Early evolution of the rules of baseball

From SABR Encyclopedia

Latest revision as of 22:39, 14 April 2010

[edit] The Knickerbocker Rules of 1845

The key rules can be thought of as:

• The field is what we now call diamond-shaped, with 4 bases that is 30 "paces" apart
• A match is decided by which team has the higher score at the end of a full inning in which one team has reached 21 "counts, or aces"
• Three outs define a half-inning
• Fair hits are those within the 90-degree fair territory, with no base advancement by batters or runners on foul hits
• Runners cannot be put out by plugging them with thrown balls
• Three strikes retires a batter
• A ball caught on the fly or on the first bounce retires the batter -- the "bound rule"
• Deliveries to a batter are "pitches," not throws, implying underhand deliveries

Apparently, the custom of using teams of nine players in the early 1850s, but a formal rule was not adopted until 1858

Many common baseball terms, including "run" and "inning" are absent in these first rule, as are the size of a team, the pitching distance, and several running rules, including the idea of forceouts, tagging up, and stealing.

There is a reprint of the original set of Knickerbocker rules at 19cbaseball.com: Major Rule Revisions, 1845-1870

There is a more complete summary of rule changes from 1845 to 1883 at 19cbaseball.com.

[edit] Later changes

[edit] 1857

• A game ends at nine innings; five innings define a legal game
• The pitching distance is put at 45 feet
• Runners cannot advance on caught flies

[edit] 1858

• A club should field nine players
• The umpire can call strikes when, after a warning, the batter declines to offer at good pitches

[edit] 1860

• The batter must hit from a specified zone

[edit] 1863

• Umpires can, after a warning, call balls; the batter is awarded first base, and other runners advance one base, after three called balls

[edit] 1865

• Fair balls caught on the first bounce are no longer considered outs