In this ESPN article, discussing his spineless decision regarding the 21st Perfect Game, it quotes Bud Selig as saying:
I don’t quite follow the “in 1865 to '70” part of the quote. What is he referring to here? As far as I recall, and some browsing of Wiki doesn’t clarify it for me, there’s nothing particularly notable about the years 1865 to 1870. The MLB essentially started in either 1869, 1871 or 1876 depending on your point of view. Other forms of the game started at earlier dates, none of which are 1865. I suppose there could be something specific about Umpiring and those dates but damned if I can find it.
Also, the phrasing is a bit strange leading me to think he might not be referring to 1870 when he say’s “'70”. But that would deepen my confusion even more. Though using a range of 5 years to highlight the “start” of something is a pretty damned bizarre for a guy that ought to know trivia like this.
Anyone know what this means? Sloppy journalism? Was Selig just ballparking it on when umpiring may have started (and doing a bad job of it)? Anyone know when the first ump called a baseball game? Is there any reason to think that umps and bad calls would have begun in 1865 or 1870? Is there a different meaning to the “to 70” line that baseball historians understand that I’m (and the column editor) screwing up?
Edit: Also I suppose the crappy math about the 130 years part of the quote would tend towards the “Selig is an idiot” explanation.
