This is a copy of an e-mail (3,000 character limit) I sent to the Marlins today, and for which a similar e-mail sent to Baseball-Reference.com, noting an error in the stats:

I keep my own set of stats for the purposes of measuring the effectiveness for players moving men on base. I periodically reconcile them with other sources as not having a feed, I have to key them in as the games progresses. It was during this reconciliation that I noted a difference, and believe I have found an error in MLB’s stats.

For Uggla, I had him hitting into 8 DPs, of which 7 were GIDP, and the 8th, on 7/27, an L6-5. However, MLB, Baseball-Reference.com and other sources only had Uggla with 6 GIDP. So, I finally went to the Baseball Reference game log for Uggla to see if I could find the discrepancy.

Baseball-Reference agreed on 6 of my 7 GIDP right off the top, with my having a DP and Baseball-Reference having a GIDP on 5/28, 5/31, 6/27, 7/24, 8/10, and 8/12. On 6/27, however, I had Uggla hitting into GIDPs in both the 6th and 7th, whereas Baseball-Reference only had him hitting into one GIDP. There is no problem with his GIDP in the 7th; all sources have that undisputed. But, he hit also hit into GIDP in the 6th, which Yahoo, MLB.com, and Baseball-Reference have all missed (and all only give the Marlins 2 outs that inning).

This is what Yahoo (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=300627128&page=plays) has, which agrees with both MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com. You can scroll down and also see a GIDP recorded in the 7th:

Bottom 6th: Florida
- J. Cantu singled to left
- D. Uggla grounded into fielder’s choice, J. Cantu out at second
- C. Ross doubled to deep right
- R. Paulino walked
- A. Cunningham in left field
- R. Webb relieved M. Latos
- E. Bonifacio singled to shallow left center, C. Ross scored, R. Paulino to second
- M. Lamb hit for A. Sanchez
- M. Lamb lined out to shortstop

1 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors
San Diego 2, Florida 1

Note that only 2 men, Cantu and Lamb were put out, and Uggla was never put out, but Ross, batting behind him, scored the one and only run that inning.

So, onto CBSSportsLine (http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/playbyplay/MLB_20100627_SD@FLA) as the tie-breaker in the dispute (and again, you can scroll down and see another GIDP in the 7th):

Marlins 6th
Mat Latos pitching:
Jorge Cantu : Ball, Cantu singled to left.
Dan Uggla : Foul, Ball, Strike swinging, Uggla grounded into double play second to shortstop to first, Cantu out at second.
Cody Ross : Ball, Strike swinging, Ross doubled to deep right.
Ronny Paulino : Foul, Ball, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Foul, Paulino walked
Aaron Cunningham in left.
Ryan Webb relieved Mat Latos.
Emilio Bonifacio : Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Bonifacio singled to center, Ross scored, Paulino to second
Mike Lamb hit for Anibal Sanchez.
Mike Lamb : Strike looking, Foul, Lamb lined out to shortstop.
End of Inning (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)

Glad to see the Marlins get their full allotment of 3 outs per inning.

Clearly Yahoo, and more surprisingly, MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com have bad data, missing the GIDP in the 6th.

Baseball-Reference is in agreement, but it gets a feed from MLB, and as part of the contract, is bound to mimic verbatim MLB’s stats. MLB has to make the change first, but the final box score is more than 24-hours old, and thus “official” by the rules. That is, unless it affects Greg Maddux’s ERA, in which case Selig respects the rules as much as Obama does the Constitution.