Retrosheet announces Summer 2024 updates
By Tom Thress
Retrosheet is pleased to announce its semi-annual update for Summer 2024 at Retrosheet.org.
Major thanks go out to Joe Callahan for generating the “Games/People/Parks” portion of the website. I would also like to thank Rob Wood for his significant efforts in helping to prepare the data presented here.
New and Updated Data
- 1915 and 1916 AL and NL seasons. Event files, including some deduced files, are now available for all of the 1915 and 1916 seasons. Special thanks to Rob Wood for leading this effort and thanks to our team of deducers: Cliff Blau, Dick Cramer, Jim Herdman, Dave Smith, Wayne Townsend, and Rob Wood.
- Improved Fielding Credits. A major undertaking by Retrosheet in recent months has been to improve the individual fielding credits within our files. As part of this effort, missing fielding plays have been filled in for 1,558 additional games. In addition, box-score event files with complete game-level fielding credits (putouts, assists) have been created for all games prior to 1980. Special thanks to Rob Wood, Jay Wigley, and Mike Grahek for their help with this project.
- In total, improvements have been made to the game accounts of more than 3,500 games, through the discovery of new scorecards, new newspaper sources, and a growing number of radio and television accounts that are being made available online.
- Data Downloads: Beginning with our June 2023 release, Retrosheet has introduced the option to download all of Retrosheet’s data within a single zip file. The link to this zip file is available on our front page, as the last option from the “Downloads” menu, or here.
- Negro Leagues: The Negro Leagues portion of our website was updated last month. This update included the 1939 and 1949 seasons as well as the addition of more than 100 additional deduced play-by-play accounts for the 1948 season.
Additional Updates
- Using Retrosheet Data: Since our last major release, Retrosheet has added several sources to its page listings, Resources for Using Retrosheet Data and Websites Using Retrosheet Data.
- Ballpark firsts: We have updated the MLB firsts pages for several historical MLB stadiums. Thanks to Jim Herdman for compiling these data.
- Retrosheet has also updated several additional pages since our last major release to add and update historical data based on ongoing research. These include pages on batting out of turn, lost home runs, and non-pitchers on the mound.
Thank you to all of Retrosheet’s volunteers. My apologies to any that I failed to identify by name. Retrosheet is always looking for more volunteers. If you would like to help us with any of this work, please reach out to me at the e-mail address below.
TOM THRESS is the president of Retrosheet. He can be contacted at tthress@retrosheet.org.
Originally published: July 23, 2024. Last Updated: July 23, 2024.