Baseball-reference.com is Wrong!!

I've found an error at Baseball-reference.com!

The site has become a bible of sorts for any baseball fan. It sure has made research easier for me and all bloggers.  But I found an odd mistake that is Cubs related and is repeated multiple times.

Here are the standings of the National League after games played on May 10, 1979, according to Baseball-reference.  It shows that the Cubs are in fourth place, 6½ games back, with a record of 13-12

Now look at the Tribune from May 11, 1979, which has  the standings as of the previous day, May 10.

The Cubs are seven games back, and 12-12.

So what gives?

Looks at the results for the day, which follow the standings.

The Cubs played the Reds on May 10 and the game was suspended because of darkness after nine innings.

The game was resumed the next time the Reds came to Wrigley, in late July.  The Cubs would eventually win the game in 18 innings on July 23.

Baseball-reference put the game in the Cubs win column as of May 10, hence their 13-12 record.  But in 1979, of course no one in May knew how the game would turn out.  So from May 10 - July 23, Baseball reference credits the Cubs with one more win than they actually had.

The same thing happens every time the Cubs had a game suspended because of darkness.  Here's an article from Bleedcubbieblue that chronicles some of the suspended because of darkness games.

And each time it happened, the Cubs record on Baseball-reference gets off by a game until the suspended game was eventually finished.  According to official baseball rules, Baseball-reference is technically correct; all stats from a suspended game are applied to the day the game started.

But since no one had a crystal ball and knew how the suspended games would turn out, I consider the newspapers correct and baseball-reference wrong.

So be careful using the site if you want to see where the Cubs were in the standings anytime in the 70s throught 1988.  You might  be off by a game.