After some "digging" I've found the "fine print"! Your way is better, David! Thanks!
"3.06 DATE (cell):
(a) Years, months, and days are given by a figure of seven numerals in the form YYY/MM/DD, i.e. year/month/day (the year date running from 537 to 870 (i.e. 1538 to 1870, the thousands digit not being shown; the month date from 01 to 12; the day date running from 01 to 31).
(b) An omitted day of the month or month of the year is represented by YYY/MM/00 or YYY/00/DD respectively. The year, because often given in the record only in page or section headings and not repeated in each entry, is very occasionally uncertain (being omitted or lost in a damaged page), and is then given in the transcription as 333/MM/DD.
(c) The seven numerals may appear with or without the slashes (e.g. 808/02/29 or 8080229)."