While rule books go back to the early days of organized baseball, the sport's long history has also produced unwritten rules and adages about how the game is played or should be played. Unwritten rules, such as not putting the winning run on base, aren't mandatory, but we violate them at our own peril. Adages aim to express a "general truth" about baseball that helps us understand what is likely to happen on any given day. One example is that when a team is in the field, balls hit by the other team will almost always find the weakest defensive player. Many years ago when I was playing youth baseball in Wayne, New Jersey, I may or may not have been that player, but there was a game where the ball found me with alarming frequency. In the top of the first, a ball was hit to me at second base which I muffed, not exactly the best way to start a game. Over the course of the six inning game, however, I had eight more balls hit to me, all of which I somehow fielded successfully, accounting for almost half of the other team's outs.
That long ago game came to mind while reading a Boston Globe account of a June 20, 1892 contest at Boston's South End Grounds between the homestanding Beaneaters and Washington - then a National League team. Boston won the pennant that season while the visitors came in 10th in a 12 team league so it's no surprise, the home team won easily 9-3, aided by six Washington errors. One of the miscues was by shortstop Danny Richardson, but it was more than excusable since it was his only error out of a mind-boggling 20 chances. Other than the one muff, Richardson had 13 assists and six putouts, but unfortunately, the box score doesn't provide many details. But the record is even more impressive considering he took part in only one double play, an opportunity for both an assist and a putout in what is effectively one play. The Boston Journal reported that many of Richardson's plays were difficult in a performance that beat "all previous records for the position."
Considering 1892 was only the National League's 17th season, there hadn't been many opportunities to set records, but 130 years later, Richardson's 20 chances still stands as the major league record for a shortstop. As we might expect, first basemen and catchers hold the record for the most chances in a single game, 22 in both cases. Shortstop is third, followed by second base. The American League record for a shortstop is nineteen set in 1902 by Hall of Fame member Bobby Wallace while playing for the St. Louis Browns, in a 5-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox. As with the 1892 Washington loss, the Browns played poor defense, making nine errors, two by Wallace. That apparently took some of the luster off of Wallace's "magnificent exhibition" which the St. Louis Post-Dispatch labeled the "only redeemable feature" of the game, albeit one "marred" by the two muffs.
Richardson's record was matched by Cincinnati Reds shortstop Eddie Joost on May 7, 1941, in a 1-0 victory over the New York Giants. Like Richardson, Joost made one error, but unlike his predecessor, Joost had almost an equal number of assists (10) as putouts (9). Fortunately, thanks to the unceasing labors of the good folks at retrosheet, more details are available about Joost's record setting day. Joost had at least one assist and one putout in each of the nine innings with four of the assists and three of the putouts coming on the team's four double plays. The remaining six assists came on the throwing end of two force outs and four throws to first. The balance of the putouts were made on the receiving end of four force outs and by catching two pop flies. Pitchers Bucky Walters (Cincinnati) and Hal Schumacher (New York) were so good at inducing ground balls that each outfield had only one putout for the entire game. That's one more than the major league record of a single outfield putout, set in an August 26, 1910 Brooklyn - Pittsburgh game.
As impressive as these record setting performances are, they don't support the adage that the ball finds the defense's weakest link. In fact, managers probably hoped opposing batters would hit to a Hall of Fame shortstop like Wallace or solid defensive players like Joost and Richardson. Exceptions however, can offer their own lessons, in this case, the importance of concentration in a sport that challenges limited attention spans. The dead time between pitches, something imbedded in the very structure of the game, regularly tempts the mind to wander. While a lack of focus is a risk in every game, it's even higher in contests like Joost's where the outfielders had almost nothing to do. As innings roll by without a chance, it becomes increasingly harder to pay attention even though the next one, which might decide the game, could easily be hit our way. The three shortstops didn't have this problem, but their need to concentrate was no less real. Even a Hall of Fame shortstop isn't perfect and the more chances, the greater the risk of a mistake. Wallace, Joost and Richardson had to pay constant attention throughout their record setting games. Their example offers a lesson to every player regardless of whether he or she is the strongest or weakest link in their team's defense.
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