Wednesday, February 23, 2011
50,000 days since a big rule change
Posted by Chris JaffeFifty thousand days ago, a new rule created one of the enduring and vital elements in baseball’s field of play. On those many days ago, the National Association adopted the batter’s box, which (obviously) is still with us to this day.
As long as I’m here, the following events are all celebrating their day “anniversary” of a sort:
Three thousand days since the Giants signed Ray Durham
Nine thousand days since the Giants signed Steve Carlton
Twenty thousand days since Roberto Clemente played two innings at third base; the only time he was ever there
Twenty-five thousand days since Cubs shortstop Lennie Merullo made four errors in one inning. He became a father that same day—and nicknamed his newborn Boots.
History instructor by day, statnerd by night, Chris Jaffe leads one of the most exciting double lives imaginable; with the exception of every other double life possible to imagine. Despite his lack of comic-book-hero-worthiness, Chris enjoys farting around with this stuff. His new book, Evaluating Baseball's Managers is available for order. Chris welcomes responses to his articles via e-mail. Oh, and now he's on twitter.