Lost Home Runs

There's a curious page being hosted over at Retrosheet.org that has to do with the subject of lost home runs. The premise is simple: There have been home runs hit over the years that do not appear on any stat sheets. How can this be so? Well, that's where it gets interesting.

There are a variety of reasons why a home run would not appear in a stat sheet. Some of these are attributed to weather. The most reason example happened on May 11, 2011. The Oakland Athletics were paying a visit to the Texas Rangers. The teams managed to get in 3 and a half innings of playing time before a two hour rain delay ultimately caused the game to be postponed. Mitch Moreland had hit his first career grand slam in the third, but you won't find a mention of that hit anywhere in the stat sheets. The game was replayed later on, and Moreland did not repeat his feat.

Other reasons why home runs are lost to history are due to human error. For example, on May 19th 2010 Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers hit what would have been his second home run of a game against the Baltimore Orioles. His fly cleared the 14-foot fence in left field, but somehow made its way back to the field. The ball was thus ruled in play. The crew chief admitted after the game that the umpires were wrong, and he should have watched the replay and then overturned the call. Another home run stricken from the books.

There are another neat examples on that page demonstrating lost home runs. Make sure to give it a glance over!