Jackson: Who’s on second? Eight men in
From SABR member Frank Jackson at The Hardball Times on May 24, 2018:
Most teams have a regular starting lineup, sometimes referred to as first-stringers. We also speak of second-stringers and sometimes third-stringers. But have you ever heard of a fourth stringer … or beyond? Well, if you were on hand at the Oakland Coliseum on September 19, 1972, you would have gone where no official scorer has gone before.
At that stage of the ’72 season, the A’s were in the driver’s seat in the race for the AL West Division flag. But first they had to fend off the surprising Chicago White Sox, the only other serious contender.
Baseball on the South Side of Chicago had been on a death watch. In fact, they had played parts of the 1968 and 1969 seasons in Milwaukee, sparking rumors of a permanent move. The 1969 and 1970 Sox teams had finished last in AL attendance (a mere 495,355 to witness a 56-106 season in the latter year).
Read the full article here: https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/whos-on-second-eight-men-in/
Originally published: May 25, 2018. Last Updated: May 25, 2018.