1875- 10 men on defense

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Posted By: Jason Mishelow

I just picked up a very well loved De Witt guide for 1875 and was interested to see that it (or more properly its editor Henry Chadwick) proposes that a new rule will soon take hold where there will be a tenth defensive position added the right short stop - see picture below. Has anyone every seen a reference to this rule or have any information that indicates it was ever widely used.

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Posted By: barrysloate

That's pretty interesting and I never heard that before. When we were kids, and too young to play softball well, we always had a short centerfielder (no, he wasn't short). It was actually a desirable position, since it involved being close to the infield while stationed in the outfield.

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Posted By: Mark L

It sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe we can persuade the American League to drop the DH and adopt in its place a right short stop or a second catcher.

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Posted By: whitehse

I also played softball with a short center fielder that was decribed in the rule book. I just think that adopting this rule in baseball would definitly slant the game towards defense and batting averages would plummet. As we all know baseball may be exciting when it involves a pitching duel but we all love to see alot of scoring. I just dont think high scoring would happen with a short center fielder in the field.

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Posted By: ramram

I believe the Cuban game of the 19th century also included a right shortstop.

Rob M.