on a hit by Charlie Gehringer. Coach Kid Gleason of the A's asked umpire Billy Evans about the proper order and Evans negated the play and called out O'Rourke (the correct batter) for not taking his proper turn. Before the game, when the announcer had listed the Tigers lineup, the writers thought he had made a mistake and simply transposed the two names in their scorebooks. The Tigers won in spite of the gaffe, 5-4.

9/25/1926 - The Senators and White Sox played two games in Chicago. The visitors mixed up their batting order in the second contest which they won, 3-2 to split the twin bill. In the seventh frame, Stuffy Stewart was sent in to run for catcher Muddy Ruel, who was batting in the eighth hole in the lineup. Bennie Tate pinch hit for pitcher Stan Coveleskie. When Washington took the field, Tate stayed in the game in the ninth spot and caught while the new pitcher, Firpo Marberry, assumed the eighth place in the lineup. In the top of the ninth inning, Tate batted out of order in the eighth place but neither team discovered the mistake until the frame was over. He had made an out so it didn't matter anyway.

4/23/1927 - The St. Louis Browns defeated the Tigers, 15-10, on a cold day in Detroit. In the top of the third frame, Fred Schulte was called out for batting out of turn. No further details are known.

7/26/1927 - In the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, the Browns sent four batters to the plate in the first inning. Then in the next frame the number five and six batters made outs. The next scheduled hitter was catcher Steve O'Neill but Wally Gerber, in the number eight spot in the lineup, came to the plate and ended the inning with a fly out. The fact that Gerber batted out of turn was discovered before the Browns came to the plate in the third inning. The next proper hitter according to the rules would be the ninth person in the order, pitcher Milt Gaston. However, the umpires told Gerber to bat again at his "proper" time. This time Gerber grounded out and Gaston followed him to the plate. The Browns then proceeded through the lineup in proper order. The Yankees won the game, 15-1, led by Babe Ruth's two home runs off Gaston.

5/23/1928 - The Washington Senators had two regulars out of the lineup as they played the Athletics in Philadelphia. This was the third contest with George Sisler substituting in left field and Joe Judge at first base. In the previous two contests, Judge batted third with Sisler after him. However, the lineup card turned in on this day had the two players reversed in the order. The first time through the lineup both players made outs. In the third inning, the Nats had the bases loaded with two out. Judge batted out of turn and walked for an apparent run. Philadelphia manager Connie Mack pointed out to umpire Bill McGowan that Judge hit in Sisler's place. Sisler was called out and the run nullified. The Athletics won the game, 4-2.

6/30/1928 - In the top of the fifth of the second game, Walt Lerian who had struck out to end the fourth, came up to start the inning and singled. (Perhaps since the Robins had scored six in the bottom of the fourth, Lerian, the catcher, had lost track of things.) He eventually scored on a single three batters later. Brooklyn protested that the run should not count, but the home plate ump, Cy Rigler, correctly pointed out that the objection was made too late and the Phillies had batted in the correct order after Lerian's hit. Since Brooklyn was ahead 12-3 at the time, they really did not care.

7/26/1928 - The Reds batted out of turn in the ninth inning at Philadelphia and scored the game-winning runs during that frame. In the eighth inning, Pinky Pittinger had pinch run for Bubbles Hargrave (in the seventh spot in the lineup) and remained in the game. In the top of the ninth, the Reds had one run in and two runners on when it was Pittinger's turn to bat. Val Picinich, who had entered the game in the eighth spot in the previous half inning, strode to the plate instead of Pittinger. After Picinich fouled out, the proper batter, Pittinger, was called out. Now it really was Picinich's turn. Instead, Pid Purdy pinch hit for Picinich and walked. Eventually, Hughie Critz doubled home three runs to claim the contest for Cincinnati. The Phillies gained nothing by pointing out that Picinich had batted out of turn since he was already out.

8/6/1928 - The Yankees were in Chicago and played a 15-inning game. In the top of the eighth, Lou Gehrig reached on a force out and Cedric Durst pinch ran for the Iron Horse in the fourth spot in the lineup. Durst went to 1B in the bottom of the frame and Wilcy Moore took the mound, batting ninth. Catcher Johnny Grabowski, batting eighth, struck out to end the top of the ninth. Durst came to bat to start the tenth, but he was out of turn, as the batter should have been Moore. After Durst made an out, Earle Combs, in the first lineup spot, came to the plate, also out of turn. The Yankees continued to swap the #4 and #9 hitters into the 15th inning, when the White Sox pointed out the mistake to Umpire Bill Dinneen. However, Dinneen said Durst had a right to bat where he was, prompting the White Sox to file a protest in case the Yankees won the game. Chicago scored a run in the bottom of the 15th to end the contest, 5-4.

5/18/1929 - In the first game of two in Boston, Braves manager Judge Fuchs moved Joe Dugan up one spot in the batting order based on his recent improved batting. Evidently the batters did not know about the change. The official lineup had Dugan hitting fifth, Earl Clark sixth and Freddie Maguire seventh. In the second inning Clark and Dugan reversed their order with Clark making an out, Dugan singling to left and Maguire making an out. The Giants said nothing here. In the third, Clark batted one spot early again and made the last out of the inning. Dugan led off the fourth with a single to left. New York's acting manager Schalk spoke with umpire Quigley who wiped out the base hit and called the proper batter, Maguire, out. During the course of this discussion Braves coach Johnny Evers was ejected. Dugan drove in the game-winning run in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly to beat the Giants, 5-4.

6/14/1929 - In the top of the second in Cincinnati, Brooklyn's number five hitter, Val Picinich was due up, but the number six hitter, Rube Bressler, came up to bat. Bresseler made an out, and for some unknown reason, the Reds pointed out the batting out of turn. Picinich was called out at charged with an at bat, and Bressler hit again and singled. The Red's appeal was a mistake for more than one reason. In addition to already having an out, most likely Picinich would have come up next, out of order. So if he had reached, the Reds could have had the play erased and the number seven hitter called out. Unless he homered or possibly reached third (since base advances before the out of turn plate appearance is completed will count), the Reds still should not have protested. The reason is that the proper batter would have been Bressler, not the number seven hitter who almost surely would have come up next. Moreover, by not pointing out wrong batter, the Reds could have "saved" it to use later in the game if Brooklyn batted out of order again in a later inning.

8/9/1929 - The Giants confused their batting order at the start of this game in the Polo Grounds. The order was supposed to be Doc Farrell third, Mel Ott fourth, Bill Terry fifth and Travis Jackson sixth. With two out in the first inning Terry came to the plate ahead of Ott and made the last out of the frame. Ott led off the second out of order but also made an out. Jackson then batted out of order and walked. The Reds never spoke up about this. In the third inning, Ott strode to the plate after Farrell singled. There was an outcry from the fans in the stands that he was batting out of turn. It was explained by Terry that manager John McGraw had reversed Ott and Terry in the lineup and that now they were hitting in the proper order. It is interesting that the opponents said nothing either time but that the New York fans spoke out about the batting order. The Giants won, 7-1.

8/2/1930 - The Phillies were in Boston for a double header against the Braves. Their batting order for the first contest showed Don Hurst fifth, Pinky Whitney sixth and Tommy Thevenow seventh. In the top of the second inning, Whitney strode to the plate in Hurst's spot and struck out. Hurst then grounded out. Both were out of order. Thevenow followed Hurst and was also out of order. The Phillies repeated this incorrect order in the fourth. In the seventh frame, Chuck Klein reached on an error, Whitney singled Klein to third and Hurst hit a sacrifice fly. The Phillies realized their mistake in the ninth and batted in the proper order, with Hurst reaching on an error after Klein doubled. The Braves argued that Hurst had batted out of order this time but was told that they were actually batting correctly. The Braves won the contest, 3-2.

4/15/1931 - The was a lot of confusion during a Dodgers game in Boston. in the top of the fifth inning, Ike Boone pinch hit for the pitcher, Earl Mattingly. Boone then went to right field in place of Babe Herman, who was said to be having trouble in the sun. Herman had been in the third slot in the batting order, so the new pitcher would be placed there on the double switch. However, before the bottom of the fifth got started, Alta Cohen was sent out to right in place of Boone, thus Cohen would be in the ninth spot in the batting order. In the top of the sixth, when the third spot in the order came up, Cohen stepped to the plate and singled but was left stranded on the bases. The Braves did not protest. In the top of the seventh, Cohen batted in his proper ninth spot in the order and singled again. This hit was part of a two-run inning but the Braves prevailed, 9-3.

5/26/1932 - The Dodgers had trouble with their lineup in a game at the Polo Grounds. The official sheet had George Kelly batting seventh and Al Lopez eighth. The latter batted one spot early but struck out to end the second inning. Kelly then started the third inning out of turn but also struck out. Then pitcher Watty Clark made an out as an out of turn batter. The second trip through the lineup the three batsmen strode to the plate in the same incorrect order. This time Kelly homered to left but no protest was made by the Giants. With two out in the sixth inning after Tony Cuccinello doubled and Glenn Wright was passed, Lopez singled to center to score Cuccinello with Wright thrown out trying for third. The McGrawmen protested to umpire Cy Rigler. He called Kelly out and wiped the run off the board. The Giants tied the score in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Brooklyn won the game in twelve innings, 3-2 when Lopez scored the winning run on Johnny Frederick's base hit.

8/1/1932 - When is a batting-out-of turn not one? It happended in this game. The original lineup card submitted by Yankee manager McCarthy listed Ben Chapman 5th and Lazzeri 6th. When Lazzeri came out to bat in the number 5 spot in the second inning, McCarthy came out to home plate and asked the umpire to switch Lazzeri and Chapman in the lineup. Umpire Dick Nallin okayed this. After Lazzeri singled in the second, Tigers manager Harris came out to object that Lazzeri batted out of turn according to the lineup card the Tigers were given before the game. Nallin said that he allowed McCarthy to change his lineup and did not call Chapman, the proper batter according to the original lineup card, out. Harris played the game under protest, which was upheld by AL President Will Harridge on August 12. The statistics in this game were ruled official, but the game was ruled a no decision (No Decision Games) to be replayed, wiping out a 6-3 Yankee victory. Technically, the Yankees batted in the correct order since they were following the lineup card held by the home plate umpire. However, they were not in the order on the card given to the umpire and Tigers before the game.

8/31/1932 - The Cubs beat the Giants at Wrigley Field in a ten-inning game that witnessed an eclipse. The two teams combined for nine runs in the extra frame, as the hosts won the contest, 10-9. The confusion started in the eighth inning, when Stan Hack pinch ran for Charlie Grimm, who was in the sixth spot in the lineup. Marv Gudat pinch hit for Gabby Hartnett in the seventh spot and made an out to end the inning. He remained in the game at first base. At the start of the ninth, Zack Taylor entered the contest as the catcher, and would have to be in the sixth batting spot in the lineup, because he was the only player entering the game and that was the only empty spot. In the bottom of the ninth, Mark Koenig batted in his eighth spot and then Frank Demaree hit for Bob Smith. The Cubs scored one run to tie the game, 5-5. The last hitter of the inning was Johnny Moore in the fifth spot in the lineup. The only new player in the top of the tenth for Chicago was pitcher Guy Bush, and he was relieved before retiring anyone by Leroy Herrmann, who should be in the ninth spot in the order. So now the order is:

Herman, 2b 
English, 3b 
Cuyler, rf 
Stephenson, lf 
Moore, cf 
Taylor, c 
Gudat, 1b 
Koenig, ss 
Herrmann, p 

6/29/1933 - In the top of the second Cardinals outfielder Ethan Allen hit an inside the park home run to deep left-center at the Polo Grounds. However, he batted out of turn and the proper batter, Joe Medwick, was called out. The drive came off Watty Clark with no one on and one out. Allen then batted again and grounded out to third.

8/10/1934 - The Yankees batted out of turn twice without the Red Sox protesting in a game that the New Yorkers won, 10-3. Manager Joe McCarthy had revised his lineup and the players did not bat in the order on the official lineup handed to the umpires. In the top of the first inning there were two outs when both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig walked. Ben Chapman then batted ahead of Bill Dickey and loaded the bases with an infield single. Dickey then came to the plate out of turn and singled to center scoring Ruth and Gehrig. Pitcher Rube Walberg then threw the ball into center field trying to pick off Chapman at second and both runners advanced one bag. Tony Lazzeri then singled to center scoring both runners. If the Red Sox had protested when either Chapman or Dickey hit out of turn, none of the four runs would have scored in the inning. Chapman and Dickey again batted out of turn the second time through the lineup but without any damage done. In the fifth inning, Gehrig walked and Chapman, again out of turn, struck out. Then Dickey batted out of turn and singled. Finally the Red Sox noticed and protested the batting order. The Yankees then followed the official lineup through the end of the game.

7/27/1935 - In the first game of two at Wrigley Field, the Reds started the top of the fifth with the pitcher due up. Instead, the batter at the top of the lineup, short stop Billy Myers, hit instead and singled. According to the next day's Chicago Tribune, the "radio announcers caused quite a commotion in an effort to arouse [manager Charlie] Grimm, but to no avail." Lew Riggs then stepped to the plate and once a pitch had been made to him, it was too late to protest the hit by Myers. Riggs struck out, Myers stole second and Babe Herman singled to left with Myers moving to third. Now Grimm came out to protest the batting out of turn - two batters too late! The Tribune's account said: "Umpire [Cy] Rigler suggested to him that it might aid his pennant drive if he would try reading a rule book." Jim Bottomley then knocked in the run that should not have scored. However, the Cubs swept the double header, so only marginal damage was done by this event.

10/3/1937 - In a double header at Pittsburgh, Woody Jensen led off the lid-lifter for the Pirates and went three for four in the game. In the second game, Jensen led off the bottom of the first inning by flying out. Then Reds manager Bobby Wallace talked with umpire Charlie Moran. Lloyd Waner had been penciled into his usual leadoff position for game two. Moran called Waner out and Jensen, the number two hitter, was told to bat and was put out again. There was no reason for Wallace to speak up since Jensen was already out.

6/4/1939 - In the first game of a doubleheader with Washington visiting St. Louis, the Browns batted out of turn in the second inning. They had made several lineup changes this day in an effort to end their 11-game losing streak and John Berardino mistakenly batted in Joe Glenn's spot. The Senators pointed out the error and Glenn was ruled out, making Berardino the next correct batter. Beradino then made an out. The Browns survived this error and ended their losing streak by sweeping the doubleheader. We would like to find details of Berardino's two plays. Please e-mail the webmaster if you have some information.

4/26/1942 - In a game at Comiskey Park, the White Sox had some difficulties with their batting order. The unofficial batting order, given to the official scorer a few minutes before game time, had Bob Kennedy scheduled to bat sixth and Bud Sketchley to bat seventh. Then came the official batting order as submitted to the umpires and the Indians, showing Sketchley was supposed to bat ahead of Kennedy. The public address announcer, who had supplied the lineup to scorer, corrected his listing and announced the proper order. Kennedy, batting out of order, supplied the third out in the second inning. In the third inning, before Sketchley took his turn at bat, Manager Jimmy Dykes ran out to Umpire Steve Basil and told him that Sketchley was not the proper batter. Sketchley sat and Tom Turner batted since he was listed after Kennedy. The Indians thought (and the scoreboard showed) that Sketchley was called out for batting out of turn, which was not the case since the Pale Hose successfully changed to Turner before Sketchley completed his turn at the plate. Turner doubled to left center and eventually scored. When the second out was recorded in the inning and the Indians saw they needed one more, Cleveland Manager Lou Boudreau argued and then protested the game. The protest was dropped as the Tribe beat Chicago, 3-2.

5/5/1942 - With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Frankie Gustine of the Pirates singled to CF. When Braves manager Casey Stengel pointed out that Stu Martin should have batted, Martin was called out and Gustine taken off the base. While Martin was on the lineup card given to the home plate umpire, Gustine had taken his place in the field when the game started. That made him an unannounced substitution and properly in the lineup. The umpire's ruling thus was incorrect. However, the Pirates should have pointed out that Gustine was the proper batter.

5/1/1943 - In the second game of a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds, the Dodgers batted out of turn in the first inning but discovered the problem themselves. Alex Kampouris batted one spot too early in place of Dee Moore and flew out. Dodger skipper Leo Durocher noticed the mistake and sent Kampouris up again, supposedly in his own place in the lineup. However, once Kampouris batted the next batter should have been Bobo Newsom who was listed after Kampouris. Kampy walked in his second trip to the plate. Brooklyn swept the twin bill by scores of 9-2 and 3-0.

6/25/1943 - In a game in Boston, the Yankees batted out of turn twice. In the top of the third, the New Yorkers had a run across when Joe Gordon doubled in the second run on the inning. Sox manager Joe Cronin came out and told plate umpire Bill Summers that Gordon had batted out of turn. In the initial frame, Gordon had struck out so Cronin wisely let the infraction pass. Gordon was listed seventh on the official batting order but had been listed sixth on the lineup given to the press. The proper batter, Rollie Hemsley, was called out and Nick Etten was returned to the base paths and his run negated. Gordon hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 2 runs each. The contest was eventually called for darkness at 7:50pm after the eleventh inning. Etten's run in the third would have allowed the Yankees to win the game.

5/30/1944 - In the first game of a double header, catcher Spud Davis and pitcher Joe Vitelli were inserted into the game in a double switch in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the top of the eighth, Davis batted in Vitelli's spot and singled. However, when the Dodgers pointed out the mistake, Vitelli was called out and Davis batted again. This time he grounded out.

9/15/1944 - The announced lineup for the White Sox in St. Louis had Eddie Carnett batting fifth and Guy Curtwright following Carnett. However, the official lineup card handed to HP Umpire Joe Rue showed the two players reversed. In the top of the first, Wally Moses singled, Roy Schalk sacrificed Moses to second and Ralph Hodgin flied out. Hal Trosky was walked intentionally and Carnett singled to left, scoring Moses. On the throw home, Hodgin advanced to third and Carnett to second. Browns manager Luke Sewell talked to umpire Rue, with the latter calling out Curtwright and nullifying the run. The Browns won the game, 5 to 1.

5/24/1945 - The Athletics beat the Tigers, 7-2, in a wild game. In the fourth inning, pitcher Al Benton of the Tigers was hit by a line drive by Bobby Estalella. Benton suffered a fractured bone just above the right ankle and was carried off the field. The Philadelphia batting order turned in to umpire Eddie Rommel had Joe Burns batting fourth, Irv Hall fifth and George Kell sixth. However, on the scoreboard Hall and Kell were reversed. Burns struck out to open the bottom of the second inning. Kell, batting out of turn, also struck out. Hall then batted and, when he singled, the Tigers protested that he was out of order. Rommel declared Hall out, which was incorrect according to the rules. The proper batter in this case was Dick Siebert, who followed Kell in the lineup in the seventh spot, and he should have been declared out, not Hall. Rommel further declared that Kell should lead off the third inning, which is also incorrect. Since Siebert was the proper batter, Frankie Hayes (in the eighth spot) should have led off the third inning. Since Rommel had Kell lead off the third inning, it looks as if only five batters made six outs in the first two frames. One result of the confusion is that Kell's strikeout disappeared from the official records. The confusion continued when the Tigers' protest of the game based on Kell was not being the proper lead off batter was denied incorrectly by the AL president.

9/15/1945 - Kermit Wahl of the Reds batted out of turn in the bottom of the second inning and singled to CF. When the mistake was pointed out to HP umpire Bill Stewart, the proper batter, Woody Williams, was called out. The Reds beat the Braves, 2-0, in 1:14 at Crosley Field.

9/23/1945 - The Browns were playing a late-season game in Detroit and were ahead, 5-0, after eight innings. In the top of the ninth, Browns Manager Luke Sewell intentionally skipped pitcher Nels Potter in the batting order. Don Gutteridge stepped to the plate a turn early but made an out so nothing was said by the Tigers. Sewell wanted Potter to have a bit more rest before the bottom of the ninth on the hot day in Michigan and Potter finished the complete game shutout.

9/6/1948 - The Dodgers were in Boston for a doubleheader. In the second game, Bill Salkeld and Mike McCormick of the Braves batted out of order the first two times through the lineup and the Dodgers did not realize it. McCormick was listed in the sixth position and Salkeld the seventh on the lineup handed to the umpires before the game. They produced two runs before the visitors realized there was a problem. In the first inning, Salkeld singled Jeff Heath home after the latter's 2-RBI triple off the centerfield wall. Then in the third inning, Salkeld doubled to right and scored on Sibby Sisti's single to left. After Salkeld made an out in the fifth inning, McCormick singled to left to advance a runner. Brooklyn coach Ray Blades then spoke to the umpires about the batting order and McCormick was called out for batting out of turn. The Braves swept the twin bill with Warren Spahn pitching a 14-inning complete game in the opener to win 2-1 and the second game called in the middle of the seventh due to darkness with the Braves ahead 4-0.

9/16/1949 - The New York Giants were at Wrigley Field to play the Cubs. In the bottom of the tenth inning, the Cubs batted out of turn and, when the Giants did not realize the mistake, the Cubs scored the winning run! The Cubs had runners on first and third with two outs when relief pitcher Bob Rush, in the eighth spot in the order, should have come to the plate. There was a "double switch" after Emil Verban pinch ran for Smoky Burgess in the ninth and remained in the game at second base and in the ninth place in the order. Verban came to the plate to hit ahead of Rush and walked to load the bases. The Giants failed to speak up. Mickey Owen then pinch hit and singled in the winning run. Once a pitch was made to Owen, the Giants lost the ability to speak up about Verban. Due to not complaining about Verban, the #9 hitter, the correct next batter was the #1 hitter, Bob Ramazzotti, so Owen was hitting in the lead off slot. The cellar-dwelling Cubs won, 5-4.

6/24/1950 - The game between the Pirates and Dodgers in Brooklyn was stopped at 11:59 because of a curfew. When the contest was resumed on 8/1, two Pirates players, Dale Coogan and Earl Turner had left the team. Two players (Hank Schenz and George Strickland) replaced them and the bottom of the eighth inning continued. In the top of the ninth, Strickland should have batted but Schenz came to the plate and grounded out. The Dodgers, who won the game 21-12, did not object since the improper batter made an out. One amazing point in all of this is that the Pirates pitcher at the point of the suspension, Vic Lombardi, took the mound again when the game resumed six weeks later! Moreover, the actual batting out of turn took place over a month after the official date of the game.

7/28/1950 - The Cubs played in Brooklyn in a game that started at 8:30pm. After a 30-minute rain delay in the third and another that lasted 1:20 in the eighth, the contest finally ended at 1:21am. The official lineup presented to the umpires by Cubs manager Frank Frisch showed Bob Borkowski batting second and Carmen Mauro third. In the first inning, they batted in reverse order but both made outs. They repeated the process in the fourth inning. However, in the fifth inning of the scoreless game, the Cubs started the scoring. With two out and a run in, Wayne Terwilliger reached on Pee wee Reese's throwing error, scoring the second run for the Cubs. Mauro then singled to left, scoring Roy Smalley. Dodger coach Clyde Sukeforth then pointed out to Umpire Lou Jorda that Mauro was out of order. Borkowski, the proper batter, was called out, the run was nullified and the inning was over. The Cubs eventually won the game, 12-5.

8/1/1951 - In the first game of two at Wrigley Field, the score was tied at one apiece in the top of the seventh inning. The Giants had the bases loaded with no one out after two singles and an intentional walk to catcher Wes Westrum. Davey Williams ran for Westrum, who was hitting in the eighth spot in the lineup. The Giants failed to score in the frame and Williams remained in the game playing second base and Sal Yvars entered the contest to catch and bat in the first slot in the lineup. In the eighth inning, the Giants had a run across with two out and runners on first and second. It was Williams turn to hit but New York manager Leo Durocher insisted to plate umpire Lee Ballanfant that Yvars was the proper batter. Ballanfant correctly did not comment on the idea and allowed Yvars to come to the plate. Since Yvars struck out for the final out of the inning, the Cubs remained quiet about the batting out of order. Chicago scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to win the contest, 3-2.

8/3/1952 - The Yankees were playing a double header against the Browns in St. Louis. In the top of the second in the first game, Gene Woodling, who was the number seven hitter in the order came up in Gil McDougald's number six spot. After Woodling took a ball, the Yankees discovered the mistake and McDougald came up without penalty with the count 1-0. He fouled out.

8/24/1952 - After losing the first game of a doubleheader, the Philadelphia Athletics started the second game confused. Eddie Joost struck out and Ferris Fain doubled to left. Dave Philley then walked although he was listed in the fifth spot in the order not third. Gus Zernial doubled, bringing White Sox manager Paul Richards out of the dugout. According to the official lineup, Cass Michaels followed Philley. After a 15-minute delay while the umpires read the rule book, Michaels was declared out and Zernial's double was eliminated. However, the Athletics still won the game, 5-1.

7/24/1953 - The Cardinals were in Philadelphia and manager Eddie Stanky turned in a lineup card with the first three batters listed as Solly Hemus, Stanky and Stan Musial. However as the game started the Redbirds followed the lineup as posted in the dugout. Stanky batted and struck out. Then Hemus singled and as Musial came to the plate Phillies skipper Steve O'Neill spoke with plate Umpire Bill Jackowski. The single by Hemus was nullified and Musial declared out. Musial later stole home for the Redbirds only run of the game as two Granny Hamner homers defeated the Cards, 2-1.

8/21/1953 - The Cardinals hit out of turn for the second time in less than a month. Playing at home against Cincinnati, the Redbirds went down in order in the first inning. Ray Jablonski was due up to start the second but Steve Bilko batted one slot early in the order. After Bilko grounded out, the Cardinals discovered the error and told the umpires who declared Jablonski out. Then Bilko hit again in his proper place and homered for the game's first run. The Cards won, 4-0.

8/4/1954 - In the top of the second in the game in Pittsburgh, the Reds batted out of order as Roy McMillan, the number eight hitter, batted instead of Ed Bailey in the number seven spot. He made an out to end the inning, so the Pirates did not say anything. Bailey came up to lead off the top of third when the proper hitter would have been the Reds pitcher. Bailey made an out, so again the Pirates kept quiet. The Reds discovered the mistake, and in the fifth and later the two batted in the correct order.

8/13/1954 - In a 16-inning game in which the home-standing White Sox beat the Tigers, 1-0, substitute first-sacker Wayne Belardi batted out of turn. Reno Bertoia pinch ran for fifth-place hitting first baseman Walt Dropo in the thirteenth inning and stayed in the game playing second base. Belardi entered the game in the eighth spot at that time. In the fifteenth inning after fourth-place hitter Ray Boone had walked with one out, Belardi came to the plate in Bertoia's spot and fouled out to the catcher. Detroit realized their mistake and sent Belardi up again the next inning and he successfully sacrificed catcher Red Wilson to second base. Both pitchers, Al Aber for Detroit and Jack Harshman for Chicago, pitched complete games.

6/9/1961 - The Los Angeles Angels were playing a doubleheader at Fenway Park. The Angels lineup for game two had Ken Hamlin batting first and Gene Leek eighth. However, Leek started the game by grounding out and the Red Sox did not comment. The next batter should have been the ninth-place hitter, pitcher Ryne Duren. However, Lee Thomas came to the plate and singled to left. At this point the Sox again did not comment. Leon Wagner, properly following Thomas, singled to right driving advancing Thomas to third. At this point, Boston could not protest the batter since Wagner was the correct one. Thomas scored on a ground out by the next batter, Ken Hunt. In the second inning, sixth place hitter Ken Aspromonte led off with a single and the seventh batter, Steve Bilko, was called out on strikes. Leek should have hit now but Hamlin strode to the plate and beat out an infield hit. The Red Sox now point the improper batter to the umpires and Leek, the proper batter, is called out. The Angels follow the correct lineup for the rest of the game and go on to beat the Red Sox, 5-1.

7/6/1962 - In the top of the second inning with two outs, seventh-place hitter Mack Jones was the scheduled batter for the Braves. However, Del Crandall, eighth on the lineup sheet, strode to the plate and walked. Pitcher Bob Hendley should be the next batter but now Jones came to the plate. After Jones singled, the Cubs protested the order of the batters. The umpires ruled Hendley out and disallowed Jones' single. The Braves went on to win the contest, 5-3, on Eddie Mathews' 2-run homer in the tenth inning.

9/24/1964 - The Cubs official lineup showed Ernie Banks playing first base and batting fifth. John Boccabella started the game in his place and grounded out in the second and fourth innings. However, in the sixth Ron Santo tripled and so did Boccabella, scoring Santo. The Dodgers manager Walter Alston then protested the batting order. Boccabella's triple was nullified and Santo placed back at third. Ernie Banks was deemed to be the proper batter and was called out and given a time at bat. However, this was an incorrect ruling by crew chief Frank Secory. According to rule 3.08(a)(3), Boccabella became the first baseman and the proper fifth place batter when he took the field in the top of the first inning as an unannounced substitute. Therefore, it was incorrect to remove Boccabella's triple and to charge Banks with a time at bat. Boccabella finished the game at first base, collecting a single in the eighth inning. The Cubs won with a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning thanks to three walks, an error and Santo's sacrifice fly. The final score was 4-3.

6/27/1967 - The Pirates were playing at Shea Stadium. In the top of the first, they sent six batters to the plate. Maury Wills and Manny Mota both singled and moved up on a wild pitch. Roberto Clemente grounded out, driving in Wills and Donn Clendenon also grounded with Mota remaining at third. After Bill Mazeroski walked, Gene Alley came to the plate and grounded out to the pitcher. Alley batted ahead of Jose Pagan, the proper batter, but since he made an out the Mets said nothing. In the third inning, Mota reached on his second bunt hit of the game and Clemente was called out on strikes. Both Clendenon and Mazeroski singled to left with Mota scoring on the latter's safety. Alley again batted out of turn and hit into a force play at second moving Clendenon to third. After Pagan hit a 2-RBI double, the proper batter, Jim Pagliaroni, was called out. Pagan's plate appearance was eliminated, along with the two runs. The Mets were leading at the time by the final score of 5-2.

4/13/1969 - The White Sox were in Seattle playing the Pilots with the Pale Hose leading 11-1 after three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, the Pilots staged a rally, scoring four runs. During the inning, Sox manager Al Lopez replaced his battery but placed new hurler Wilbur Wood in the fifth spot in the order where the catcher had been and the new catcher, Duane Josephson, in the ninth spot. In the top of the fifth, the eighth-place hitter, Woody Held, reached second on an infield error. Then Wood mistakenly went to the plate instead of Josephson. Wood successfully sacrificed Held to third base and the lead-off hitter, Buddy Bradford, followed. The White Sox continued this error in the next inning when the fifth spot in the lineup came up. Josephson hit with a runner on first base and grounded into a double play. In the seventh, Josephson hit again in his proper ninth spot and they continued to bat in the correct order for the remainder of the game, which was won by the White Sox , 12-7.

5/28/1969 - For the second time in their new life, the Seattle Pilots were involved in a batting out of order situation. This time, the Pilots were the ones that were confused. The Orioles were in town and Pilots' skipper Joe Schultz changed the lineup after submitting it to the umpires. The revised lineup had differences in the second through sixth spots, including one player substitution. Here are the two lineups.

Official              Revised
Harper, 2B            Harper, 2B
Hegan, RF             Simpson, CF
Davis, LF             Comer, RF
Mincher, 1B           Davis, LF
Comer, CF             Gil, 3B
Gil, 3B               Hegan, 1B
McNertney, C          McNertney, C
Oyler, SS             Oyler, SS
Marshall, P           Marshall, P

After Start of Game
Harper
Hegan
Davis
Simpson
Comer
Gil
McNertney
Oyler
Marshall

The Pilots batted in the revised, incorrect order into the fifth inning. In the bottom of the first, Dick Simpson walked and stole second but was left stranded there by Wayne Comer and Tommy Davis. In the second inning, Gus Gil struck out and Mike Hegan grounded out. Jerry McNertney singled and scored when Ray Oyler homered. McNertney was out of order but Oyler was not so the homer could not be protested and the score was now 4-2 Orioles. In the third, after Tommy Harper walked, the next three batters all made outs. In the fourth inning, the only damage was another single by McNertney. In the fifth, the Pilots had runners on first and second and no one out. It was time for the second place hitter to bat. Simpson (out of order) struck out and then Comer flew out (in the correct spot after Simpson). Davis, the third-place hitter now batting in the sixth spot following Comer, doubled in both runners and Earl Weaver protested that Davis was out of order. Baltimore was ahead 9-2 at the time. Gil was the proper batter at the time but the umpires declared Simpson the proper batter and called him out for the second time in the inning and the second time in three batters. The official order was followed to the end of the game, which was won by the Orioles, 9-5.

5/22/1972 - The Texas Rangers batted out of order in the bottom of the 10th inning against Chicago. Texas had made a double switch an inning earlier when Paul Lindblad entered the game as the new pitcher and Don Mincher went to first base. Evidently Rangers manager Ted Williams did not notify the umpire, who therefore recorded the substitutions in the same batting order slot as the previous players at the same defensive position. This is usually referred to as 'straight up.'  Thus when Mincher batted in the ninth spot in the 10th inning he was out of order. Lindblad was called out with Toby Harrah as the runner on first and then Elliott Maddox struck out to end the game, with the White Sox winning 7-6.

6/9/1972 - The Braves Marty Perez made the last out of the top of the sixth, but he came up to start the seventh. Phillies catcher Tim McCarver proved to be too clever as he pointed out the incorrect batter to the home plate umpire after the first pitch, which was a ball. He did not realize that until the incorrect batter's plate appearance is over, the team can replace that batter with the proper one or a pinch hitter. The Braves sent up Jim Breazeale in place of Perez as a pinch hitter for the pitcher, who was the correct batter. Breazeale inherited a 1-0 count, but struck out. This was not the first time a team did not understand the rules in order to take advantage of them. If Perez had finished his at bat and made an out, the Phillies could have accepted the play. Most likely Breazeale would have come up as a pinch hitter, which would have been correct since the Perez play would have reset the lineup. The effect would have been to have Perez, a "good field, no hit" shortstop bat an extra time, which would have delayed the top of the order coming up by a batter. It turned out not to matter since the Braves did not score in the last three innings and the Phillies won the game 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the eighth.

9/16/1972 - Dwight Evans made his major league debut in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians when he pinch ran for Reggie Smith. The Red Sox were leading at the time, 9-0 and Cecil Cooper had already been placed in the game as a pinch runner for Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz was batting third and Smith fourth in the original lineup. In the top of the seventh, both Cooper and Evans stayed in the game and three other defensive replacements were made by manager Eddie Kasko. With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Evans batted in Cooper's spot but flew out. No protest was made by the Indians. The next legal batter should have been Phil Gagliano but Cooper came to the plate and also made an out to end the inning and the Sox went on to win 10-0. Thus, Dwight Evans' first major league plate appearance was out of order!

5/15/1974 - The Giants skipped a batter in the eighth inning. In the sixth inning, Bobby Bonds pinch-hit for the pitcher. He stayed in the game in the ninth spot in the order and the new pitcher batted in the first spot. The next time around the order, Bonds homered and Tito Fuentes hit for the pitcher. Mike Phillips should have batted next but Garry Maddox, the number three hitter, came to the plate instead and made an out. The Reds said nothing in this case and eventually won the game, 4-3.

5/16/1975 - Royals manager Jack McKeon made out several lineup cards before the game. The official one he gave to the home plate umpire had George Brett hitting second and Amos Otis batting third. The one shown on the scoreboard and the one the Royals followed had Otis second, Hal McRae third, and Brett down in the sixth spot. The Royals followed that order the entire game because the Red Sox never checked the one they had been given when the lineup cards were exchanged. In the top of the third, they could have had at least two runs erased had they been paying attention. With runners on first and third and one out, Otis came up in the number two spot and hit a single to left that resulted in two runs after an error. At that point, the Red Sox could have protested and Brett would have been called out with Otis batting again, this time with two outs. The Royals scored three in the inning and won the game 5-2.

6/9/1975 - The Twins were playing the Indians in Cleveland and Minnesota manager Frank Quilici gave the wrong lineup to the Press Box and evidently to the players. Dan Ford, Danny Thompson and Glenn Borgmann were listed officially as batting seventh, eighth and ninth. However, Ford and Thompson batted in reverse order until the ninth inning. In the first, Thompson made the last out of the inning. Ford and Borgmann, who was also out of order now, both grounded out to start the second. In the fourth, Thompson singled but no runs scored in the inning. Thompson popped out to end the fifth. Ford tripled to start the sixth and eventually scored but Cleveland manager Frank Robinson did not object. In the seventh and eighth innings, all three batters made outs. In the ninth inning, the Twins finally batted in the proper order. Ford and Thompson both hit run-producing groundouts. The Twins won in the eleventh inning, 11-10, when Thompson drove in the game-winner with a single to center field. The Twins batted out of order four times and in the correct order twice in the game.

4/29/1977 - In a game in San Diego, the Mets batted out of order through the whole game. The lineup featured Roy Staiger batting sixth, John Stearns seventh and Bud Harrelson eighth. This was a change from recent games when Stearns was sixth and Staiger seventh and the two batted this way four times in a row. In the first inning, Stearns hit into an inning-ending double play. Staiger made an out and Harrelson singled in the second (both batting out of turn). Stearns led off the fourth with a home run but the Padres said nothing. Both Staiger and Harrelson made outs, again out of order. In the fifth, Stearns and Staiger were both out but Harrelson started the sixth by reaching on an infield error. With two out in the seventh, Stearns walked and Staiger singled him to third. However, the Padres finally spoke up and the umpires incorrectly declared Staiger out instead of Harrelson, who led off the eighth inning. Even with all the batting changes, the Mets won the game, 9-2.

4/22/1980 - In the bottom of the second inning, the Mariners' Bill Stein and Joe Simpson batted out of order, both reached base and yet nothing was said. With one out, Simpson doubled to left and then Stein was hit by a pitch. Larry Cox singled to right filling the bases but pinch hitter Leon Roberts grounded into a double play to end the inning and the threat. Seattle scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat Oakland, 5-4.

4/27/1980 - In the top of the first at Milwaukee's County Stadium, there were two out and a runner on first when Roy Howell walked. However, Otto Velez had been the scheduled batter and when the Brewers objected, Velez was called out to end the inning. Toronto won the game, 8-2.

5/4/1980 - The Dodgers were visiting Philadelphia and the top of the first inning was not Dallas Green's best day on the way to the World Series championship. Davey Lopes singled and Rudy Law reached on an infield error. After Reggie Smith popped out, Law stole second base. Steve Garvey reached on an infield single, scoring the first run of the game. Dusty Baker then hit into a force out leaving runners on first and third but had batted out of turn. Green came out and pointed out the fact that the proper batter had not hit. Thus Ron Cey was called out, the runners restored to their previous bases and Baker batted again. This time he hit a three-run homer to left. Green now was very upset saying that Baker should not have batted believing according to newspaper accounts that Baker's force out should count and Cey should be ruled out . He was ejected from the game and protested the game. The protest was denied as the rules were followed correctly. The incorrect decision was Green's when he did not take the out on Baker's first trip to the plate. The Dodgers eventually won the game 12-10.

7/4/1982 - The Yankees were playing in Cleveland. In the first inning, they had the bases loaded and one run in when Roy Smalley batted in Graig Nettles' place. Smalley flew out to end the inning and nothing was said by the Indians. New York won the game, 3-2.

6/27/1983 - The Mariners got away with one in this game in the Kingdome against the White Sox. After sixth-place batter Al Cowens flew out to start the second inning, Dave Henderson, who was listed in the eighth spot, also flew out. Then the player listed seventh in the lineup, Jamie Allen, came to the plate and walked. Tony LaRussa said nothing and no runs were scored in the inning. However, the second time through the lineup the Mariners' hitters batted in the correct order and every one made an out. It was the third time through the lineup in the sixth inning that LaRussa complained. Cowens and Allen both made outs and then Henderson, hitting in the correct spot, singled to center. The protest was now made unsuccessfully since the Mariners were following the lineup card order. Seattle scored two runs in the inning to tie the game at 4-4 but eventually lost, 7-4.

6/27/1988 - Cincinnati manager Pete Rose turned in a different lineup to the umpires than he was using in the dugout. The official lineup had Kal Daniels in left field batting third. However, when the team took the field to start the game, Dave Collins trotted out to left field thereby becoming a substitute in the lineup. Daniels was now out of the game. In the bottom of the first, Barry Larkin walked and then Collins, who was in the third slot, batted instead of the second hitter, Chris Sabo. When Collins popped out, the Padres said nothing. Now the next batter should have been the fourth-place hitter, Eric Davis, but Sabo came to the plate. When he reached on an error, the Padres noted the lineup problem and Davis was called out . The Reds lost the game, 9-2.

8/10/1989 - Oakland's Tony Phillips had a fun day at the plate even though he did not get a hit in this game at Comiskey Park. Phillips was listed in the eighth spot in the batting order. In the top of the second inning, he batted in the seventh place instead of Ron Hassey and grounded out to end the inning. Evidently the Athletics realized this mistake and tried to take corrective action to start the third inning. Instead of properly continuing on with the ninth-place hitter, Mike Gallego, Oakland sent up the eighth-place hitter (Phillips again!) thinking that was the correct action after the "seventh" batter had ended the previous inning. This time he walked. The White Sox did not protest the action but Phillips was left stranded at third base when the inning ended. When that part of the lineup came around again in the fourth inning, the Athletics batted in the proper order and scored two runs. They won the game, 4-1.

8/27/1989 - Astros manager Art Howe attempted to change his lineup a couple of hours before the game. He wanted Alex Trevino in the second spot and Rafael Ramirez in the eighth spot. Howe told coach Matt Galante to make the switch. Galante changed the lineup card for the dugout but Howe failed to change the lineup card given to the umpires. In the bottom of the first, Trevino singled with one out in the number two spot. Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog then pointed out that Trevino batted out of turn according to the official lineup. This resulted in the second out of the inning. According to the rules, Ramirez (the proper batter) was out. However, the umpires then allowed Ramirez to bat. He flied out, apparently ending the inning. Then Herzog talked with the umpires again about an incorrect batter, this time Ramirez. After a few minutes of discussion, the umpires put the Cardinals back on the field and made Kevin Bass, the number three hitter, bat. He struck out to end the inning. The Astros had lost the previous five games but beat the Redbirds, 6-3. Ken Caminiti said: "Everybody in the dugout was laughing'We knew we had hit rock bottom when we couldn't even bat in the right order."

9/23/1989 - The Blue Jays skipped a batter in the middle of this game in Milwaukee. After going through the order twice, Ernie Whitt's third plate appearance was a ground out to end the fifth inning. Tony Fernandez should have led off the sixth but Kelly Gruber batted instead of his partner on the left side of the infield. After Gruber flew out no protest was raised. Fernandez never came to the plate in that turn through the lineup and finished the game with three plate appearances as Toronto lost, 4-1.

8/31/1993 - In the bottom of the first inning, the Rockies reversed the third and fourth hitters in the lineup. Andres Galarraga batted instead of Dante Bichette and grounded out to end the inning. Bichette then led off the second with an infield single and eventually scored the first Rockies run. The Expos did not protest and eventually won the game 14-3. Bichette had four hits in four at bats in the game while Galarraga went zero for four.

9/26/1993 - In the second game of the doubleheader, the Pirates were not clear about their batting order against the Cubs. In the bottom of the first, the first five players batted in order. The fifth-place hitter, Al Martin, knocked in the game's only run with an infield single. The scoreboard listed Tom Foley batting sixth, Tom Prince seventh and Rich Aude eighth. The correct order was Aude, Foley and Prince. When Foley batted in Aude's spot and grounded out, the Cubs properly did nothing. Aude led off the second, which matched neither lineup, and singled to center. The Cubs then talked to the umpires about the batting order. Aude was taken off the bases and Prince was declared out. In spite of the difficulties, the Pirates won the game, 1-0.

5/21/1994 - The Reds worked with two different lineups in this game. The official version had Brian Dorsett hitting seventh and Bret Boone eighth. However, the lineup posted in the dugout reversed them. Boone led off the bottom of the second out of order by grounding out. Then Dorsett walked, also out of order. Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda talked with umpire Jerry Crawford. Dorsett was told to return to the dugout and pitcher John Roper, the ninth hitter, was ruled out. Reds manager Dave Johnson protested because he did not understand the rules. He thought Dorsett was out and Roper should bat. He did, however, take the blame for the mix-up. Lasorda protested for the same reason: lack of understanding. He thought that Boone should have been the next batter. The umpires ruled this situation correctly and Roper was given a time at bat with an automatic putout for the catcher. Lasorda eventually dropped his protest as the Dodgers won, 6-4.

5/2/1995 The Mets game in Montreal produced a comedy of errors. This was the first home game of the season for Montreal and their sixth overall. There were substitute umpires working major league games to start this season since the regular arbiters were locked out by the owners. When Luis Aquino and Cliff Floyd entered the game in the top of the sixth, the home plate umpire, Don January, incorrectly decided that Aquino was batting fifth and Floyd ninth. When Floyd came to bat in the #5 slot, Mets' manager Dallas Green told January that the Expos were batting out of order. Expos manager Felipe Alou claimed he had Floyd fifth and Aquino ninth and that January made the mistake. Alou was ejected. January then allowed Floyd to bat and ground out, despite knowing that he was not the proper batter. Then January called Aquino out for not batting in order and sent the runner back (that, at least, was the right call.) After calling Aquino out, the next batter should be the one in the sixth spot, Sean Berry. However, January decided that Aquino should bat now. He singled to left and then Berry ended the inning with a ground out. Thus, Aquino had two at bats in one time through the batting order. Despite this confusion the Expos won, 9-6.

7/7/1996 - On the last day before the All-Star break, the Milwaukee Brewers' Matt Mieske batted out of turn in the top of the second inning at Yankee Stadium. The lineup posted in the dugout was different than the one given to the umpires. After John Jaha led off the inning by doubling to right-center, Mieske singled to right, moving Jaha to third. When Yankee skipper Joe Torre talked with the umpires, Jose Valentin, the proper batter, was called out. Mieske then batted again and flew out to right. The Brewers beat the Yankees, 4-1.

6/2/1997 - The Tigers used two different lineups in their game in Oakland. Brian Hunter led off the game with a triple to right. Then Damion Easley grounded out to first with Hunter scoring on the play. However, Art Howe pointed out that Bobby Higginson was the proper second batter so he was called out and Hunter placed back at third base. In the press box it was announced that the ground out with the first baseman getting an assist and the pitcher getting the putout would stand as the play. However, according to rule 10.03(d) this is not correct. The complete play included the run scoring, which is why Howe objected. In this case, the play should have been an automatic putout for the catcher not the groundout that occurred. The lost run did not affect the Tigers as Hunter scored when the next batter, Melvin Nieves, drove him in with a sacrifice fly. The Tigers beat Oakland, 8-7.

8/8/1998 - In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Giants' Shawon Dunston pinch hit for Ellis Burks in the second spot in the order and ended the inning with a strikeout. In the top of the sixth inning, manager Dusty Baker made five substitutions in his lineup, including leaving Dunston in the game. New players went into the third through fifth spots in the order. Stan Javier started the bottom of the sixth properly and was out. Then Joe Carter and Rich Aurilia got confused and Aurilia batted out of turn. He walked, Carter flew out and then Bill Mueller, who had been in the game, walked. By now it was too late for the Braves (ahead 10-2) to say anything, if they actually knew there was a problem. With all the changes, they might not have realized Aurilia batted out of turn. The Giants scored three runs in the inning but lost the game 14-6. Carter and Aurilia hit in the proper order the next time around the lineup in the seventh inning.

8/14/2002 - The Tigers were batting in the top of the second inning in their first time through the order of their game in Anaheim. They started with the fifth player in the lineup, Carlos Pena, who doubled. After that both Wendell Magee and Shane Halter made outs. The next scheduled hitter (eighth in the lineup) was Brandon Inge but Chris Truby (ninth) came to the plate. Truby struck out to end the inning so The Angels said nothing. The Tigers then started the next inning in the proper place with the top of the order and Inge hit in the proper place for the rest of the game. The Tigers lost the game, 5-4.

8/16/2003 - The Yankees were playing at Camden Yards in Baltimore. In the bottom of the first inning, the Orioles had runners on second and third with one out. It was Jay Gibbons turn to bat but Tony Batista came to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly. Gibbons then grounded out to end the inning. Since the Yankees said nothing about the batting out of turn, the second inning should have started with Batista hitting again. However, Brook Fordyce popped out to start the inning. The Orioles batted correctly for the rest of the game. With that run in the first, the teams ended the ninth inning tied and the Yankees won in 12 innings, 5-4.

9/5/2003 - The Brewers' Bill Hall started to bat out of order in the bottom of the second inning against the Cubs but did not complete the plate appearance.  Hall was listed eighth in the batting order but came to the plate in the seventh spot the first time through the order. He took the first pitch for a ball before the mistake was rectified. Keith Osik took his proper place at the plate, and despite being spotted ball one, struck out on five more pitches.  Hall then popped out to end the inning. The Cubs won, 4-2.

4/16/2004 - In the top of the seventh inning, Cubs manager Dusty Baker intended to place two new players in the lineup with a double switch but failed to tell Umpire C.B. Bucknor. When the Cubs batted in the bottom of the inning, shortstop Ramon Martinez came to the plate in the ninth spot in the order and doubled. The Reds protested that the Cubs were batting out of order. Pitcher Kent Mercker, the proper batter, was called out. Baker argued with the umpires but was told that the call stood. Yelling & screaming, he tossed his lineup card on the ground and was ejected by Bucknor. Baker threw his hat, walked away and returned; he tossed his hat again, stomped to the dugout and kicked some items in the on deck circle before finally leaving the field. The Cubs won in the bottom of the ninth, 11-10, when Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou hit back-to-back homers to end the game. When Baker arrived home that day, his son called him "Mad Dog."

7/1/2005 - Kansas City manager Buddy Bell delivered a different lineup to the umpires than was posted in the dugout. In the bottom of the first inning, David DeJesus led off with a single. Angels manager Mike Scioscia then spoke with plate arbiter Jerry Crawford about the batting order. Since Angel Berroa was listed as hitting first on the official lineup card, he was called out and DeJesus was told to bat again. This time he hit a fly ball to centerfield for the second out.

9/1/2007 - Toronto had two different lineups, one posted in the clubhouse and one handed to the umpires. The latter, which is the one that counts, showed Aaron Hill batting sixth, Lyle Overbay batting seventh, Gregg Zaun eighth and John McDonald ninth. Overbay batted in Hill's spot in the second inning and made an out. Then Hill doubled but the Mariners pointed out the mistake. Here is where is got interesting. The umpires huddled and then called Hill out for batting out of order. Then Zaun was allowed to bat. The correct call would be that the proper batter (Zaun) should have been declared out and then the hitter after him (McDonald) would be the next batter. Thus, in this case, Hill should have been skipped entirely. The concept of skipping someone in the lineup is difficult for people to grasp but is the correct sequence here.

5/11/2008 - In the top of the ninth, after a double switch, the Reds batted out of order when David Ross hit in Corey Patterson's spot. Ross flew out to right and then Mets Manager Willie Randolph told the umpires about the issue. Patterson was called out instead of Ross and Ross batted again and singled. Randolph should have taken the out and kept quiet.

5/20/2009 - The Brewers were playing in Houston. In the bottom of the first inning, Michael Bourn batted first and singled to right. Brewers manager Ken Macha came out to talk with HP umpire Eric Cooper and pointed out that Kazuo Matsui was listed first on the lineup card. Matsui was called out and it was Bourn's turn to hit. This time, Bourn walked and scored when Lance Berkman doubled. The Astros won despite the flub, 6-4.

6/19/2010 - The Rays were playing the Marlins in an Inter-League contest in South Florida. To start the top of the ninth, the Marlins made three defensive changes. In the bottom of the frame, Brian Barden came to the plate to start the inning and walked on a 3-2 count. Rays manager Joe Madden talked with HP umpire Lance Barksdale about the Marlins hitting out of order. Because Barden batted out of turn Barksdale made him leave first base and the proper batter, Wes Helms, was called out with an automatic putout to the catcher. Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez came out and argued for a long time with Barksdale, who ejected Gonzalez. There was a long discussion between Gonzalez, Barksdale and crew chief Tom Hallion. After the game, Gonzalez insisted that Barksdale did not correctly write down what Gonzalez said were the batting positions for the substitutes.

7/6/2013 - There was confusion concerning the Giants batting order in a game against the Dodgers. In the bottom of the first inning, the Giants had a runner on 3B and one out when Buster Posey hit an RBI-double to the RF corner. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly spoke to HP umpire Tony Randazzo, saying that Posey was listed fourth and Pedro Sandoval should have been the batter. Sandoval was ruled out, the runner went back to third, and Posey came back to the plate to bat in his proper spot, making the third out of the inning and wiping a run off the board for the Giants.

9/4/2013 - In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Rangers made a few lineup changes. Geovany Soto entered the game as the catcher and batted sixth while Engel Beltre entered the game as the new right fielder and batted fifth. Previously, the right fielder had been batting sixth and the catcher fifth. In the top of the ninth, Soto batted in his proper spot and homered. Beltre then came to the plate out of turn (he was before Soto not after) and struck out. Then Soto's spot was skipped and Jeff Baker struck out (out of turn). Jurickson Profar then struck out to end the game.

7/4/2016 - In the top of the first during the 11AM contest in the Nation's Capital, Brewers' left fielder Ryan Braun singled up the middle with two out. Nationals manager Dusty Baker spoke with HP Umpire Cory Blaser, pointing out that Jonathan Lucroy was the scheduled batter in that spot according to the lineup card. Lucroy was called out to end the inning.

8/25/2017 - Although it was not actually a case of batting out of turn, the Red Sox had an amazing mistake in the 9th inning of their 16-3 loss to Baltimore on August 25, 2017. As is often the custom in such lopsided contests, the Red Sox put a position player on the mound in the top of the 9th. In this case, it was Mitch Moreland, who had played first base the entire game to this point. The Red Sox lost the DH for the remainder of the game and the new first baseman, Hanley Ramirez, entered the game in the 7th spot in the batting order, formerly occupied by DH Chris Young. They made no other changes. Moreland did well in his one inning as pitcher, allowing no runs on two hits and even collecting a strikeout.

The trouble occurred in the home 9th. The first batter was Rafael Devers, batting in the 6th spot. He made an out and the proper next batter was Ramirez. However, Chris Young came to the plate and singled - even though he was no longer in the game! Because this was an illegal reentry and not an improper batter, the umpires should have noticed it and not allowed it. No one appeared to notice - not the umpires or either team. Since it was a 16-3 game with two outs to go, it is likely that Ramirez had not even thought about where he was batting. As for DH Young, he simply followed Devers to the plate as he had all night. The official remedy is to call Young a pinch-hitter for Ramirez, which causes all the official totals to come out right.

5/9/2018 - In a game in Cincinnati, the Mets gave a lineup card to the home plate umpire that was not the same as the one they posted in the dugout. The official one had Astrubal Cabrera hitting second and Wilmer Flores third, but the one in the dugout had them in the reverse order. In the top of the first, Brandon Nimmo led off and struck out. Flores came up next, out of order, and also fanned. Naturally, the Reds did not object. Cabrera then hit a ground rule double. When Jay Bruce, the #4 hitter on both lineup cards came up, the Reds pointed out that Bruce should have hit after Flores because an accepted out of turn play resets the position in the lineup, and Bruce followed Flores on the umpire's card. Bruce, the correct batter was called out, and Cabrera's double was eliminated effectively meaning that Cabrera did not bat in the first inning. Adrian Gonzalez, the #5 hitter, correctly led off in the top of the second and singled. The Reds asked about it, and the umpire ruled properly that the single stood. For the rest of the game, Cabrera batted in the #2 slot as he should have in the first.