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89-838: Baseball reference books that predate The Baseball Encyclopedia include the Baseball Cyclopedia , which was first released in 1922, and The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball , which was published during the 1950s and 1960s. These books included rudimentary player statistics, but major gaps existed in their coverage. Games played were tallied for all players, while batting average was provided for hitters and pitchers' win–loss records were listed. Other statistical categories were not provided by these books. Official baseball records and various publications had numerous errors and inconsistencies, which were most apparent with pre-1920 data. One publication by The Sporting News listed two different 1899 National League batting average leaders within

178-410: A 16-page span. By the mid-1960s, advances in computer technology allowed for a level of data collection that would support a project aimed at producing an accurate and comprehensive record book for MLB. Statistician David Neft , who had recently been hired by computer data processing company Information Concepts, Inc. (ICI), first proposed a new baseball encyclopedia in 1965. Two years later, he pitched

267-605: A batter, but was credited with an appearance because he had been announced as a substitute. Yount never appeared in (or actually played in) any other MLB game. Robert Parish has the NBA record for most regular season games played, with 1,611. A.C. Green has the NBA record for most consecutive games played, with 1,192. Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which encodes text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes , or dits and dahs . Morse code

356-462: A code became voiced as di . For example, the letter L (   ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄  ) is voiced as di dah di dit . Morse code was sometimes facetiously known as "iddy-umpty", a dit lampooned as "iddy" and a dah as "umpty", leading to the word " umpteen ". The Morse code, as specified in the current international standard, International Morse Code Recommendation , ITU-R  M.1677-1,

445-578: A code proficiency certification program that starts at 10  WPM . The relatively limited speed at which Morse code can be sent led to the development of an extensive number of abbreviations to speed communication. These include prosigns, Q codes , and a set of Morse code abbreviations for typical message components. For example, CQ is broadcast to be interpreted as "seek you" (I'd like to converse with anyone who can hear my signal). The abbreviations OM (old man), YL (young lady), and XYL ("ex-young lady" – wife) are common. YL or OM

534-416: A code system developed by Steinheil. A new codepoint was added for J since Gerke did not distinguish between I and J . Changes were also made to X , Y , and Z . This left only four codepoints identical to the original Morse code, namely E , H , K and N , and the latter two had their dahs extended to full length. The original American code being compared dates to 1838;

623-539: A codebook to look up each word according to the number which had been sent. However, the code was soon expanded by Alfred Vail in 1840 to include letters and special characters, so it could be used more generally. Vail estimated the frequency of use of letters in the English language by counting the movable type he found in the type-cases of a local newspaper in Morristown, New Jersey . The shorter marks were called "dots" and

712-634: A game despite not existing. One example was a Cleveland Blues player named Woodruff, who was credited with playing as a right fielder in a 1901 game. The player was actually Bob Wood , who was normally a catcher but made infrequent appearances as an outfielder; a telegraph operator incorrectly interpreted Morse code that read "Wood rf", leading to an error in the box score. An ad in The Sporting News claimed that The Baseball Encyclopedia took three-and-a-half years to research and develop, and that it cost $ 1.5 million to produce. Neft remarked that

801-431: A game, are included on a starting lineup card or are announced as an ex ante substitute, whether or not they play. For pitchers only, the statistic games pitched is used. A notable example of the application of the above rule is pitcher Larry Yount , who suffered an injury while throwing warmup pitches after being summoned as a reliever in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game on September 15, 1971. He did not face

890-464: A historian at the Baseball Hall of Fame , and his research provided an early foundation. Another boon to research efforts for the book came from ICI's acquisition of scrapbooks owned by steamship executive John Tattersall. His records included a full collection of box scores dating back to 1876, and a mostly complete daily statistics log that covered the period between 1876 and 1890. The data, however,

979-408: A method, an early forerunner to the modern International Morse code. The Morse system for telegraphy , which was first used in about 1844, was designed to make indentations on a paper tape when electric currents were received. Morse's original telegraph receiver used a mechanical clockwork to move a paper tape. When an electrical current was received, an electromagnet engaged an armature that pushed

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1068-485: A mostly positive reception from reviewers as well. The Baseball Encyclopedia received three separate reviews in The New York Times , by Jimmy Breslin , Christopher Lehmann-Haupt , and Leonard Koppett . Lehmann-Haupt described The Baseball Encyclopedia as "Big for a book, small for an amusement park." The large size of the book was a subject of discussion, as it was nicknamed "Big Mac". Breslin offered praise for

1157-545: A single set of records "without arbitrary division", but that the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), the dominant league from 1871 to 1875, would not be called a major league "due to its erratic scheduling and procedures." One issue the committee dealt with was the treatment of walks in the 1876 and 1887 seasons. In the former year they had been officially recorded as outs, and they had been ruled as base hits in 1887. The group opted against

1246-560: A slow data rate) than voice communication (roughly 2,400~2,800 Hz used by SSB voice ). Morse code is usually received as a high-pitched audio tone, so transmissions are easier to copy than voice through the noise on congested frequencies, and it can be used in very high noise / low signal environments. The fact that the transmitted power is concentrated into a very limited bandwidth makes it possible to use narrow receiver filters, which suppress or eliminate interference on nearby frequencies. The narrow signal bandwidth also takes advantage of

1335-487: A straight key was achieved in 1942 by Harry Turner ( W9YZE ) (d. 1992) who reached 35  WPM in a demonstration at a U.S. Army base. To accurately compare code copying speed records of different eras it is useful to keep in mind that different standard words (50 dit durations versus 60 dit durations) and different interword gaps (5 dit durations versus 7 dit durations) may have been used when determining such speed records. For example, speeds run with

1424-404: A stylus onto the moving paper tape, making an indentation on the tape. When the current was interrupted, a spring retracted the stylus and that portion of the moving tape remained unmarked. Morse code was developed so that operators could translate the indentations marked on the paper tape into text messages. In his earliest design for a code, Morse had planned to transmit only numerals, and to use

1513-571: A summary of games played by defensive position. NAPBBP participants also had stat registers, as did MLB managers. Other portions of The Baseball Encyclopedia included a section on baseball history and a listing of stat category leaders, which had single-season and career figures. Summaries and line scores were provided for all World Series contests and MLB All-Star Games . Another section, titled "The Teams and Their Players", had seasonal team rosters and stats, along with league standings and stat category leaders, for each year starting in 1876. Overall,

1602-512: A telegraph that printed the letters from a wheel of typefaces struck by a hammer. The American artist Samuel Morse , the American physicist Joseph Henry , and mechanical engineer Alfred Vail developed an electrical telegraph system. The simple "on or off" nature of its signals made it desirable to find a method of transmitting natural language using only electrical pulses and the silence between them. Around 1837, Morse therefore developed such

1691-446: A very simple and robust instrument. However, it was slow, as the receiving operator had to alternate between looking at the needle and writing down the message. In Morse code, a deflection of the needle to the left corresponded to a dit and a deflection to the right to a dah . The needle clicked each time it moved to the right or left. By making the two clicks sound different (by installing one ivory and one metal stop), transmissions on

1780-440: Is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. In association football , a game played is counted if a player is in the starting 11 , or if a reserve player enters the game before full-time . In baseball , the statistic applies to players, who prior to

1869-466: Is called Morse code today is actually somewhat different from what was originally developed by Vail and Morse. The Modern International Morse code, or continental code , was created by Friedrich Clemens Gerke in 1848 and initially used for telegraphy between Hamburg and Cuxhaven in Germany. Gerke changed nearly half of the alphabet and all of the numerals , providing the foundation for the modern form of

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1958-418: Is followed by a period of signal absence, called a space , equal to the dit duration. The letters of a word are separated by a space of duration equal to three dits , and words are separated by a space equal to seven dits . Morse code can be memorized and sent in a form perceptible to the human senses, e.g. via sound waves or visible light, such that it can be directly interpreted by persons trained in

2047-468: Is formed by a sequence of dits and dahs . The dit duration can vary for signal clarity and operator skill, but for any one message, once established it is the basic unit of time measurement in Morse code. The duration of a dah is three times the duration of a dit (although some telegraphers deliberately exaggerate the length of a dah for clearer signalling). Each dit or dah within an encoded character

2136-555: Is most popular among amateur radio operators, in the mode commonly referred to as " continuous wave " or "CW". Other, faster keying methods are available in radio telegraphy, such as frequency-shift keying (FSK). The original amateur radio operators used Morse code exclusively since voice-capable radio transmitters did not become commonly available until around 1920. Until 2003, the International Telecommunication Union mandated Morse code proficiency as part of

2225-461: Is named after Samuel Morse , one of the early developers of the system adopted for electrical telegraphy . International Morse code encodes the 26  basic Latin letters A to Z , one accented Latin letter ( É ), the Arabic numerals , and a small set of punctuation and procedural signals ( prosigns ). There is no distinction between upper and lower case letters. Each Morse code symbol

2314-434: Is not to be used. In the aviation service, Morse is typically sent at a very slow speed of about 5 words per minute. In the U.S., pilots do not actually have to know Morse to identify the transmitter because the dot/dash sequence is written out next to the transmitter's symbol on aeronautical charts. Some modern navigation receivers automatically translate the code into displayed letters. International Morse code today

2403-478: Is supposed to have higher readability for both robot and human decoders. Some programs like WinMorse have implemented the standard. Radio navigation aids such as VORs and NDBs for aeronautical use broadcast identifying information in the form of Morse Code, though many VOR stations now also provide voice identification. Warships, including those of the U.S. Navy , have long used signal lamps to exchange messages in Morse code. Modern use continues, in part, as

2492-416: Is taught "like a language", with each code perceived as a whole "word" instead of a sequence of separate dots and dashes, such as might be shown on a page. With the advent of tones produced by radiotelegraph receivers, the operators began to vocalize a dot as dit , and a dash as dah , to reflect the sounds of Morse code they heard. To conform to normal sending speed, dits which are not the last element of

2581-413: Is used by an operator when referring to the other operator (regardless of their actual age), and XYL or OM (rather than the expected XYM ) is used by an operator when referring to his or her spouse. QTH is "transmitting location" (spoken "my Q.T.H." is "my location"). The use of abbreviations for common terms permits conversation even when the operators speak different languages. Although

2670-675: The CODEX standard word and the PARIS standard may differ by up to 20%. Today among amateur operators there are several organizations that recognize high-speed code ability, one group consisting of those who can copy Morse at 60  WPM . Also, Certificates of Code Proficiency are issued by several amateur radio societies, including the American Radio Relay League . Their basic award starts at 10  WPM with endorsements as high as 40  WPM , and are available to anyone who can copy

2759-766: The Spirit of St. Louis were off the ground, Lindbergh was truly incommunicado and alone. Morse code in aviation began regular use in the mid-1920s. By 1928, when the first airplane flight was made by the Southern Cross from California to Australia, one of its four crewmen was a radio operator who communicated with ground stations via radio telegraph . Beginning in the 1930s, both civilian and military pilots were required to be able to use Morse code, both for use with early communications systems and for identification of navigational beacons that transmitted continuous two- or three-letter identifiers in Morse code. Aeronautical charts show

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2848-451: The 3,000 hit club , according to the book. Ty Cobb , who held MLB's career record for base hits at the time, had his total adjusted upward from 4,191 hits to 4,192. Among pitchers whose records were changed, Christy Mathewson , who had been tied for the most career wins by an NL pitcher with Grover Cleveland Alexander , had a reduction of six wins. Walter Johnson also had his win total lowered. Attracting more attention than those changes

2937-533: The Society for American Baseball Research was founded. The research done for the books was reflected in future compilations of stats. The first edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia served as a template which fellow encyclopedia Total Baseball was based upon. Various editions of that book were published between 1989 and 2004. Thorn has stated that he considers the websites Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet "descendants of The Baseball Encyclopedia ". Sean Forman,

3026-672: The Soviet Union , and in North Africa ; by the British Army in North Africa , Italy , and the Netherlands ; and by the U.S. Army in France and Belgium (in 1944), and in southern Germany in 1945. Radiotelegraphy using Morse code was vital during World War II , especially in carrying messages between the warships and the naval bases of the belligerents. Long-range ship-to-ship communication

3115-702: The prosign SK ("end of contact"). As of 2015 , the United States Air Force still trains ten people a year in Morse. The United States Coast Guard has ceased all use of Morse code on the radio, and no longer monitors any radio frequencies for Morse code transmissions, including the international medium frequency (MF) distress frequency of 500 kHz . However, the Federal Communications Commission still grants commercial radiotelegraph operator licenses to applicants who pass its code and written tests. Licensees have reactivated

3204-420: The spark gap system of transmission was dangerous and difficult to use, there had been some early attempts: In 1910, the U.S. Navy experimented with sending Morse from an airplane. However the first regular aviation radiotelegraphy was on airships , which had space to accommodate the large, heavy radio equipment then in use. The same year, 1910, a radio on the airship America was instrumental in coordinating

3293-411: The 10th, came out in 1996. Jeanine Bucek was the lead editor of that edition. IDG Books purchased the book's rights from Simon & Schuster , which had bought Macmillan. Wiley & Sons later obtained the rights from IDG, but no new editions were produced. The Baseball Encyclopedia was an influential publication in the field of baseball statistics. Shortly after the release of the first edition,

3382-698: The FCC eliminated the Morse code proficiency requirements from all amateur radio licenses. While voice and data transmissions are limited to specific amateur radio bands under U.S. rules, Morse code is permitted on all amateur bands: LF , MF low , MF high , HF , VHF , and UHF . In some countries, certain portions of the amateur radio bands are reserved for transmission of Morse code signals only. Because Morse code transmissions employ an on-off keyed radio signal, it requires less complex equipment than other radio transmission modes . Morse code also uses less bandwidth (typically only 100–150  Hz wide, although only for

3471-518: The International code used everywhere else, including all ships at sea and sailing in North American waters. Morse's version became known as American Morse code or railroad code , and is now almost never used, with the possible exception of historical re-enactments. In aviation , pilots use radio navigation aids. To allow pilots to ensure that the stations they intend to use are serviceable,

3560-626: The Second and First are renewed and become this lifetime license. For new applicants, it requires passing a written examination on electronic theory and radiotelegraphy practices, as well as 16  WPM code-group and 20  WPM text tests. However, the code exams are currently waived for holders of Amateur Extra Class licenses who obtained their operating privileges under the old 20  WPM test requirement. Morse codes of one version or another have been in use for more than 160 years — longer than any other electrical message encoding system. What

3649-539: The United States from the Federal Communications Commission . Demonstration of this ability was still required for the privilege to use the shortwave bands . Until 2000, proficiency at the 20  WPM level was required to receive the highest level of amateur license (Amateur Extra Class); effective April 15, 2000, in the FCC reduced the Extra Class requirement to 5  WPM . Finally, effective on February 23, 2007,

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3738-530: The amateur radio licensing procedure worldwide. However, the World Radiocommunication Conference of 2003 made the Morse code requirement for amateur radio licensing optional. Many countries subsequently removed the Morse requirement from their license requirements. Until 1991, a demonstration of the ability to send and receive Morse code at a minimum of five words per minute ( WPM ) was required to receive an amateur radio license for use in

3827-422: The attention the book paid to lesser-known players. More critical reviews focused on the changes made to the stats of historical players. In Sports Illustrated , sportswriter Robert Creamer called the adjustment of Mathewson's win total "illogical, historically invalid, and personally upsetting to Christy Mathewson fans." However, historian John Thorn later called the first edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia

3916-451: The best version. Five years later, in 1974, the second edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia was published. This release included statistics that had been updated through the 1973 season . However, it was reduced in size by more than 800 pages. This was accomplished by excluding statistical summaries for all retired batters with fewer than 25 at bats , and all retired pitchers with under 25 innings pitched and no wins or losses. A new editor

4005-516: The book "took seven hours to print ... but a year and a half to tell the computer what to do." Before the book's release, a five-person Special Baseball Records Committee was formed by MLB. This group had multiple meetings and discussed proposed corrections to players' stats, in addition to deciding how old rules would be interpreted. It also addressed the scope of which past leagues would be granted "major league" status. It ruled that 19th-century and modern major league records would be treated as part of

4094-463: The cards came back from overseas, ICI placed them in magnetic tape and data was sorted by an IBM 360 computer. The system allowed for teams' season statistics to be totaled, combined, and compared with the numbers kept by the leagues; inconsistencies were flagged by the computer and logged by Neft for investigation. Among the issues resolved was the existence of a small number of phantom ballplayers who had been recorded in box scores as appearing in

4183-574: The code is usually transmitted at the highest rate that the receiver is capable of decoding. Morse code transmission rate ( speed ) is specified in groups per minute , commonly referred to as words per minute . Early in the nineteenth century, European experimenters made progress with electrical signaling systems, using a variety of techniques including static electricity and electricity from Voltaic piles producing electrochemical and electromagnetic changes. These experimental designs were precursors to practical telegraphic applications. Following

4272-548: The code. After some minor changes to the letters and a complete revision of the numerals, International Morse Code was standardized by the International Telegraphy Congress in 1865 in Paris, and later became the standard adopted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Morse and Vail's final code specification, however, was only really used only for land-line telegraphy in the United States and Canada, with

4361-399: The contents of The Baseball Encyclopedia 's first edition totaled 2,337 pages; the book had a weight of six-and-a-half pounds. The first edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia was publicly unveiled at a New York City press conference on August 28, 1969, and released on September 10. Even at the $ 25 price point, it gained an audience, with sales of over 100,000 copies. The book attracted

4450-456: The discovery of electromagnetism by Hans Christian Ørsted in 1820 and the invention of the electromagnet by William Sturgeon in 1824, there were developments in electromagnetic telegraphy in Europe and America. Pulses of electric current were sent along wires to control an electromagnet in the receiving instrument. Many of the earliest telegraph systems used a single-needle system which gave

4539-475: The efficiency of transmission, Morse code was originally designed so that the duration of each symbol is approximately inverse to the frequency of occurrence of the character that it represents in text of the English language. Thus the most common letter in English, the letter E , has the shortest code – a single dit . Because the Morse code elements are specified by proportion rather than specific time durations,

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4628-414: The facility may instead transmit the signal TEST (   ▄▄▄    ▄    ▄ ▄ ▄    ▄▄▄  ), or the identification may be removed, which tells pilots and navigators that the station is unreliable. In Canada, the identification is removed entirely to signify the navigation aid

4717-475: The founder of Baseball-Reference.com, called it as an inspiration for the site's development, saying that the objective was "making the pages connectable." Neft cited the encyclopedia as having an effect in publicizing the statistical achievements of players like Addie Joss and Sam Thompson to Hall of Fame voters. In 2002, Sports Illustrated selected The Baseball Encyclopedia as one of the 100 greatest sports books. Games played Games played ( GP )

4806-603: The frequently used vowel O . Gerke changed many of the codepoints, in the process doing away with the different length dashes and different inter-element spaces of American Morse , leaving only two coding elements, the dot and the dash. Codes for German umlauted vowels and CH were introduced. Gerke's code was adopted in Germany and Austria in 1851. This finally led to the International Morse code in 1865. The International Morse code adopted most of Gerke's codepoints. The codes for O and P were taken from

4895-535: The holder to be chief operator on board a passenger ship. However, since 1999 the use of satellite and very high-frequency maritime communications systems ( GMDSS ) has made them obsolete. (By that point meeting experience requirement for the First was very difficult.) Currently, only one class of license, the Radiotelegraph Operator License, is issued. This is granted either when the tests are passed or as

4984-438: The idea to Bob Markel, Macmillan 's executive editor. Markel, a baseball fan, liked the concept and eventually Macmillan bought rights to The Baseball Encyclopedia , despite concerns by company president Jeremiah Kaplan about the proposed $ 25 price of the book. Neft assumed the role of editor-in-chief. In 1965, Neft sought out research assistance by putting help wanted ads in The Sporting News , which yielded four assistants. It

5073-525: The identifier of each navigational aid next to its location on the map. In addition, rapidly moving field armies could not have fought effectively without radiotelegraphy; they moved more quickly than their communications services could put up new telegraph and telephone lines. This was seen especially in the blitzkrieg offensives of the Nazi German Wehrmacht in Poland , Belgium , France (in 1940),

5162-409: The later American code shown in the table was developed in 1844. In the 1890s, Morse code began to be used extensively for early radio communication before it was possible to transmit voice. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most high-speed international communication used Morse code on telegraph lines, undersea cables, and radio circuits. Although previous transmitters were bulky and

5251-443: The longer ones "dashes", and the letters most commonly used were assigned the shortest sequences of dots and dashes. This code, first used in 1844, was what later became known as Morse landline code , American Morse code , or Railroad Morse , until the end of railroad telegraphy in the U.S. in the 1970s. In the original Morse telegraph system, the receiver's armature made a clicking noise as it moved in and out of position to mark

5340-501: The natural aural selectivity of the human brain, further enhancing weak signal readability. This efficiency makes CW extremely useful for DX (long distance) transmissions , as well as for low-power transmissions (commonly called " QRP operation ", from the Q-code for "reduce power"). There are several amateur clubs that require solid high speed copy, the highest of these has a standard of 60  WPM . The American Radio Relay League offers

5429-470: The needed information. This process took two years to complete. The Baseball Encyclopedia was an early example of computer software being used in the book publication process. Author Alan Schwarz credits it as the first book with computer typesetting (excluding phone books). Every player's data were individually compiled on sheets of paper, with the information coded into punch cards by a firm in Israel. Once

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5518-410: The next several versions. By 1982, when the fifth edition came out, sales had surpassed 250,000. Jeff Neumann, one of the book's editors, later said that editions consistently sold 50,000 copies while he was involved with The Baseball Encyclopedia 's production, and that it was "a very profitable enterprise" for Macmillan. Aiding the publisher was an agreement it had made with the researchers before

5607-494: The old California coastal Morse station KPH and regularly transmit from the site under either this call sign or as KSM. Similarly, a few U.S. museum ship stations are operated by Morse enthusiasts. Morse code speed is measured in words per minute ( WPM ) or characters per minute ( CPM ). Characters have differing lengths because they contain differing numbers of dits and dahs . Consequently, words also have different lengths in terms of dot duration, even when they contain

5696-517: The original book was released, which allowed Macmillan to avoid making any royalty payments. Eventually, ICI went under and Macmillan gained full ownership of The Baseball Encyclopedia . After the release of the 1988 edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia , Reichler died and was succeeded by Rick Wolff . In 1990, the eighth edition came out. Along with updates that brought the number of MLB players covered to more than 13,000, six fielding statistics were newly added to players' summaries, which necessitated

5785-424: The original interpretations, electing to use modern rules, under which walks did not count as hits or outs. Cap Anson was one player whose statistical record was affected by this change. Having previously been listed with nearly 3,500 lifetime hits, he lost 60 hits from walks during the 1887 season and 423 pre-1876 hits, which were not counted by The Baseball Encyclopedia . These changes left Anson five hits short of

5874-466: The others 16  WPM code group test (five letter blocks sent as simulation of receiving encrypted text) and 20  WPM code text (plain language) test. It was also necessary to pass written tests on operating practice and electronics theory. A unique additional demand for the First Class was a requirement of a year of experience for operators of shipboard and coast stations using Morse. This allowed

5963-408: The paper tape. Early telegraph operators soon learned that they could translate the clicks directly into dots and dashes, and write these down by hand, thus making the paper tape unnecessary. When Morse code was adapted to radio communication , the dots and dashes were sent as short and long tone pulses. Later telegraphy training found that people become more proficient at receiving Morse code when it

6052-528: The press had paid attention. Regardless, the changes were noticed by MLB, which decided to no longer officially endorse The Baseball Encyclopedia . Three years later, the non-endorsed ninth edition was published. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was given a section in the book, a first for The Baseball Encyclopedia . With the advent of the Internet, the need for baseball reference books diminished. The final version of The Baseball Encyclopedia ,

6141-527: The rescue of its crew. During World War I , Zeppelin airships equipped with radio were used for bombing and naval scouting, and ground-based radio direction finders were used for airship navigation. Allied airships and military aircraft also made some use of radiotelegraphy. However, there was little aeronautical radio in general use during World War I , and in the 1920s, there was no radio system used by such important flights as that of Charles Lindbergh from New York to Paris in 1927. Once he and

6230-415: The researchers for The Baseball Encyclopedia . The record committee initially voted to credit the batters with home runs, which would have increased Ruth's career tally to 715. The decision brought a negative fan reaction and controversy in the press. Journalist Robert Lipsyte cited the change as an example of " historical revisionism " and nicknamed the researchers the "Revisionist Police". Another critic

6319-538: The same number of characters. For this reason, some standard word is adopted for measuring operators' transmission speeds: Two such standard words in common use are PARIS and CODEX . Operators skilled in Morse code can often understand ("copy") code in their heads at rates in excess of 40  WPM . In addition to knowing, understanding, and being able to copy the standard written alpha-numeric and punctuation characters or symbols at high speeds, skilled high-speed operators must also be fully knowledgeable of all of

6408-826: The single needle device became audible as well as visible, which led in turn to the Double Plate Sounder System. William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone in Britain developed an electrical telegraph that used electromagnets in its receivers. They obtained an English patent in June ;1837 and demonstrated it on the London and Birmingham Railway, making it the first commercial telegraph. Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Eduard Weber (1833) as well as Carl August von Steinheil (1837) used codes with varying word lengths for their telegraph systems. In 1841, Cooke and Wheatstone built

6497-560: The skill. Morse code is usually transmitted by on-off keying of an information-carrying medium such as electric current, radio waves, visible light, or sound waves. The current or wave is present during the time period of the dit or dah and absent during the time between dits and dahs . Since many natural languages use more than the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet , Morse alphabets have been developed for those languages, largely by transliteration of existing codes. To increase

6586-683: The special unwritten Morse code symbols for the standard Prosigns for Morse code and the meanings of these special procedural signals in standard Morse code communications protocol . International contests in code copying are still occasionally held. In July 1939 at a contest in Asheville, North Carolina in the United States, Theodore Roosevelt McElroy ( W1JYN ) set a still-standing record for Morse copying, 75.2  WPM . Pierpont (2004) also notes that some operators may have passed 100  WPM . By this time, they are "hearing" phrases and sentences rather than words. The fastest speed ever sent by

6675-535: The stations transmit a set of identification letters (usually a two-to-five-letter version of the station name) in Morse code. Station identification letters are shown on air navigation charts. For example, the VOR-DME based at Vilo Acuña Airport in Cayo Largo del Sur, Cuba is identified by " UCL ", and Morse code UCL is repeatedly transmitted on its radio frequency. In some countries, during periods of maintenance,

6764-519: The stats of big-name players were made, but not those that required subtractions. This process continued in later editions, making the book less accurate. Sports Illustrated 's Jonathan Yardley criticized the second edition for its size reduction, suggesting that updated player stats should have been released in a supplement to the original book. Starting in 1976, new editions of the Baseball Encyclopedia were released every three years for

6853-469: The traditional telegraph key (straight key) is still used by some amateurs, the use of mechanical semi-automatic keyers (informally called "bugs"), and of fully automatic electronic keyers (called "single paddle" and either "double-paddle" or "iambic" keys) is prevalent today. Software is also frequently employed to produce and decode Morse code radio signals. The ARRL has a readability standard for robot encoders called ARRL Farnsworth spacing that

6942-650: The transmitted text. Members of the Boy Scouts of America may put a Morse interpreter's strip on their uniforms if they meet the standards for translating code at 5  WPM . Through May 2013, the First, Second, and Third Class (commercial) Radiotelegraph Licenses using code tests based upon the CODEX standard word were still being issued in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission. The First Class license required 20  WPM code group and 25  WPM text code proficiency,

7031-427: The use of larger pages. A directory with information for over 130 Negro league players active from 1920 to 1950 was also included, as was information on teams' home and away records and streaks. For this version, Wolff elected to rely heavily on the database from the first edition, rejecting adjustments made under Reichler that were not backed by firm proof. Numerous changes were made to historical statistics; among them

7120-400: Was MLB public relations director Joe Reichler , a member of the committee who had been absent from the meeting where the home run ruling was voted upon. Reichler said that changing historical regulations was not meant to be within the committee's remit. He successfully pushed for a second vote on the topic and persuaded two other committee members to oppose the measure. By a 3–2 vote, the change

7209-477: Was a rule interpretation that would have altered a well-known record: Babe Ruth 's total of 714 career home runs. In a 1918 game, Ruth had a game-ending hit which would have been scored as a home run under modern rules, as the ball went over the outfield wall. Because there was a runner on base who had advanced three bases, Ruth was given a triple. Thirty-seven hits that would have counted as home runs under modern scoring guidelines, including Ruth's, were discovered by

7298-435: Was by radio telegraphy, using encrypted messages because the voice radio systems on ships then were quite limited in both their range and their security. Radiotelegraphy was also extensively used by warplanes , especially by long-range patrol planes that were sent out by navies to scout for enemy warships, cargo ships, and troop ships. Morse code was used as an international standard for maritime distress until 1999 when it

7387-408: Was derived from a much-improved proposal by Friedrich Gerke in 1848 that became known as the "Hamburg alphabet", its only real defect being the use of an excessively long code (   ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄  and later the equal duration code   ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄  ) for

7476-421: Was eventually determined that, to provide the greatest amount of accuracy possible, daily statistics for all players would have to be recreated. ICI sought to use box score information from MLB games played since 1876 to create a statistical database , which would be utilized in making files for all players and managers. Biographical details for approximately 5,000 players had already been compiled by Lee Allen ,

7565-403: Was not sufficient to calculate stats that had not been tracked contemporaneously, such as earned run average , runs batted in , and saves . To permit these categories to be deduced for each season, Neft's research team consulted newspaper accounts of old games, focusing on the 1876–1919 period. The research team ultimately expanded to 21 people, who went to libraries throughout the U.S. to obtain

7654-481: Was overturned, leaving Ruth with 714 home runs. Close to 75% of the first edition was devoted to statistical records of MLB players. Over 10,000 players had their stats included in The Baseball Encyclopedia , with coverage dating to 1876. Pitchers had 19 different categories of statistics, while batters had 17. Seven of the pitchers' categories specifically covered relievers , and position players received

7743-514: Was reducing Honus Wagner 's career hit total by 12, which was enough to cost him two percentage points from his career batting average and drop him one place on the all-time hit list. Media members were strongly critical of the edits. Jerome Holtzman of the Chicago Tribune said they were "tampering with baseball's most sacred text." Schwarz later disagreed with Holtzman's viewpoint, saying that Reichler had been responsible for adjustments before

7832-533: Was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System . When the French Navy ceased using Morse code on January 31, 1997, the final message transmitted was "Calling all. This is our last call before our eternal silence." In the United States the final commercial Morse code transmission was on July 12, 1999, signing off with Samuel Morse's original 1844 message, WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT , and

7921-419: Was required as Neft had stopped working for ICI. Reichler was hired by Macmillan for the position; Schwarz saw him as wanting to "please his bosses at MLB", who were dissatisfied with the changes to player statistics that had been incorporated into the first edition. For the 1974 version, Reichler reversed many of the previous changes. Schwarz noted a pattern in which adjustments that would result in additions to

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