4/23/1927 – The St. Louis Browns defeated the Tigers, 15-10, on a cold day in Detroit. In the top of the third frame, Fred Schulte was called out for batting out of turn. No further details are known.
9/25/1926 – The Senators and White Sox played two games in Chicago. The visitors mixed up their batting order in the second contest which they won, 3-2 to split the twin bill. In the seventh frame, Stuffy Stewart was sent in to run for catcher Muddy Ruel, who was batting in the eighth hole in the lineup. Bennie Tate pinch hit for pitcher Stan Coveleskie. When Washington took the field, Tate stayed in the game in the ninth spot and caught while the new pitcher, Firpo Marberry, assumed the eighth place in the lineup. In the top of the ninth inning, Tate batted out of order in the eighth place but neither team discovered the mistake until the frame was over. He had made an out so it didn’t matter anyway.
8/20/1926 – The Tigers were in Philadelphia to play the Athletics. In the second game of a twin bill, the team did not follow Ty Cobb’s lineup at the start of the game but were not called on it the first time through the list. In the fourth inning, Harry Heilmann doubled and, with two out, scored on a hit by Charlie Gehringer. However, coach Kid Gleason asked umpire Billy Evans about the proper order and Evans negated the play and called out Gehringer for batting out of turn. Before the game, when the announcer had listed the Tigers lineup, the writers thought he had made a mistake and simply transposed the two names in their scorebooks. Apparently, so did O’Rourke, the correct batter, and Gehringer. The Tigers won in spite of the gaffe, 5-4.
7/1/1926 – In the bottom of the first inning at Braves Field, Doc Gautreau was on second with two out. Eddie Brown walked but the Phillies pointed out that he had batted out of turn. Thus, Dick Burrus, who was the correct batter, was declared out and the Braves stranded Gautreau at second. The Braves eventually won the contest by scoring three runs in the seventh frame.
6/30/1926 – The Reds were in Chicago and in the first game of the doubleheader, Cincinnati shortstop Frank Emmer and catcher Bubbles Hargrave swapped spots (7th and 8th) the first three times through the order. Although Hargrave did have a single in the 2nd inning, he did not drive in any runs so the Cubs bided their time. In the 8th inning, Hargrave batted with two outs and singled to give the Reds an apparent 4-0 lead. At this point the Cubs noted the batting order problem and Emmer, the proper batter, was declared out, keeping the score at 3-0 in favor of Cincinnati. The Cubs scored two in the bottom of the 8th, but fell short, losing 3-2.
10/10/1925 – In game three of the World Series, Nemo Leibold pinch hit for Senators pitcher Alex Ferguson in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Leibold walked, Earl McNeely ran for him. McNeely remained in the game in centerfield while Firpo Marberry entered the game as the new pitcher. Marberry was inserted into the fifth spot in the batting order. In the bottom of the eighth with one out, Muddy Ruel singled. The next batter should have been McNeely but Marberry walked to the plate and sacrificed Ruel to second. The Pirates did not protest the improper batter (possibly since Marberry came up in the usual spot for the pitcher). The next proper batter was Buddy Myer in the sixth spot but the Senators went to the top of the lineup and Sam Rice who grounded out to end the inning.
8/11/1925 – The Braves were in Chicago playing the Cubs. The lineup showed Les Mann hitting fifth, Andy High sixth and Gus Felix seventh. In the top of the first inning, there was one out, one run scored and runners on first and second after four hitters had come to the plate. However, Felix (seventh) strode to the plate in Mann’s place (fifth) and walked to load the bases. High then singled home two runs and Mann ended the inning by grounding into a double play. All three of those players batted out of turn and the Cubs could have spoken up multiple times about the situation. Two of the runs could have been eliminated had they protested to the umpires. Boston went on to win the game, 9-2.
9/23/1924 – In the bottom of the second, the Phillies had a runner on second and one out when Walter Holke, the number eight hitter, hit out of order in the number seven spot insted of the proper batter, Lew Wendell. Holke doubled driving in a run, so the Cardinals protested. Wendell was called out, and Holke hit again grounding out to end the inning without a run scoring. The Cardinals won the game 8-7 in ten innings.
7/28/1924 – The Red Sox were in St. Louis to play the Browns. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Ernie Wingard pinch hit for shortstop Wally Gerber (in the eighth spot in the lineup) and singled. Norm McMillan then ran for catcher Hank Severeid (in the seventh spot in the lineup). McMillan remained in the game at shortstop, Tony Rego came in to catch and George Lyons to pitch. McMillan has to be in the seventh spot in the lineup so Rego and Lyons are eight and nine (or reverse). In the bottom of the ninth, after the sixth place hitter doubled, Rego batted at the insistance of home plate umpire Brick Owens and grounded out to end the inning. He was clearly out of order as McMillan should have batted. In the top of the tenth, Boston scored five runs. McMillan batted to start the bottom of the frame (out of order). After the Browns lost, Manager George Sisler protested the game due to the mis-application of the rules by Owens. The protest was upheld and the game declared a no-decision by AL president Ban Johnson.
6/19/1924 – With the Giants playing the Braves in Boston, the home team mixed up their batting order at the start of the game. After the leadoff batter had grounded out, Ray Powell came to the plate one spot early and also grounded out. The Giants pointed that out to Umpire Hank O’Day and he declared the proper batter, Les Mann, out and the inning over. The Giants beat the Braves, 4-1.
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