It is certainly fair that Merkle not be blamed for doing something that was common practice at the time.
My objection is toward the Giants and their fans who can't accept that they lost because Johhny Evers found a way within the rules to get an advantage on them. Evers was the first to think of this technicality, but that doesn't make it a new rule or even a new interpretation. The rule had never been enforce in a manner inconsistant with this result. No one had noticed that a run could be prevented in this manner prior to Evers figuring this out.
Evers simply came up with an idea within the rules. There is always someone who comes up with an idea for the first time. As an example, consider the double-switch. Someone was the first to use it. That doesn't make it unfair. That just makes this unknown (at least by me) manager very clever.I salute him the same way I salute Evers. They found a way to gain an advantage within the rules. Good for them.
