Home run No. 499 may have an identity crisis
Friday, July 27, 2007
BY ED PRICE
Star-Ledger Staff
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In a strange statistical twist, what stands now as Alex Rodriguez's 499th home run could, in a way, wind up his 500th.
Should Rodriguez homer today at Baltimore in the resumption of a suspended game from June 28, the homer would be considered -- statistically -- as occurring on June 28, not July 27.
Thus a homer in the suspended game would go down as Rodriguez's 493rd -- even though, in real time, it occurred after Nos. 494-499. And, on the list of Rodriguez's homer, the one Wednesday -- No. 499, for now -- would be 500th.
"Statistically and chronologically may be two different things here," said Steve Hirdt, executive vice president of the Elias Sports Bureau, Major League Baseball's official statistical service.
According to Rule 10.23(d): "For the purpose of this Rule 10.23 (Guidelines For Cumulative Performance Records), all performances in the completion of a suspended game shall be considered as occurring on the original date of the game."
"It is a little unusual," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
If it happens, Hirdt said, future lists of 500th homers would "require an explanation."
Said Hirdt: "That's why explanations were created."
The game was suspended with the Yankees batting in the eighth, two out, Derek Jeter on second, Hideki Matsui up and Rodriguez on deck. So if he does not bat in the eighth, he is due to lead off the ninth.
Hirdt emphasized that the suspended-game rule was put in to get the fairest possible outcome for games -- by eventually playing all nine innings -- and thus it created a statistical quandary.
This is a square peg in a round hole," Hirdt said. "Not everything in the world fits nicely into a neat little box.
"Statistics are subordinate to winning and losing games. Even though statistics are important, they are not as important as determining fairly winning and losing games."
Torre said he has not come up with a specific plan for pitching the bottom of the eighth in the suspended game. Mike Myers is "currently" in the game, while Chien-Ming **** and Luis Vizcaino have already pitched.
Interestingly, even though Jose Molina and Shelley Duncan were not with the Yankees on June 28, they are eligible to play in the resumption.
According to rule 4.12(c): "A player who was not with the club when the game was suspended may be used as a substitute, even if he has taken the place of a player no longer with the club who would not have been eligible because he had been removed from the lineup before the game was suspended."
Johnny Damon was not in last night's lineup. Duncan was the designated hitter against left-hander Jorge de la Rosa.
"We're going to try to give (Damon) days (off) here and there," Torre said. "Probably the travel night's not a bad time to do it. He's playing well, but ... we want to keep as many guys involved as we can.
"Johnny's our regular guy."
Damon said he was "fine" with the decision.
"We've got to get Duncan in there," Damon said. "It's all right. I've been playing, so just rest me a day."
Yankees lefty Sean Henn walked Tony Pena Jr. on five pitches in the eighth inning, ending Pena's streak of 244 plate appearances without a base on balls. Pena, son of the Yankees' first-base coach, had set a team record with the longest walkless streak for a nonpitcher since Shawon Dunston in 1999-2000. "I thought he was going to swing 3-1," Pena Sr. said. "It was fun to see him play. I was impressed." ...
Wil Nieves accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and is expected to report there today. Nieves was designated for assignment last weekend when the Yankees acquired Molina to take his place as the No. 2 catcher. ... Andy Pettitte, scheduled to start tonight, and Roger Clemens, scheduled to start tomorrow, flew ahead of the team to Baltimore.
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