Merkle's Boner

[FrankWakefield]

Guys... read / listen to The Glory of Their Times. Absorb what Chief Meyers had to say. Then notice how Professor Ritter Asks Snodgrass about it and how he asks about Snodgrass' play.

This wasn't a rookie mistake or a bonehead play, it was the norm for the time. Hundreds of fans pouring onto the field, the players didn't leave the field via the dugout at the Polo Grounds at that time, instead they left through gates far away in that deep center field wall. Merkle and everyone else (except for maybe Johnny Evers AFTER he'd talked with umpires about the possibility of the play) would have veered to the right of the path from first base to second base, and they'd have headed straight for the safety of the clubhouse out there past the center field gate.

Years later, with the rules clarity that came after this play, understanding had spread through the major leagues, through the minors, through college ball, and high school ball. Even today, many little leaguers don't get it, I'm sure I didn't my first year in little league. Nowadays it's a bonehead play. 110 years ago it was the expected, predictable norm.

[Bridwell]

Sports fans like to have winners and losers; heroes and scapegoats; the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Even in team sports. That is what makes sports so exciting and the fans so passionate.

Most of the heroes didn't win it by themselves, and most of the scapegoats aren't entirely the cause of the losses.

History makes the greatest heroes the most memorable and, as well, the biggest screw-ups remain memorable too.

[timn1]

Great thread -

The bonehead play for me was O'Day's ruling, as some have said. To suddenly start calling this play by the books at a critical moment in a pennant race was an outrageous act of favoritism (whether or not it was meant that way). The bigger problem, as Bill James once wrote, is having a bunch of rules on the books that are routinely not enforced, which creates the opportunity for arbitrary and unfair decisions like this one. If it's on the books, you gotta enforce it. Otherwise you gotta get rid of it.

I wonder, does current baseball have a lot of rules that aren't enforced?

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Guys... read / listen to The Glory of Their Times. Absorb what Chief Meyers had to say. Then notice how Professor Ritter Asks Snodgrass about it and how he asks about Snodgrass' play.

This wasn't a rookie mistake or a bonehead play, it was the norm for the time. Hundreds of fans pouring onto the field, the players didn't leave the field via the dugout at the Polo Grounds at that time, instead they left through gates far away in that deep center field wall. Merkle and everyone else (except for maybe Johnny Evers AFTER he'd talked with umpires about the possibility of the play) would have veered to the right of the path from first base to second base, and they'd have headed straight for the safety of the clubhouse out there past the center field gate.

Years later, with the rules clarity that came after this play, understanding had spread through the major leagues, through the minors, through college ball, and high school ball. Even today, many little leaguers don't get it, I'm sure I didn't my first year in little league. Nowadays it's a bonehead play. 110 years ago it was the expected, predictable norm.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by timn1

I wonder, does current baseball have a lot of rules that aren't enforced?

The one that makes me crazy is the socks. These guys that wear long baggy pants and don’t have their socks up the proper way. There’s actually a poster in every MLB clubhouse that tells them how to wear their socks properly….the old school way.

[Kawika]

Had a solid career but all anybody seems to remember was a "mistake" on the base paths that wasn't all that egregious in the context of what most other ballplayers of the era would have done. If Merkle was a bonehead then Johnny Evers was a f**khead. John McGraw thought Merkle was good enough to play ten seasons at first base for the Giants. I'll bet he never called him Bonehead. Rest in deserved peace, Fred Merkle.

[drumback]

Often forgotten in this story is National League President Harry Pulliam. McGraw issued a protest, and if Pulliam had ruled in favor of McGraw, the whole thing might have been long forgotten by now. Pulliam and McGraw had a rocky relationship, due to McGraw’s history of kicking and bullying, so perhaps that influenced Pulliam’s decision, but I don’t really think so. Pulliam felt it necessary to always back his umpires for the good of the game, and to prevent them from quitting their thankless jobs. Some think this played a role in Pulliam’s suicide less than a year later.

[Kaneen]

C-3PO's Boner (Or as I like to call him, "C-12PO!")

1977 Star Wars C-3PO Error Card.jpg

[JK]

Originally Posted by Kaneen

C-3PO's Boner (Or as I like to call him, "C-12PO!")

Attachment 516522

Well, that can't be unseen.