As 2 million runs approach, it all started with the Atlanta Braves

Baseball milestones are fun — especially when you don’t know how they’ll end.  However, in this case, it all started from an Atlanta Braves ancestor.

While we’ve been a lot more immersed into the trials and triumphs of our Atlanta Braves this season, there’s an interesting major league baseball milestone that’s going to happen within the next couple of weeks.

Baseball’s two millionth run scored.

Immediately, you might be thinking “really?” The next thought might be “how do they know that?”

Admittedly, there are some fairly sketchy records in the history of this game — particularly when you reach back before 1900.  That does lead to some differences of opinion on the subject.

• Elias Sports – the “official” record on this subject – thinks that run #2,000,000 will likely happen on Wednesday or Thursday this week (May 26-27).
• Baseball-reference.com has a few more runs tabulated — they are 97 higher.  Thus by their reckoning, Wednesday might be the day.

There is some history, though, that identifies the very first major league baseball run scored.

Here’s the account, as given by David Waldstein of the New York Times (emphasis added):

In baseball’s official accounting, the first run scored in the lineage of today’s Major League Baseball came on April 22, 1876. According to new research this month conducted by Thorn, the run was plated by Tim McGinley, a catcher for the Boston Red Stockings, the forebears of today’s Atlanta Braves. Historians are not certain whether he batted right- or left-handed, but we know he scored in the top of the second inning at Philadelphia, as Boston beat the Athletics (no relation to the current club), 6-5, in the first game of the first season (as recognized by M.L.B.).

Huh.  The Braves — then under the name Red Stockings — started it all.  There’s a fun bit of trivia to hand onto.

The wild part about this story, though, is about the different ways that MLB handled the millionth run vs. this new 2 million milestone — it’s like night and day.

Run one million… Atlanta was involved here, too

Baseball’s millionth run came on May 4, 1975 — 99 years and 12 days after run #1.  I suppose it says a lot that the second million will be completed just 46 years later, but having grown the sport to 30 teams, that’s the obvious reason for the accelerated pace.

In 1975, though, MLB heard about this million mark and immediately went into Marketing Mode.  They got sponsors (Tootsie Roll and Seiko).  They installed “countdown clocks” in every stadium.  They promoted the heck out of it.  The players actually bought into the fun, too.

MLB even set up a phone system by which “spotters” would be reporting live run-scoring details… just in case there might be an issue with determining who scored run 1,000,000.

That phone system turned out to be a vital necessity on May 4th.

You may already have known that Houston’s Bob Watson is credited with run 1,000,000.  What you may not know is just how many other players were oh-so-close to the distinction.

According to various reports…

• In their 6th inning, the Indians had John Lowenstein on second base.  A pickoff attempt failed (E1) to move him to third base with 1 out and (reportedly) 999,999 runs on the board.  Two groundouts later, he was left stranded.
• The Yankees had the bases loaded with 1 out in their 4th inning.  Future Brave Chris Chambliss was on third.  A bouncer to first base resulted in a forceout at the plate.  A strikeout then ended the inning, which stranded Thurman Munson at third.
• Here’s the play I wanted to see:  in the second inning of the Twins/Royals game, speedy Rod Carew was on third with nobody out.  A fly out to right field resulted in a double play — somehow, Carew was thrown out at the plate.

But it came down to a Houston/Giants game vs. a Reds/Braves game… yep, the Braves were involved (kinda).