“But there is a clue concerning Koslo. According Retrosheet’s Giants game log from 1948, Koslo started games on July 29 and Aug. 7. Nothing inbetween.”

That sounds like the smoking gun to me, indicating that a partial game *was* played on that suspected date, with Koslo as the starting pitcher. (Well maybe “smoking gun” is a bit too strong, since it’s far from iron-clad proof, but it certainly points in that direction.)

However, this data indicates nothing as to whether or not Musial homered in that partial game, so I guess the search continues.

Have you looked at the Cardinals’ starting pitchers as well, to see if they have a starter who had a similar period of inactivity, indicating that he also may have pitched a partial game on that date?

Paul,

An excellent question. So I looked. And around that time the Cardinals had LHP Howie Pollet follow LHP Al Brazle in the rotation. On July 31, Brazle started — and he did not start again until Aug. 7, according to the Retrosheet game log. Pollet started twice in that span, including the day after the doubleheader that resulted from the Aug. 3 rainout.

Curiouser and curiouser.

dg
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I’m sorry if this has already been discussed, but has anyone asked The Man about all this? I know his health is fading but I have no idea how sharp his mind is these days. Perhaps it’s too much to ask, about some tiny detail, but it would seem to me he might remember whether or not there was talk in ‘48 (or any year for that matter) about him being a HR shy of the triple crown.

OK sorry Derrick. I took the time to read the original Apr. 2 blog. You’ve got it covered!

i’m watching the game and am very impressed with mcclellan’s ability to throw a pwap (pitch with a purpose). in this case high and tight to hardy. he seems very mature for a young pitcher. very bright future.

Has someone with a New York Times subscription checked the NYT online archives for an article about the rainout game or for boxscores in between Koslo’s 2 starts to see if he pitched in relief in between his 2 starts? Are there any other newspapers in NY or STL that an article might be written in?

who the hell cares? quit wasting space about something that happened a lifetime ago! what a geek! what the hell is going on with the club and the minors?

The “fact” that Musial had a net gain of 1 home run resulting from make up games is rather spurious. That assumes as fact that Musial would not have hit the home runs if the games were played as scheduled. He might not have, but again he might have had 2 in each of the games. No one knows, so any net gain has to be presented as supposition, not fact.

Reading this, I got to wondering if Koslo was an established starter who by rights should have had a start between July 29 and August 7, especially in the era of the four-man rotation. Baseball-Reference for 1948 gives Koslo 35 games with 18 starts. So he was apparently a spot or situational starter. As Derrick says, it is curious circumstantial evidence that Koslo’s starts are nine days apart. But there are fairly easy alternative explanations. It’s not as if he was an unquestioned starter who would have gone out every 4-5 days barring injury — or rain out.

More broadly, isn’t it time for baseball, being as tied to records and history as it is, to end the practice of washing out games? If a game starts and is suspended — for rain, snow, insects, power failure, civil insurrection, falling dome ceiling tiles, disco demolition, etc. — it should be continued from the point of interruption, whether that’s in the second inning or the 13th. I might also revise the rule about shortened games once they become official after five innings. In a pennant race, it’s arbitrary and unfair to hang a loss on a team that was losing by one run with up to four innings left. Short of playing all games to completion at a later date, you could have something similar to the old save rule — after completion of at least five innings (4 1/2 with the home team leading), the game can only be declared a decision if a team leads by at least three runs, unless the trailing team has the tying run on base or at the plate. Crazy, or high time in the era of team charter jets?

As the fan who enlisted Derrick’s help in this quest several years ago, I should like to thank him publicly for his efforts. It has been a labor of love for each of us. Before I contacted him, I had spent over a year trying to convince Retrosheet, to no avail.
I personally have NO doubt that Stan lost a homer in ‘48 because, as a teenager in Manhattan and as a fanatical follower of his magical season, I heard it happen on good old WMCA.

Says you! Did anybody TiVo that game?

I have to agree that it’s time for baseball to fix the rules on partial games. The Cards losing this year’s opener was especially irksome. Oh yeah, that 5-1 lead you’ve got there over the defending league champions? Well, we’re not gonna count that afterall.

Golf and Tennis (the only other sports I can think of that this is an issue) pick up from the point when play was stopped and play until it’s finished. Can you imagine if Tiger were four under through seven on his way to winning in the final round of a major, but then it being washed out and he loses after a final round restart?

As for the 8/3/48 Cards-Giants rainout, was the NY Times article inconclusive about a partial game being played? Seems if there was a “hardship” created by the doubleheader, that must mean they lost the previous day’s starter and had to scramble to find another. And if Koslo was a spot starter who didn’t pitch on the 3rd and had not started since the 29th, even if he had pitched some on the 2nd it seems like he’d have to be used for some innings during that doubleheader. Which to me makes it very likely that he did take his regular turn on the 3rd and got washed out after starting. Does someone have evidence that this didn’t happen, or is the burden of proof all in the other direction?

“Golf and Tennis (the only other sports I can think of that this is an issue) pick up from the point when play was stopped and play until it’s finished.”

A lot of people suggest that the game should be suspended and continued from that point, in the event of a rain-out. But there are some problems with this idea, that usually aren’t mentioned.

First, if it isn’t possible to continue the game until later in the season (because of rain, because of the schedule, etc.), then the team’s rosters may have changed by the time the game is continued. Suppose that you had already used all your bench players at the time that the game got rained out. Then further suppose that someone who was in the game at the time of the rain-out is no longer on your roster (due to injury, or a trade, or demotion to the minors). How do you fill that person’s spot in the line-up, in order to continue the game? Do you get to use someone else from your roster to take their place, and if so, what rules are there around who you can use and who you can’t? If there has been a lot of turn-over on your roster, it may not be clear which player “replaced” this player on the roster (the one who was in the game at the time of the rain-out), vs. which other player “replaced” someone who had already been used in the original game, and thus is no longer available to play in that game.

Second, even without any roster changes, the pitchers who were available for the first game may not be the same as the pitchers who are available for the continuation of the game. Suppose that the Cardinals used Todd Wellemeyer for 4 innings, followed by Kyle McClellan for 2 innings, Anthony Reyes for 1 inning, Ryan Franklin for 1 inning, and Izzy for part of the 9th, at which point the game is rained out with the score tied. Now suppose that the game is continued from that point, but not until later in the season (due to scheduling issues, or whatever). Well, what if at the point, when the game is finally continued, your most rested bullpen pitchers just happen to be McClellan, Reyes, and Franklin, and all of your other bullpen pitchers are worn out from pitching the previous day. But you can’t use McClellan, Reyes, and Franklin, because you already used them in the first part of the game, which might have been weeks or months ago.

Bottom line, when you get into the nitty gritty details of how continuing a game would work, I think that it becomes clear why MLB doesn’t (and shouldn’t) continue games, because it just creates too many potential problems with the roster.

However, I *do* think that statistics from rained out games should count, even if the games are replayed from the beginning. (Just my opinion.)

Don’t the statistics count for games that are official ties (5+ innings)? And what makes a suspended game? One that is official and can’t be finished that day but probably can be the next?

There’s also a financial issue. If there’s a rain suspension in the late innings, it’s easy logistically (aforementioned roster issues aside) to start from that point before the next scheduled game between the two teams. But if the two teams have finish the game on a mutual day off, either the next day or later in the season, then everything involved in holding a major league game — ticket takers, ushers, concessions, etc. — has to be fired up to play a couple innings. You could play for 20 or 30 minutes, just to send everybody home. Imagine doing all that for a game that’s interrupted in the ninth, especially if it’s not tied? Also, the players have to warm up and do all their pre-game prep for a potentially very short day of work. Who would buy a ticket to see two innings? Who would trek downtown from Granite City with their ticket from the rain day to see the last two innings? Maybe the stadium doesn’t bother to cook hot dogs or send out the beer vendors, but what a financial loss that might be when you have virtually no gate, and then no concession revenue? Never mind the broadcast schedule.

Then again, if two out of 81 games turn out like that, it can’t be worse financially than eating Spezio’s contract. Maybe a two-inning game day is a good time to have a fan appreciation event, with autograph signing on the field afterward, and let kids play catch with the players. Maybe hold a post-game concert. Of course, the teams would whine that they can’t schedule all that on a moment’s notice. And the players would rather play golf on their off days.

This is an interesting discussion.

Fuhrig,

Great points. I live in southern Illinois, almost a three-hour drive from St. Louis. I’m probably not going to be making that drive for a three or four inning game — or even for a six or seven inning game.

I have been reminded that a good discussion on this topic also took place at a fan message board, Birds on the Bat. That thread can be found here (and it will also be linked to in the main body of the above article):

http://www.birdsonthebat.org/showthread.php?t=49671

dg
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