A Question for the SABR Folks

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

First off, at the risk of repeating an often expressed sentiment, thanks to all the board members who jumped into the fray with help on this. Amazing the breadth and depth of resources here!

Unfortunately, no smoking gun yet.

I did hear from the author of the book and while he didn't commit one way or the other, he did say he would look further. Some of his response is below:

...Regarding John Roach, got it from one of the sources listed in the bibliography. Know Roach lost the game 17 to something. Originally didn't have him in the list, then ran across a list from a solid source that had him. Need to look that game up.....Thanks for writing, and if I find out anything, I'll e-mail you. You also need to remember one other thing that some SABR members don't seem to understand. Accounts of a game can vary. A New York paper might not carry the report of Roach pitching with both hands, while another paper did. It doesn't mean he didn't, it just means that one paper reported it, and another didn't. I've seen this happen time and again in my Louisville baseball research....

While I agree in principle with Mr. Von Borries emphatic "maybe," another fact supplied by board member Brian Scantland seems pretty damning. Have a look:

"...Accounts in eight papers of the May 14, 1887 Giants game. They were the New York Times, Herald, Tribune, World, Sun, and Evening Sun, and the Philadelphia Press and Inquirer. None mentioned Roach switch-pitching.

OK, so maybe one paper didn't make mention of it, but eight? If I had to vote right now, I'd be voting negatively.