Pandora's box must be trending well on Google or at least amongst baseball fans and sports talk radio hosts. After last night's near perfect game, people are coming out of the woodwork to demand the call be overturned by the Commish or insisting the call stand. Despite the fact that football, basketball and hockey all have successfully implemented better instant replay systems there's been no large scale public outcry to overturn the immaculate reception, to remove Brett Hull's skate in the crease goal, or to nullify Trent Tucker's buzzer beater. So why in the name of the ghost of Joe Nuxhall are people acting like reversing the blown call at first base to properly award a perfect game would cause anarchy? Perhaps because they don't know as much baseball history as they think they do.
On May 26 1959, Harvey Haddix took the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Milwaukee Braves. After throwing what is regarded by many as the greatest game, an error in the 13th inning broke up Haddix's bid for perfect game. 12 straight perfect innings, 36 up 36 down, all for naught. Perhaps the most famous non-perfect game in baseball history until now, Haddix's name barely rings a bell for most baseball fans.
Quite a few will learn about him for the first time today, but not for the reasons discussed here as this isn't about Haddix's performance. It's about Major League Officials. The game ended after Milwaukee's Joe Adcock hit a ball over the fence with two men on. Hank Aaron was on first and mistakenly thought the ball had bounced over the fence for a ground rule double. Aaron touched second and headed to the dugout assuming that the game had ended. Once he realized his error and tried to return to rounding the bases Adcock had already touched third. The umpires conferred and determined Adcock was out, but Aaron's run would count.
Today people are asking for Jim Joyce's blown call at first to be overturned and they are meeting resistance from people arguing that Pandora's box will be opened, the human element is a part of the game and shouldn't be tampered with, the fear of a bad precedent and countless references to the 1985 World Series. If Bud Selig were to overrule the call he would not be changing the outcome of the game, but what he would be overruling the umpire on the field and taking a hit away from a batter.
So what does Harvey Haddix's game have to do with this? Well, the day after the game MLB officials decided that Adcock's hit was a double because of the baserunning error and took Hank Aaron's run off the board. The new final: 1-0. Here it is on Baseball Reference. That's Pandora's box. Oh, but it was 50 years ago and somehow baseball has managed to not turn into anarchy - outside of the NL East. So 51 years ago MLB officials decided to overrule the umpires on the field, take away a run, but not impact the ultimate outcome of the game. It also cost Joe Adcock a home run and a RBI. Yet, if Jason Donald's hit is taken away to correctly restore a perfect game that will be the bad precedent and the opening of Pandora's box? No, the bad precedent was set in 1991 when the Committee for Statistical Accuracy in Baseball led by then-Commish Fay Vincent decided not to award Haddix a perfect game.
The irony of the slippery slope, Pandora's Box crowd is that they claim to come at the discussion from the angle of being true baseball fans and historians. Not knowing about Henry Haddix is one thing, but regardless of what Bud Selig does here, it will be no pine tar incident, an incident that every baseball fan is familiar with and actually involved the Commissioner overruling the umpires and disregarding a rule. That's a serious precedent. Bud wouldn't be setting any precedent, he'd be setting the record books straight.
SI.com 50 years ago Harvey Haddix... (very good read)
Thursday, June 3
A Perfect Game Ruined: Take Pandora's Box and Shove It
Wednesday, September 24
1992 NLCS: You Don't Know (Blank)
Each week we'll be offering a dose of trivia. Not always in the same format, but hopefully fun for all ages. Click for the full article to see all of the answers, as well as a scoring system. Feel free to post your score, and Cleet will send you wonderful prizes from the much heralded ASD prize chest. This quiz has 14 answers, please keep your eyes on your own paper.
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the 1992 NLCS, the Atlanta Braves came to the plate against the Pirates mustachioed and mulleted ace [Stop looking]. The leadoff batter,[No Cheating], doubled down the right field line. The next batter, David Justice, reached on a groundball error to second baseman,[No Cheating]. After the next batter walked to load the bases, Pirates skipper and generally grumpy old man,[No Cheating], made a call to the bullpen. He brought in [No Cheating] who promptly gave up a sacrifice fly to Ron Gant, to make it a one-run game. Catcher [No Cheating] then walked and pinch-hitter Brian Hunter (+2 for knowing he came in for [No Cheating]) popped out for the second out of the inning. The final batter of the series was [No Cheating], hitting for pitcher [No Cheating]. A line drive to short left field to the amicable one,[No Cheating], allowed David Justice and [No Cheating] to score, just ahead of the lunging tag of catcher [No Cheating]. The Braves went on to the lose the World Series in six games to the [No Cheating]and Series MVP,[No Cheating].
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Answers Below:
1. Doug Drabek
2. Terry Pendleton
3. Jose Lind
4. Jim Leyland
5. Stan Belinda
6. Damon Berryhill
7. Rafael Belliard
8. Francisco Cabrera
9. Jeff Reardon
10. Barry Bonds
11. Sid Bream
12. Mike LaValliere
13. Toronto Blue Jays
14. Pat Borders
Scoring:
1: Jane Fonda
2-4: Ted Turner
5-7: Braves fan
8-10: Parent of an Atlanta Brave
11-12: Bobby Cox
13-14: Leo Mazzone
15: Depressed Pirate fan that has watched the homemade videotape of this game no less than 500 times while reliving the glory years where your team almost made the World Series, instead of wallowing in the self-misery that is irrelevance in the NL East
