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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 26th, 2009 at 7:18 am and is filed under Uncategorized.
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I thought for sure that Pie would end up being Traynor.
On a more serious note, I know that one of the players referenced has died within the past year, but his page has not yet been updated with his date of death. I've noticed this from time to time concerning other recent deaths here. Is there a reluctance to make these updates? I can certainly understand that, although the names generally do make it to the "In Memoriam" list on the front page fairly quickly. In fact, sometimes the first news I get of some of these passings is by looking at this list.
DoubleDiamond, I don't know for sure how things like updating player deaths works, but here's my guess: there is a lot of day-to-day stuff that has to get done, especially during the season, to keep B-R up to date and running smoothly. Remember there are exhaustive daily database updates for player stats, team stats, etc. And there is no army of people at Sports-Reference working on this site--it's Sean, Neil, and whatever other help they need. My guess is that rather than rush to update player pages with death information and possibly make a mistake or overlook something else, Sean prefers to wait until the off-season each year so that he can take his time, get all the details exactly correct and make the changes without any time pressure.
Keep in mind that mistakes in information about birth, death, and other personal matters can be devastating to family members, especially if it propagates before being corrected. I *have* talked to Sean about these particular issues and I know that he's very sensitive to avoiding mistakes that can lead to upset of families. So my guess is that he is erring on the side of being cautious and absolutely correct rather than rushing and making the occasional odd mistake.
Andy, thanks for the explanation of the site updates. I can certainly understand the situation you have explained. And thanks for the clever links in the message.
November 26th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
It seems that there has never been a major leaguer born in Plymouth, MA.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Tom McCarthy and Mike Remlinger went to high school there.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
I thought for sure that Pie would end up being Traynor.
On a more serious note, I know that one of the players referenced has died within the past year, but his page has not yet been updated with his date of death. I've noticed this from time to time concerning other recent deaths here. Is there a reluctance to make these updates? I can certainly understand that, although the names generally do make it to the "In Memoriam" list on the front page fairly quickly. In fact, sometimes the first news I get of some of these passings is by looking at this list.
November 27th, 2009 at 9:56 am
DoubleDiamond, I don't know for sure how things like updating player deaths works, but here's my guess: there is a lot of day-to-day stuff that has to get done, especially during the season, to keep B-R up to date and running smoothly. Remember there are exhaustive daily database updates for player stats, team stats, etc. And there is no army of people at Sports-Reference working on this site--it's Sean, Neil, and whatever other help they need. My guess is that rather than rush to update player pages with death information and possibly make a mistake or overlook something else, Sean prefers to wait until the off-season each year so that he can take his time, get all the details exactly correct and make the changes without any time pressure.
Keep in mind that mistakes in information about birth, death, and other personal matters can be devastating to family members, especially if it propagates before being corrected. I *have* talked to Sean about these particular issues and I know that he's very sensitive to avoiding mistakes that can lead to upset of families. So my guess is that he is erring on the side of being cautious and absolutely correct rather than rushing and making the occasional odd mistake.
November 27th, 2009 at 9:56 am
I thought I'd mix it up with Pie 🙂
November 27th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Andy, thanks for the explanation of the site updates. I can certainly understand the situation you have explained. And thanks for the clever links in the message.