Keith Olberman on Fred Merkle's boner, 105 years later

[bmarlowe1]

While I agree with both the kudos and sympathy directed towards Merkle, I’m less than impressed with Olbermann’s hyperbolic rant.

With respect to the Sep. 4 Cubs-Pirates game, he says that Gil ran to the outfield clubhouse to get away from fans – as if he knows this for sure. It’s possible, but I don’t think we know that for sure. Considering the mere 3-4 seconds or so it takes to run from 1st base with a leadoff to second base, I’m not convinced. If fans were a problem, it seems like running back to the dugout would be a better choice than heading for the outfield clubhouse. Was this a factor for Merkle – who knows? Snodgrass much later claimed it was, but I wouldn’t call him an unbiased observer.

There was no mention of Pulliam’s decision on the Cubs official protest of the Sep 4 game (the Doc Gill game). Umpire O’Day said that in that game, he did not see Evers touch second while holding the ball, therefore the run counted. Pulliam’s decision on the protest supported the umpire stating that only O’Day could say whether or not there was a force out of Gill at second base – other witness evidence could not be considered. He went on, “The umpire in this case, by allowing the winning run, ruled that there was no force at second, because if there had been the run would not have scored.” Pulliam has been criticized for not further emphasizing this last critical point which is generally claimed to have been counter to usual practice – though I wonder how often it actually came up.

Oblermann drones on, “..changing the rules in the middle of the game – that’s what the Cubs did to Fred Merkle.” That’s just ludicrous. The Cubs did nothing to Fred Merkle. Evers made a smart play on Sep 4, and an even a smarter play on Sep 23.

In any case – even if Pulliam would have decided in favor of the Giants, that doesn’t mean the Giants would have won the pennant. Everyone’s mindset after that point would have been different, and all subsequent game results would be up for grabs. Though Merkle would have been spared decades of unjustified ridicule, the end result of the pennant race in that case is not knowable.