1918 Ticket - who got it wrong?

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Still confusing. I take it then that when make up games were played you did not and perhaps could not use a ticket number other than what had been held as a prior rained-out game?
For the seller's reasoning to prevail, the original schedule would have looked like this:
HOME:
1. NY
2. NY
3. NY
4. PHI
5. PHI
6. PHI
7. PHI
8. PHI
ROAD for 10 games
HOME again
9. Bos
10. Bos
11. Bos---ticket used for game 11, even if two were rained out
12. Cle
13. Cle

So they had a 5 game set with Philly at the beginning of the year, with two rained out? Or was one or more of the rainouts just made up right away? I don't know, certainly could be. It just seems odd to have a five game series, but hey, maybe that's how they rolled back then.

Hi Todd,
The ticket patron would use ticket 11 for the 11th game on the original scheduled game of the year at Wash (date is 5/9/18 vs. BOS on original schedule). regardless of what occurred prior to that. As it was, there were two dates that were not played on the schedule due to inclement weather- Game #4 4/18/18 Rain out & Game 6 4/20/18- Rain out.

I hope this helps clarify.

This is even more clear because this occurred early in the 1918 season

[nolemmings]

So humor me please . Suppose that Philly set was only three games, and two were washed out but immediately made up in the next two days. Tickets 4 and 6 are considered spent, even though those games were rained out. Now I go to the make up games. Do/can I use tickets 7 and 8 for games that were not on the schedule originally? And if so, game 7 tickets will presumably not be available for the first game of the following series--the one originally scheduled against Boston. That ticket will be considered spent, right? Can I use my game 7 for the makeup game and you use yours for the first Boston game?

EDITED to add: FWIW, I would guess that Philly set was a four gamer, Thursday through Monday with Sunday off due to Blue laws, and that Tuesday was a makeup game.

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Hi Todd,
The ticket patron would use ticket 11 for the 11th game on the original scheduled game of the year at Wash (date is 5/9/18 vs. BOS on original schedule). regardless of what occurred prior to that. As it was, there were two dates that were not played on the schedule due to inclement weather- Game #4 4/18/18 Rain out & Game 6 4/20/18- Rain out.

I hope this helps clarify.

This is even more clear because this occurred early in the 1918 season

[Scott Garner]

Todd,
Tickets to an assigned game are to an assigned game as per the original schedule. This info may be found on retrosheet.org by following the links to "schedule" and it is a raw data feed, but can be followed.

BTW, inclement weather does not always result in a patron having the ticket torn. As a season ticket holder, I have had games that were never played, or attempted to be played, due to extreme weather snow-blizzard, very heavy rain, etc.

Anyway, for the sake of argument, lets say that two games in a series were attended by a patron that were called on account of rain. Not wanting to lose their portion of the attendance gate for the rainouts, both teams decide that they will play back-to-back unscheduled day/day double headers (no night games in 1918! ). Your torn rain check for one of the games could be used to gain admission for the unscheduled double header game not on the schedule.
"Rain checks" may be used typically for any other game moving forward in the (1918 in this case) schedule.

Here is a real example of a situation that actually happened to net54 board member Randall Hahn and me in 2008:
SF's Randy Johnson was in Washington to play the Nationals and go after his 300th career win. Randall & I are both in town to hopefully see history.
The day of RJ's 300th win game it absolutely just poured rain all day- all night. We went to the game anyway, but it never got played due to the relentless rain.

The game was played the next day as an unscheduled early day game prior to the scheduled game later that night. The ticket from the rainout could be exchanged for a ticket to the early makeup game. The patrons that had tickets to the regularly scheduled night game were not allowed to go to the early game without purchasing the other ticket. Anyway RJ did get his 300th win and the rest is history. Randall Hahn saw RJ get the 300th win, but I could not because I had an earlier flight the morning of.

BTW, Emergency tickets or "E tickets" were used by teams to sell for use in unscheduled games, although I don't know if that practice dated back to the early 1900's.

[nolemmings]

Thanks Scott, I guess that was my point. In those makeup game scenarios, I understand that a rain check could be used. I also guessed that some generic makeup tickets could be used for walk-up patrons on the day of a previously unscheduled game. Those tix would have no date or game number on them, presumably. Since I don't collect tickets, I do not know what the practice was at the time.

So in this case, where I would think that the sixth game actually played was a makeup game, then the ticket numbered for game 7 could not be used there. Also, someone who owned a ticket numbered 4 or 6, which were rained out, either never went to another game or could have presented it as a rain check to any make-up game that season. That begs another question I suppose-- unless you know for sure that some memorable game from 1918 was played on the date originally scheduled (not a makeup game), then you couldn't be sure if a numbered ticket was "game used" and thus a witness to the event, right?

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Thanks Scott, I guess that was my point. In those makeup game scenarios, I understand that a rain check could be used. I also guessed that some generic makeup tickets could be used for walk-up patrons on the day of a previously unscheduled game. Those tix would have no date or game number on them, presumably. Since I don't collect tickets, I do not know what the practice was at the time.

So in this case, where I would think that the sixth game actually played was a makeup game, then the ticket numbered for game 7 could not be used there. Also, someone who owned a ticket numbered 4 or 6, which were rained out, either never went to another game or could have presented it as a rain check to any make-up game that season. That begs another question I suppose-- unless you know for sure that some memorable game from 1918 was played on the date originally scheduled (not a makeup game), then you couldn't be sure if a numbered ticket was "game used" and thus a witness to the event, right?

Todd,
The Emergency ticket (E Ticket) that I described in my last post is the generic ticket that you are asking about.
Game used = stub
Not game used = full ticket

That has changed today though because of the practice of "scanning" the modern ticket as opposed to tearing it into a stub

By the way, several memorable historic games have occurred as unscheduled games:
Here are two examples:
Denny McLain's historic 31st and final win (Last pitcher to ever win 30 in a season)- Also Mickey Mantle's second to last HR which McLain admittedly "grooved" for his boyhood idol.
HOF Wade Boggs' ML debut

[Darner]

Washington was scheduled to play four against the Yankees followed by four against the Athletics.

The fourth game against the Yankees was rained out (New York Sun, April 19, 1918).

The Philadelphia-Washington game scheduled for April 20th was rained out (New York Sun, April 21, 1918)

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Darner

Washington was scheduled to play four against the Yankees followed by four against the Athletics.

The fourth game against the Yankees was rained out (New York Sun, April 19, 1918).

The Philadelphia-Washington game scheduled for April 20th was rained out (New York Sun, April 21, 1918)

Exactly!