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
The One-hit Shutout That Will Live In Infamy
If umpire Jim Joyce had not blown the call at first base Armando Galarraga would have recorded the third perfect game in a month. That means 1/7th of perfect games in MLB history would have been performed in that time. Unfortunately Joyce, as he put hit, "kicked the shit out of it". Joyce has apologized and said all the right things, as has Galarraga and Jim Leyland, but the fact remains history was ruined. This does not affect the standings or the pennant race because the Tigers still won but what about the next time it does? Selig will make some bumbling statement I'm sure and baseball will continue with only replaying home run calls and doing so in an extremely inefficient manner (sending all the umps under the stadium instead of having a replay official upstairs). This has nothing to do with tradition or the human element, it has to do with making a correct call and the means to do everything in your power to make it.
Monday, July 20
The Triple Crown: The Rest of the Story (pt. 1)
If Prince Albert thought the pressure of hosting an All-Star weekend all by himself was difficult, he's in no way going to be prepared for the full court press that will be the coverage of his quest for the Triple Crown. ESPN's Tim Kurkjian weighs in, with customary great tidbits thrown in (for example: "For [Frank] Robinson, it was the only season during his brilliant career in which he led his league in any of the Triple Crown categories").
If this quest can maintain steam into September, media outlets will begin pouring over past triple crown seasons with tons of interesting tidbits about each man that achieved the goal as well as notes from the season. With that in mind, and with a lot of help from Baseball Reference, we present the rest of the story: Triple Crown Edition. Guaranteed to make you cool when discussing baseball with anyone who knows Jeff Cirillo is the all-time batting average leader of the Milwaukee Brewers.
In 1901, when Nap Lajoie won the AL Triple Crown he hit 14 Home Runs, good enough to lead the league by two (only he and Buck Freeman hit for double digits). Last season, 122 guys hit for 15 or more in the majors (56 in the AL). Lajoie's .426 batting average still stands as the league's record and was 86 points higher than 2nd place Mike Donlin's .340 average, and was 98 points higher than last season's leader (Joe Mauer).
In 1909, Lajoie's rival, who would largely overshadow Lajoie in history, Ty Cobb won the Triple Crown with an astounding nine home runs, but all of them were inside the park. Cobb remains the only player to lead the league in home runs without hitting one out of the park. Although, Cobb's speed helped him lead the league in HRs, hits, and stolen bases, he did not lead the league in either doubles or triples.
Rogers Hornsby remains the only two-time winner of the National League Triple Crown, winning in the only two years he led the league in home runs. In both 1922 and 1925, Hornsby ran away with the award. In 1925, he led the league in RBIs by just thirteen, the closest of any category in either of the years.
1933 was the only year to have winners in both league, Jimmie Foxx in the AL and Chuck Klein in the NL. Had they played in the same league, neither would have won. Klein led the Majors in batting average, with Foxx having more homers and RBIs. In fact, Klein would've finished fourth in the home run race, behind Ruth and Gehrig. Foxx won his crown despite recording a league-leading 93 strikeouts. Foxx ran away with the AL crown, but Klein eclipsed Wally Berger by only one homer in the NL.
Lou Gehrig won not only the AL Triple Crown, but the MLB version. It was the only season that he played with Babe Ruth where he bested the Sultan in home runs. Gehrig did, however, top Ruth in both batting average and RBIs during the ten year span. Gehrig was also the first athlete to appear on a box of Wheaties.
The rest of the story on the... rest of the Triple Crown winners tomorrow.
