Althoughbaseballfeels like an American institution , it ’s much more of an American evolution . The story of Abner Doubleday " contrive " the game in 1839 by drawing a infield in the poop at Cooperstown , New York is itself an invention [ source : Miklich ] . The game of " base ball " had been play for most a century by the sentence of Doubleday ’s purported divine guidance . The truth is that baseball was n’t invented by anyone , but evolved from live mutation and was codified over the centuries into a serial publication of official principle .
One of the earlier mention of " base ball " is happen in the diary of Englishman William Bray , born in 1736 [ source : MLB.com ] . In an entering dated March 31 , 1755 , Bray writes , " run to Stoke church building this morn . After dinner party , went to Miss Jeale ’s to play at Qaeda testis with her the 3 Miss Whiteheads , Miss Billinghurst , Miss Molly Flutter , Mr. Chandler , Mr. Ford and H. Parsons . Drankteaand stay til 8 . "
The other game almost for certain evolved fromrounders , a popularBritish ball - and - stick sportthat is still enjoy by English school day girlfriend . Rounders closely resemble baseball , but differs in the details . Like baseball game , there are nine players to a side , but libertine use just reefer for bases , the twirler confound underhand , the batter swing with one hand , and mates last five to seven innings [ source : MLB.com ] . Still , the organic evolution from libertine to baseball is a straight line .
In the later eighteenth C , baseball took theme in America . common people in New York , Pennsylvania and Massachusetts each played their own regional variation of the game . In Massachusetts , for example , every hit was fair and runners did n’t have to stick to a straight path between bases , making for some fun outfield fly the coop - downs . A mutation on the more sober New York game finally won out and its rules were codified at the First Base Ball Convention , view as in New York in 1858 .
Still , the game that was play in the 1850s would be almost unrecognizable to modern baseball fans . In this article , we ’ll get across the 5 major rule changes that have forge the evolution of America ’s favorite pastime .
5: Called Strikes
The call strike seems like such a fundamental part ofbaseball , that it ’s intemperate to imagine a prison term when it did n’t exist . But the early game that germinate from rounders and other ball - and - stick summercater pass on important reward to the batter . Pitchersnot only threw underhand – more about that on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page – but batters could sit back and wait for their perfect auction pitch before even attempting a swing music . Apparently this bore the knickers off of enough players and spectators that the call strike was among the new rules passed at the First Base Ball Convention in 1858 [ source : Miklich ] .
But even the called strike amount with some generous caveat . For example , an ump could n’t just call out " strike " at the first good - look pitch . He would cut a warning first . Perhaps something like , " Pardon me for obtrude , my safe serviceman , but that last one looked rather on butt , if you ask me . deliberate thyself under advisement that I will feel it necessary to call a similar sales talk as a strike , of which you get three . Fair enough ? " Even more gentlemanly , the umpire was prohibited from call a strike on the very first pitch , unless the batter swung and miss [ germ : Miklich ] .
To add to the silliness , all the agency until 1886 batters could " call " their pitch [ source : Miklich ] . Before tread into the slugger ’s box , the batter would ask the pitcher for either a " gamy ball " or a " low ball . " To qualify as a strike , a high ball needed to be both over the plate and between the batter ’s waist and berm . A modest ball postulate to expire over the denture between the batsman ’s articulatio genus and waist . The batter had to choose one or the other and could n’t shift his head during the middle of his bout at bat .
In 1887 , the high and low bang zones were combined into a single zone that gallop from knees to shoulders . The strike zone has undergone several alterations in the ensue year . Currently , the prescribed MLB convention position the top of the strike zona at halfway between the top of the shoulders and the waist of the uniform . The bottom of the strike zone is not the knees ( because that would be too normal ) , but the " empty beneath the knee cap , " aka the knee orchestra pit [ source : MLB.com ] .
4: Overhand Pitching
Here ’s an interesting trivia titbit for you , courtesy of David Nemec , one of the foremostbaseballhistorians and chronicler of the sport : Major Leaguepitchersdon’t have to throw overhand [ author : Nemec ] . There is absolutely nothing in the rule book that impose any restriction on how a pitcher can pitch , other than the bans on spit ball , scuffs and all that " balk " business organization . If a pitcher was curious , he could loft a few toward the plate in a " granny"-style underhand arc , but he might get discouraged after the fifth or sixth sequential home run .
Underhand pitching , in fact , used to be the only game in township . As we mentioned on the old page , the other daylight of baseball game were a hitter ’s promised land . The pitcher ’s role was simply to toss the ball into turn . The actual game was between the hitter and the fielder [ source : James ] . If a pitcher attempt to throw too fast , he ’d be booed off the village green . Not only were pitchers not permit to throw overhand , but they had to flip the ball with a stiff cubital joint and wrist .
It was n’t until 1884 that the National League voted to lift the ban on overhand pitching . The American League allowed pitcher to expend a limited sidearm in 1884 , as long as their hand did n’t lift above the berm during release , but then raise all restrictions on shift in 1885 [ beginning : Baseball Almanac ] .
3: The One-Bounce Rule
This next rule voice like something your mom coerce you to do when your six - twelvemonth - old nephew wanted to bring together the enceinte kids ' kickball game . Incredibly , all the room until 1864 , fielder were allowed to " catch " a musician out on one bound . Yup , you could either assay to captivate the glob on the fly , or wait for it to take a dull and safer hop . Both counted as an out , and one - record hop fielders were n’t even laughed out of the conference .
The understanding for the one - bounce rule was that thebaseballglove had yet to be invent . The very first gloves were slow adopt by catcher in the 1880s , and the first " pillow - type " catcher ’s glove was n’t invented until 1888 . The first mention of boxing glove in the official rule book did n’t come until 1895 . If you ’ve never caught a telephone circuit drive with your bare hired man , you ’re in dependable society . Nobody does it because it ’s really grievous . You could break digits or even your wrist . In the utter absence of baseball mitt , the one - hops rule look a lot less wimpy .
Even after the one - bounce was abolished for fair balls , fielders were still allowed to catch revolting testicle on a bounce all the mode until 1882 in the National League and 1885 in the American League [ source : Nemec ] .
2: End of the Dead Ball Era
In 1919 , Babe Ruth shock thebaseballworld by becoming the first thespian to hit 29 place runs in a time of year . Prior to Ruth ’s plosion at the plate , most batters had employed a dull , more strategical swing to bring on bingle and doubles that would advance the runners . Ruth famously swung for the fences every clock time and had the stats to prove it , despite the wretched condition of the game ball in 1919 .
What does the game ballock have to do with it ? The twelvemonth traverse 1900 to 1919 are known in baseball history circles as the " Dead Ball " era . Why was the ball " idle ? " Some historians point to the materials used to construct the orchis itself . The rubber essence of the ball was replaced with cork in 1910 , and Australian yarn replaced American yarn in 1920 . But those change were unlikely to produce the variety of home test onslaught that broke out in 1920 [ reference : Rader ] .
Instead , it was a rule alteration that end the Dead Ball earned run average . In February 1920 , the principle were changed to formally blackball all " furbish up " pitch , admit spit balls , scuffed clump , sand balls and any other trick pitch . Imagine the experimental condition of a ball that had been manhandled and literally licked by a half - dozen pitchers over the course of a game . And remember , back in the Dead Ball earned run average , it was customary to habituate the same ball all game long . Even loathly balls to the bleacher were routinely tossed back into play [ source : Wright ] .
Not only were balls clean , livelier and easier to see after the 1920 rule change , but there were more of them . In August 1920 , Cleveland Indian Ray Chapman was struck in the head word by a pitch shot that he never saw . He fall behind the dark , soggy ball after it left Yankee twirler Carl Mays ' hired man . The impact fractured Chapman ’s skull and he pass away the next twenty-four hour period [ source : Wright ] . Chapman ’s death – still the only of its form in Major League Baseball history – prompted a newfangled edict for umpires to often replace the secret plan ball with a new , uninfected ball .
Pitcherscomplained about the difficultness of gripping the impertinent testis , but batters savor the alteration . enliven by the big swings of the Babe and armed with cleaner , bouncy Lucille Ball , strikeout slay an all - sentence low in the 1920s , eight batters achieved a .400 batten norm , and abode runs soar . Ruth himself arrive at 54 in the 1920 time of year and 59 in 1922 [ beginning : Baseball Almanac ] . The Lively Ball era had begun .
Under current MLB rules , the rest home team must provide the arbitrator with a ready reserve of at least 12 unused game balls with the showy sheen rubbed off . The umpire must keep two alternating balls on his person at all meter , and ball are replaced when the ball is batted into the stand , the ball becomes " discolored , " or the ewer requests a new one [ source : MLB.com ] .
1: The Designated Hitter
No rule modification inbaseball has caused more controversyamong fans and baseball traditionalists than the designated batter principle , adopted by the American League in 1973 . The reason for the rule change was simple : money . For eld , the American League had been sluggish on offensive activity [ generator : McKelvey ] . Mostbaseballfans do n’t require to drop dependable money on tickets to see a 1 - 0 outing with three hits and no household runs . If you could improve the nauseating output , the line of reasoning goes , you will sell more tickets . But how do you hike up batting average overnight ? Ditch the pitcher .
It has been statistically proven that the worst offensive performers on every baseball game team – in both league – are the pitchers . mound are groom and enter for a very specific science : hurl a lump upwards of 90 miles ( 144.8 kilometers ) per minute toward a shrinking smasher zone . They do n’t spend much time in the batter ’s box , and they commonly have the .154 batten norm to establish it . For year , some major league owners want to bump the pitcher from the lineup altogether and replace him with a designated hitter , a cat whose sole task was to cream . The National League owners repeatedly strike down the DH , but in 1973 , after a four - class trial period of time in the minors , the American League voted yes .
Designated batter had an straightaway effect on the game . The very first major league DH to take the arena was the Minnesota Twins ' Larry Eugene Hisle during a 1973 preseason secret plan against the Pittsburgh Pirates . Hisle hit a three - run homer and followed it with a opulent slam [ source : Nilsson ] .
Baseball purists proceed to argue that the designated slugger convention sullies the integrity of the sport by adding a tenth world to a nine - man game . But it remains the most significant difference between American League and National League play . During the World Series , the destine hitter rule only applies to games played in an American League stadium [ source : Dodd ] . Same for interleague regular time of year sport , which begin in 1997 . begin in 2011 , every All - Star Game now uses the designate hitter formula , no matter the positioning .
For deal more info on baseball game and other American traditions , explore the have-to doe with liaison on the next Thomas Nelson Page .
Lots More Information
My lifetime would have been a lot unlike if I had been born in the 1830s instead of the seventies . On the downside , I may not have go my babyhood due to inveterate ear infections . And there ’s the whole lack - of - indoor plumbery matter , which is kind of flagrant . But on the plus side , I would have been a much undecomposed baseball player . I cease little league baseball in the 5th form because I was disgusted of the opposing teams ' pitchers using my head as target practice . Each of these overgrown 11 - year - olds think they were the next Roger Clemens and hurled the orchis with reckless fury in the general focussing of home plate . If we were playing the 19th century plot , the pitchers would be tossing gentle underhand lob , something I could really wham . If not for my almost certain demise in the Civil War , I ’d be room my mystic clip machine tomorrow .
