The Baseball Encyclopedia

In 1965, Neft sought out research assistance by putting help wanted ads in The Sporting News, which yielded four assistants. It was eventually determined that, to provide the greatest amount of accuracy possible, daily statistics for all players would have to be recreated.[5] Biographical details for approximately 5,000 players had already been compiled by Lee Allen, a historian at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and his research provided an early foundation.[6] Another boon to research efforts for the book came from ICI's acquisition of scrapbooks owned by steamship executive John Tattersall. His records included a full collection of box scores dating back to 1876, and a mostly complete daily statistics log that covered the period between 1876 and 1890.[7] The data, however, was not sufficient to calculate stats that had not been tracked contemporaneously, such as earned run average, runs batted in, and saves. To permit these categories to be deduced for each season, Neft's research team consulted newspaper accounts of old games, focusing on the 1876–1919 period.[8] The research team ultimately expanded to 21 people, who went to libraries throughout the U.S. to obtain the needed information.[9] This process took two years to complete.[10]

The Baseball Encyclopedia was an early example of computer software being used in the book publication process.[4] Author Alan Schwarz credits it as the first book with computer typesetting (excluding phone books).[11] Every player's data were individually compiled on sheets of paper, with the information coded into punch cards by a firm in Israel. Once the cards came back from overseas, ICI placed them in magnetic tape and data was sorted by an IBM 360 computer. The system allowed for teams' season statistics to be totaled, combined, and compared with the numbers kept by the leagues; inconsistencies were flagged by the computer and logged by Neft for investigation.[12]

Among the issues resolved was the existence of a small number of phantom ballplayers who had been recorded in box scores as appearing in a game despite not existing.[13] One example was a Cleveland Blues player named Woodruff, who was credited with playing as a right fielder in a 1901 game. The player was actually Bob Wood, who was normally a catcher but made infrequent appearances as an outfielder; a telegraph operator incorrectly interpreted Morse code that read "Wood rf", leading to an error in the box score.[14] An ad in The Sporting News claimed that The Baseball Encyclopedia took three-and-a-half years to research and develop, and that it cost $1.5 million to produce. Neft remarked that the book "took seven hours to print ... but a year and a half to tell the computer what to do."[15]

Before the book's release, a five-person Special Baseball Records Committee was formed by MLB.[14][16] This group had multiple meetings and discussed proposed corrections to players' stats, in addition to deciding how old rules would be interpreted. One issue the committee dealt with was the treatment of walks in the 1876 and 1887 seasons. In the former year they had been officially recorded as outs, and they had been ruled as base hits in 1887. The group opted against the original interpretations, electing to use modern rules, under which walks did not count as hits or outs.[14]

Cap Anson was one player whose statistical record was affected by this change. Having previously been listed with nearly 3,500 lifetime hits, he lost 60 hits from walks during the 1887 season and 423 pre-1876 hits, which were not counted by The Baseball Encyclopedia. These changes left Anson five hits short of the 3,000 hit club, according to the book.[16] Ty Cobb, who held MLB's career record for base hits at the time, had his total adjusted upward from 4,191 hits to 4,192.[14] Among pitchers whose records were changed, Christy Mathewson, who had been tied for the most career wins by an NL pitcher, had a reduction of six wins; Walter Johnson also had his win total lowered.[16]

Attracting more attention than those changes was a rule interpretation that would have altered a well-known record: Babe Ruth's total of 714 career home runs.[17] In a 1918 game, Ruth had a game-ending hit which would have been scored as a home run under modern rules, as the ball went over the outfield wall.[16] Because there was a runner on base who had advanced three bases, Ruth was given a triple.[18] Thirty-seven hits that would have counted as home runs under modern scoring guidelines, including Ruth's, were discovered by the researchers for The Baseball Encyclopedia. The record committee initially voted to credit the batters with home runs, which would have increased Ruth's career tally to 715.[16]

The decision brought a negative fan reaction and controversy in the press. Journalist Robert Lipsyte cited the change as an example of "historical revisionism" and nicknamed the researchers the "Revisionist Police".[16] Another critic was MLB public relations director Joe Reichler, a member of the committee who had been absent from the meeting where the home run ruling was voted upon. Reichler said that changing historical regulations was not meant to be within the committee's remit.[19] He successfully pushed for a second vote on the topic and persuaded two other committee members to oppose the measure. By a 3–2 vote, the change was overturned,[16] leaving Ruth with 714 home runs.[18]

Close to 75% of the first edition was devoted to statistical records of MLB players.[13] Over 10,000 players had their stats included in The Baseball Encyclopedia, with coverage dating to 1876. Pitchers had 19 different categories of statistics, while batters had 17.[4] Seven of the pitchers' categories specifically covered relievers, and position players received a summary of games played by defensive position.[20] National Association of Professional Base Ball Players participants also had stat registers, as did MLB managers.[13]

Other portions of The Baseball Encyclopedia included a section on baseball history and a listing of stat category leaders, which had single-season and career figures.[13] Summaries and line scores were provided for all World Series contests and MLB All-Star Games. Another section, titled "The Teams and Their Players", had seasonal team rosters and stats, along with league standings and stat category leaders, for each year starting in 1876.[20] Overall, the contents of The Baseball Encyclopedia's first edition totaled 2,337 pages;[4] the book had a weight of six-and-a-half pounds.[20]

The first edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia was released on September 10, 1969.[4] Even at the $25 price point, it gained an audience,[1] with sales of over 100,000 copies.[15] The book attracted a mostly positive reception from reviewers as well. The Baseball Encyclopedia received three separate reviews in The New York Times, by Jimmy Breslin, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, and Leonard Koppett.[21] Lehmann-Haupt described The Baseball Encyclopedia as "Big for a book, small for an amusement park."[22] The large size of the book was a subject of discussion, as it was nicknamed "Big Mac".[1] Breslin offered praise for the attention the book paid to lesser-known players.[23] More critical reviews focused on the changes made to the stats of historical players. In Sports Illustrated, sportswriter Robert Creamer called the adjustment of Mathewson's win total "illogical, historically invalid, and personally upsetting to Christy Mathewson fans."[23] However, historian John Thorn later called the first edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia the best version.[1]