This also happened to a RB from the Falcons, who's name escapes me (Hampton?). And in the opposite direction. He had 1001 yards or so, and a replay review after the season found he was credited with four yards on a carry in which should have been a fumble recovery, so his total was reversed to 997 yards. Now, that stinks.
I hate to blaspheme this group with discussion about football, but this reminds me of something that happened in the NFL in 1972. In the last game of the year, the Dolphins' Mercury Morris had a chance to reach 1000 yards rushing for the campaign, a big milestone in the 14-game-season days. I believe it also would have made Miami the first team to have two 1000-yard rushers (Larry Csonka was the other) in the same year. Morris made a valiant effort, but got banged up and had to leave the game with just 991 yards to his credit. However, shortly after the season ended, Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced that he had been reviewing some game films and noticed that Morris failed to get credit for a nine-yard run earlier in the season. Thus, Morris is listed with an even 1000 yards for 1972.
Bill Deane
The Polanco error recension reminds me of a game involving Cobb in 1922. Early in the year, Cobb hit a ball that was poorly fielded in the rain by one of the opposing infielders. The official scorer, who was a novice, ruled it a reach-on-error. But Fred Lieb (I believe it was Lieb), an experienced reporter for the AP, had been out of the press box in the rain and was more sympathetic to the fielder and ruled it a hit on his scoresheet.
Since the AP version is what showed up in all the papers, that's what everyone used for Cobb's total. The official scorer's report, showing Cobb with a ROE instead of a hit, didn't arrive at the AL office until a week later. They didn't notice the difference between the AP total and the official total until the end of the year.
So at the end of the season, that one hit was the difference between Cobb batting .401 or .399. Ban Johnson ruled that Lieb's scoring should stand, even though he wasn't the official scorer. It bumped Cobb to 211 hits in 526 at-bats, rather than 210 hits in 526 at-bats, which was what the official version showed. It caused a little bit of an uproar at the time since everyone thought Johnson was showing favoritism towards Cobb and had overruled the official scorer's judgement.
But just imagine the uproar that would come up today if this same thing happened....
From the AP, here's the news on Placido Polanco's errorless streak at second base: "Placido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers committed an error in the first ...
The error has been rescinded and given to first baseman Marcus Thames, so both Polanco's streaks (games and chances) are intact. ... From: Trent To:...
The Polanco error recension reminds me of a game involving Cobb in 1922. Early in the year, Cobb hit a ball that was poorly fielded in the rain by one of the...
Hey Trent, Since you're a Cobb aficionado, I'd sure like to hear your thoughts on the official scoring at St. Louis on the last day of the 1910 season that...
There is a lesson to be learned (actually relearned) here. Some future researcher might stumble on the report that Polanco's streaks were stopped at 147 games...
I hate to blaspheme this group with discussion about football, but this reminds me of something that happened in the NFL in 1972. In the last game of the...
... this reminds me of something that happened in the NFL in 1972. In the last game of the year, the Dolphins' Mercury Morris had a chance to reach 1000 yards...
... This is where I have to tell my story and pat myself on the back. I do defensive stats for the 49ers. Really the only official defensive stat is sacks but...
I don't follow. Was it a sac fly or a sac bunt? Rod Nelson, baseball snob ... From: SABR_Records@yahoogroups.com On Behalf Of Tom Stillman Sent: Tuesday,...
Bill, In this case, the blasphemy is a great reminder to all of us to be extra diligent. Steve ... From: Bill Deane To: SABR_Records@yahoogroups.com Sent:...
This also happened to a RB from the Falcons, who's name escapes me (Hampton?). And in the opposite direction. He had 1001 yards or so, and a replay review...
My memory was Dave Hampton of Atl made it to 1000 even late in game then ran a sweep and lost 5 yards and didn't carry the ball again that year so finished...
Clem's memory is my memory, too. Steve -- Steve Gietschier Managing Editor, Research Sporting News 14500 S. Outer 40, Suite 300 Chesterfield, MO 63017-5781 314...
... future researcher might stumble on the report that Polanco's streaks were stopped at 147 games and 725 chance and assume whatever his final streak turns...
It is a good idea to track scoring changes and I am happy to say that Retrosheet does that when we have the information. In reality that means the last 4-5...
Peter Ridges' suggestion of maintaining an ongoing file of scoring changes to which researchers can refer is an excellent one. Dave Smith took it a step...
USA TODAY BASEBALL WEEKLY (which I believe started in 1991) used to list scoring changes each week, until it became SPORTS WEEKLY and discontinued boxscores...
Hi Bill, I have the sports sections of all USA Today from their beginning until the early 1990's. I think I remember those scoring changes and thought at the ...
Ev, This is a great idea. Since I sent my message yesterday, I have pondered this some more and I figured out a way to automate the searching of the ...
And as a variation on the Polanco list, the former Red Sox pitcher ... [from Associated Press, September 2, 2007] Bill Henry, who pitched in the majors for...
This just in: http://www.theledger.com/article/20070905/NEWS/709050475/1039 Lakeland Man Wasn't Who He Said He Was *Another big score for Dave Lambert of the...
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