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5/25/1899 – St. Louis hosted Brooklyn with a batting order that was different than the usual one employed by the team. Cupid Childs hit fourth, making an out to end the first inning. It was Lou Criger’s spot, but nothing was said about the mistake. Bobby Wallace, the proper next batter, started the second with a hit and then it should have been Patsy Tebeau’s turn at the plate. However, Criger hit and singled. Criger was called out for hitting out of turn and Tebeau sent to the plate. Brooklyn beat St. Louis, 8-1, as the home team made five errors.

ByTom

5/25/1899 – St. Louis hosted Brooklyn with a batting order that was different than the usual one employed by the team. Cupid Childs hit fourth, making an out to end the first inning. It was Lou Criger’s spot, but nothing was said about the mistake. Bobby Wallace, the proper next batter, started the second with a hit and then it should have been Patsy Tebeau’s turn at the plate. However, Criger hit and singled. Criger was called out for hitting out of turn and Tebeau sent to the plate. Brooklyn beat St. Louis, 8-1, as the home team made five errors.

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6/17/1898 – Washington was in Boston and its official lineup had Zeke Wrigley seventh, and Bert Myers eighth. Apparently, they batted out of order in the second although that is not desribed completely in any newspaper story we have seen. In the fourth with a runner on second and one out, the number seven hitter was due up. Myers came up and made an out. With the Myers play accepted by Boston, the proper next batter was the number nine hitter, the pitcher Win Mercer. Wrigley then came up, singled in a run, and Bostson objected. The home plate umpire, Tom Lynch, called Wrigley out to end the inning, not Mercer who had failed to bat when his turn came.

ByTom

6/17/1898 – Washington was in Boston and its official lineup had Zeke Wrigley seventh, and Bert Myers eighth. Apparently, they batted out of order in the second although that is not desribed completely in any newspaper story we have seen. In the fourth with a runner on second and one out, the number seven hitter was due up. Myers came up and made an out. With the Myers play accepted by Boston, the proper next batter was the number nine hitter, the pitcher Win Mercer. Wrigley then came up, singled in a run, and Bostson objected. The home plate umpire, Tom Lynch, called Wrigley out to end the inning, not Mercer who had failed to bat when his turn came.

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5/9/1898 – St. Louis was playing in Cincinnati, and it manager Tim Hurst’s lineup given to home plate ump Charles Cushman had Russ Hall batting seventh and Jack Crooks eighth. However, the lineup in the dugout had the two reversed. In the second, Crooks came up out of order and walked. Hall then batted and sacrificed. Under the current rule, and the rule in place then was the same according to our research, the correct batter would have been the number nine hitter once Crooks walk was allowed to stand. The Reds protested after Hall’s sacrifice, and Cushman was apparently confused about the rule. He called Hall out even though he was already out on the sacrifice, not the ninth spot hitter, Jim Hughey. More amazingly, rather than sending Crooks back to first, he had him bat again, and this time he struck out.

ByTom

5/9/1898 – St. Louis was playing in Cincinnati, and it manager Tim Hurst’s lineup given to home plate ump Charles Cushman had Russ Hall batting seventh and Jack Crooks eighth. However, the lineup in the dugout had the two reversed. In the second, Crooks came up out of order and walked. Hall then batted and sacrificed. Under the current rule, and the rule in place then was the same according to our research, the correct batter would have been the number nine hitter once Crooks walk was allowed to stand. The Reds protested after Hall’s sacrifice, and Cushman was apparently confused about the rule. He called Hall out even though he was already out on the sacrifice, not the ninth spot hitter, Jim Hughey. More amazingly, rather than sending Crooks back to first, he had him bat again, and this time he struck out.

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5/22/1898 – The Chicago Orphans (now Cubs) were hosting Washington when in the bottom of third with two outs Bill Dahlen stole second with Jimmy Ryan at bat. However, Ryan interfered with the throw to second be jumping in front of the plate. The umpire, Tommy Connolly called interference and apparently ruled Dahlen out. (The Chicago Tribune story says Connolly, the only umpire due to the other one assigned refusing to work on Sundays, had his back to the plate as he ran to call the play at second and could not see Ryan’s interference.) Ryan came up to lead off the fourth and singled. Washington objected by pointing out the Ryan should have been called out for interference and was batting out of order. Connolly agreed and called Ryan out although he should have called out Sam Mertes, the batter after Ryan in the order. All of that got the crowd upset, and eventually Connolly ejected Dahlen who rushed out to complain.

ByTom

5/22/1898 – The Chicago Orphans (now Cubs) were hosting Washington when in the bottom of third with two outs Bill Dahlen stole second with Jimmy Ryan at bat. However, Ryan interfered with the throw to second be jumping in front of the plate. The umpire, Tommy Connolly called interference and apparently ruled Dahlen out. (The Chicago Tribune story says Connolly, the only umpire due to the other one assigned refusing to work on Sundays, had his back to the plate as he ran to call the play at second and could not see Ryan’s interference.) Ryan came up to lead off the fourth and singled. Washington objected by pointing out the Ryan should have been called out for interference and was batting out of order. Connolly agreed and called Ryan out although he should have called out Sam Mertes, the batter after Ryan in the order. All of that got the crowd upset, and eventually Connolly ejected Dahlen who rushed out to complain.

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9/4/1895 – John Dolan, the starting pitcher for the Chicago Colts (Cubs) in a game in Boston batted out of turn, most likely in the second inning, and an out was called. No further details are known.

ByTom

9/4/1895 – John Dolan, the starting pitcher for the Chicago Colts (Cubs) in a game in Boston batted out of turn, most likely in the second inning, and an out was called. No further details are known.

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8/12/1895 – In the top of the first in a game at Boston, The Washington Nationals had two on and two out when the proper number five hitter was Win Mercer. However, Bill Hassamaer, tbe number six hitter, came up out of order. After he fouled off a pitch, Boston pointed out the mistake to the umpire, George Burnham. He called Mercer out to end the inning, but since the Hassamaer at bat was not completed, that was incorrect. He should have allowed Mercer to bat taking on the current count. Washington played the game under protest, and Boston won 4-3 in ten innings. The National League upheld the protest and ruled that the game did not count and had to be replayed.

ByTom

8/12/1895 – In the top of the first in a game at Boston, The Washington Nationals had two on and two out when the proper number five hitter was Win Mercer. However, Bill Hassamaer, tbe number six hitter, came up out of order. After he fouled off a pitch, Boston pointed out the mistake to the umpire, George Burnham. He called Mercer out to end the inning, but since the Hassamaer at bat was not completed, that was incorrect. He should have allowed Mercer to bat taking on the current count. Washington played the game under protest, and Boston won 4-3 in ten innings. The National League upheld the protest and ruled that the game did not count and had to be replayed.

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6/8/1894 – This was another time the rule was applied incorrectly to the detriment of the team. The St. Louis Browns were playing the Beaneaters in Boston, and the home team elected to bat first. In the bottom of the first, the lead off batter, Tommy Dowd, walked. The next batter due up was Frank Shugart, but the number three hitter, Charlie Frank, came up instead and struck out. Shugart hit into a fielders choice with Dowd being put out. Boston then pointed out that Frank had batted out of order, and the umpire, Bob Emslie, incorrectly called Frank out ending the inning. Frank had already made an out, so it made no sense to call him out again. The original 1876 rule, which was in effect in 1894, was poorly written and incomplete, but it did not allow for a batter to be out twice when he batted out of order. More importantly, Frank was not the proper batter when he hit, so the proper batter then, Shugart, should have been called out, but he was allowed to bat. Apparently, some umpires interpreted the rule in a different manner.

ByTom

6/8/1894 – This was another time the rule was applied incorrectly to the detriment of the team. The St. Louis Browns were playing the Beaneaters in Boston, and the home team elected to bat first. In the bottom of the first, the lead off batter, Tommy Dowd, walked. The next batter due up was Frank Shugart, but the number three hitter, Charlie Frank, came up instead and struck out. Shugart hit into a fielders choice with Dowd being put out. Boston then pointed out that Frank had batted out of order, and the umpire, Bob Emslie, incorrectly called Frank out ending the inning. Frank had already made an out, so it made no sense to call him out again. The original 1876 rule, which was in effect in 1894, was poorly written and incomplete, but it did not allow for a batter to be out twice when he batted out of order. More importantly, Frank was not the proper batter when he hit, so the proper batter then, Shugart, should have been called out, but he was allowed to bat. Apparently, some umpires interpreted the rule in a different manner.

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9/8/1893 – Pop Schriver of the Chicago Colts (Cubs) was called out in a contest against the Phillies. No further details are known.

ByTom

9/8/1893 – Pop Schriver of the Chicago Colts (Cubs) was called out in a contest against the Phillies. No further details are known.

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8/1/1893 – In the first game of the day, Tommy Dowd was called out for batting out of turn for the St. Louis Browns at home against the Pirates. No further details are known.

ByTom

8/1/1893 – In the first game of the day, Tommy Dowd was called out for batting out of turn for the St. Louis Browns at home against the Pirates. No further details are known.

New York Giants difficulties batting in the correct order arose again just six days after there previous issue
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New York Giants difficulties batting in the correct order arose again just six days after there previous issue

ByThis Day in Baseball

7/6/1893 – The New York Giants difficulties batting in the correct order arose again just six days later. In a game at Louisville in which the home team was batting first, Michael “King” Kelly replaced Jocko Milligan at catcher in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, the number five hitter, Jack Doyle, was due to lead off, but Kelly who had replaced Milligan in the number six spot came up instead. He struck out, but the umpire Ed Seward, who had a bad day according to newspaper stories, allowed the out stand and also called Doyle out. Given the batting out of turn was being enforced, the correct call was to call Doyle out and have Kelly bat again. The next hitter reached third on a single and error, but the following one made the third out. The wrong ruling may have cost the Giants the game. It ended as an 11-11 tie after nine innings due to darkness.