Pirates 1B Will Craig has company when it comes to losing -- or using -- your head in a baseball game

May 28—You think Will Craig feels bad?

Will Craig, meet Fred Merkle, Al Martin, Milton Bradley and Jose Canseco.

Baseball players have been having brain hiccups for more than 100 years. Here are a few:

Merkle's Boner

At least Craig's gaffe Thursday at PNC Park won't cost the Pittsburgh Pirates a pennant.

Merkle's play happened in 1908 with two of the teams that were part of Thursday's game, the Pirates and Chicago Cubs, fighting for the pennant with the New York Giants in the waning days of the season.

The incident, which went down in baseball history as "Merkle's Boner," involved a bad case of lumbago (back pain to you youngsters), "merry villagers" flocking onto the field at the Polo Grounds and a lost baseball.

Merkle, a 19-year-old Giants rookie, made his first start that day, Sept. 23, against the Cubs because regular first baseman Fred Tenney woke up that morning with a touch of the lumbago.

Bottom of the ninth, two outs, game tied, 1-1, Giants runners on first (Merkle) and third (Moose McCormick).

Al Bridwell singled off Jack Pfiester, scoring McCormick. But Merkle didn't bother touching second, unaware of baseball rule 4.09, which states a run can't score if there's a force play that ends the inning elsewhere — the same rule that would have been enforced Thursday if the Pirates had completed the out at first base.

Just like Javier Baez 113 years later, Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers knew 4.09, called for the ball to get the force out and negate McCormick's run.

But was it the actual ball that Bridwell hit?

As the New York Times wrote, "McCormick trots home, the merry villagers flock on the field to worship the hollow where the Mathewson feet (Christy, Giants Hall of Fame pitcher) have pressed and all of a sudden there is doings at second base."

Years later, Sports Illustrated writer Tim Layden was even more descriptive.

Wrote Layden: "Once it (the ball) was thrown in, it might have been intercepted by Giants pitcher Joe "Iron Man" McGinnity, who was coaching third base that day, and McGinnity might have lost it to charging Cubs players or thrown it into the stands, where the Cubs retrieved it, possibly by decking a fan in a bowler hat. Then again, the recovered ball might not have been the one that Bridwell struck."

In those days, fans were allowed onto the field after games to mingle with their heroes, and the ensuing pandemonium and gathering darkness compelled umpire Hank O'Day to suspend play — after he called Merkle out at second base.

The game was replayed two weeks later, and the Cubs won 4-2, claiming the National League pennant by one game over the Giants and Pirates.

Merkle went on to have a 16-year career and played in five World Series (losing them all). Giants manager John McGraw described him as "shrewd and aggressive." His teammates considered him "a highly intelligent player," according to an article in the Society for American Baseball Research.

Yet, the unkind nickname "Bonehead" stuck. After retiring, he became a minor-league manager and umpire, but quit both jobs on separate occasions when someone shouted "Bonehead" at him.

The story does have a happy ending, though. In 1950, he returned to the Polo Grounds for an Old Timer's Day and was given a loud ovation by the fans. All was forgiven.

As former ESPN anchor Keith Olbermann wrote: "Merkle and the fans made peace with one another. The pain was relieved, the blame absolved."

He died six years later, at the age of 67.

Martin was too careful

Actually, the Pirates' Al Martin did something right when he failed to score from third base on Kevin Young's single May 10, 1998, at Three Rivers Stadium.

He held up, making sure the ball was safely through the Cincinnati Reds' infield — just like you're taught in Little League.

With one out and the score tied 3-3 in the ninth inning, Young singled to right field off reliever Jeff Shaw for an apparent RBI with Martin on third base.

But right fielder Jon Nunnally fielded the ball on one hop and came up throwing. Television replays indicated Martin dived in under catcher Eddie Taubensee's tag, but umpire Larry Vanover called him out.

Why was the play so close?

Initially, Martin started to break for home, then took a few steps back toward third.

"I know people will say I did the wrong thing and should have scored, but I know what I did was right," Martin told the Trib's Joe Ruttter.

Manager Gene Lamont wasn't so sure.

In a terse, post-game synopsis, Lamont said, "Al started to go back to the base and he shouldn't have."

Martin defended his decision to hesitate and his insistence that he beat the tag.

"You always freeze on a line drive," he said. "You don't know if the guy has a chance to catch it or not, so you freeze. I froze and Nunnally made a great throw.

"I was safe. I didn't feel the glove touch me. I thought I was clearly in there. The whole front half of my body was in there. It was pretty blatant."

Bradley loses his head

On June 12, 2009, the Cubs' Milton Bradley didn't bother counting the outs in the eighth inning of a game against the Minnesota Twins. When he caught Joe Mauer's flyball, he casually threw the ball into the right field bleachers at Wrigley Field.

Nice gesture, but that was only the second out of the inning. The play was ruled a sacrifice fly, the Twins' Nick Punto scored from third base and Bradley was given a throwing error.

The Twins' lead grew to 6-3 on the way to a 7-4 victory.

Canseco uses his head

Jose Canseco played 17 seasons for seven teams and hit 462 home runs. Sadly, he is best remembered for admitted steroid use and misjudging a fly ball.

Canseco was playing right field for the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Stadium on May 26, 1993 — 28 years and one day before Craig's boo-boo.

In the fourth inning, Carlos Martinez of the Indians lofted a fly ball off the Rangers' Kenny Rogers that Canseco seemed to be settling under comfortably. He was under it so squarely, however, that it hit him in the head and bounced over the fence for a home run. The Indians went on to win, 7-6.

If he had caught it, Canseco would have retired with 2,004 career putouts, instead of 2,003.

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .