interesting rules

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Posted By: leon

RB's thread of questions got me to looking at some rules......here is a very interesting one from the dawn of baseball:

""Runners may be out by 'plugging' them with the ball meaning the ball is thrown at the runners to put them out." - The Rules of the Massachusetts Game (Town Ball) from Dedham, May 13, 1858"


If anyone else wants to share a neat rule, present or past, go for it.....I would have loved to be able to throw at the runners when I was playing. And allowing guys to pinch hit for me, or at least pinch run , would have been ok too.....

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Posted By: peter ullman

Didn't there used to be 8 balls for a walk...slowly decreased to 4?

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Posted By: Bob C

Since the trivia is flowing today, a little more minutia:
It is a little known fact up until 1883 the pitcher "had" to deliver the ball from below his waist. That year, the rules were changed to allow deliveries up to shoulder-height, and the following year, almost all other restrictions on the delivery were removed. And...the size and weight of the ball has remained unchanged since it was first regulated in 1872.
So then, do all of those Old Judge pitcher poses illustrate underhanded deliveries!? Jay?

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Posted By: Ron

When Cy Young's career began, pitchers delivered the baseball underhand and fouls were not counted as strikes. The pitcher's mound was not moved back to its present position of 60 feet, six inches until Young's fourth season; he did not wear a glove until his sixth.

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Posted By: DMcD

There's no crying in baseball.

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http://ImageEvent.com/kawika_o_ka_pakipika

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Posted By: Anthony N.

The Vintage Baseball World Series is in Westfield, Mass again this summer. My family is catching one of the days games and it looks to be a lot of fun. Jim Bouton heads it up.
The website is
http://www.vintagefederation.com/world-series/index.html

From the official rules of the day-
7 balls= walk, 3 strikes is out
Batter asks for a high strike zone (belt to shoulders) or a low strike zone (belt to knees)
a batter is not awarded first base when hit by the pitch
no balks, fake throws and quick pitches allowed. There is no mound or rubber, the pitcher has to end his windup within a 4x6 box, 50' from home plate (seems a bit like a cricket bowler)
One umpire, if he doesn't see the play he polls the fans or asks the players.

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Posted By: Anonymous

See Good Play (XIV).

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

I haven't watched the Ken Burns documentary (a MUST SEE for any Baseball fan!!) in a LONG LONG time and my memory may be bad.. scratch that, my memory IS BAD.. But I seem to recall a mention that at one time there were NO BALLs or STRIKEs, the batter would bat until he hit the ball into play.. That rule probably lasted about a week.. They instigated Balls and Strikes to speed up play.

martyOgelvie
nyyankeecards.com

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Posted By: Joe Drouillard

Neat thread.

Throwing at the runners does sound neat and probably explains the early game's popularity, afterall, what kid doesn't love a game of dodgeball today?

I did read somewhere that as the making of baseballs improved they became harder and the rules changed to have infielders at the bases to catch and tag out the runners to avoid injury to the runner. I think it was the New York Knickerbockers baseball club in the 1850s that changed the rule that eventually was accepted throughout the country. I think they also established a ninty foot distance between the bases and the foul ball that limited the perameters of the ball field. These were the main changes that morphed "round ball," "cricket," and other ball games into the baseball that become "America's Pastime."

Best wishes,

Joe

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Posted By: boxingcardman

It is against the rules for a fielder without the ball to block a baserunner from the base. So why are catchers allowed to block the plate before they have the ball?

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: David Goff

One rule that was changed...

First team to get 21 "Aces" later changed to runs won the game. Later, that was changed to who ever was leading after 9 innings.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

According to a Victorian book of etiquette, a book by a male author should never be placed on a bookshelf next to a book by a female author. The exception is when the authors are married to each other.

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Posted By: Bob C

Adam
The way I read the rule, the catcher can block the plate while attempting to field a throw. Once he fails to field the ball, he is then obstructing the plate. He has a complete right to block the plate whether he fields the ball or not, up until the point he fails to field the ball. If he catches it one nanosecond before impact, then he has the right to be there. If he does not catch it, he does not have that right, however generally the runner will have touched the plate by then so its a non-issue.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Notable that the catcher tends to receive the most damage in a collision.

I believe it's correct that the catcher has the right to go for an incoming throw. Obviously, in practice it's sometimes only the anticipation of a throw, a throw that doesn't materialize.