Baseball DIY

This will be an ongoing project. All are welcome to comment on it or add to it.

1876
• National League is created

1877
•If ball goes foul before passing first or third, it’s foul; this screws Ross Barnes and other fair-foul hitters

1879
•Reserve clause, brainchild of Arthur, adopted by national league
•Pitcher’s box reduced from six feet to four feet wide

1880
•Eight balls for a walk

1881
•Pitching distance increased to 50, seven balls for a walk

1882
•American Association created; different from NL in that it sold beer at games, played on Sundays, and charged 25 cents rather than 50; folds after 1891 season

1883
•Pitcher may deliver pitch from as high as the shoulder
•National League decides that a foul ball must be caught before it hits the ground to be an out
•Union Association founded in September; folds after 1884 season

1884
•Restrictions against overhand pitching dropped
•Ned Hanlon, playing for the Chicago White Stockings (NL) in ridiculously hitter-friendly Lake Front Park, hits 27 home runs, which remains the record until Babe Ruth’s 29 in 1919
•World Series: First “World’s Series” held; Providence (NL) sweeps NY (AA) in three

1887
•Walks counted as hits to artificially increase batting averages; Tip O’Neill hits “.485” or .435, if you’re scoring with modern standards.
•Five balls for a walk, down from seven
•Four called strikes for an out
•Batter can no longer call for a high or low delivery; anything over the plate between the shoulders and knees is a strike
•Intentional fouls can be called as strikes (antecedent of the “foul bunt with two strikes counts as third strike” rule)
•Batter hit by pitch is awarded first base.

1888
•Three strikes instead of four for an out

1889
•Four balls for a walk

1890
•Players League is formed; folds after 1890 season

1892
•National League plays split season; first-half winner plays second-half winner in playoffs, if two different teams win each half; goes back to normal format in 1893

1893
•Pitching distance increased to current length of 60 feet, six inches; pitchers required to keep one foot on a rubber plate while delivering, limiting them to one stride
•Flat-sided bats (like those used in cricket) are banned

1894
•Failed attempt to revive the American Association; doesn’t get past the idea stage
•A “bunt” is defined and counted as a strike

1895
•Pitching slab is increased from 12 inches wide to 24 inches wide, six inches deep. These are its current dimensions

1896
•Pitchers are no longer required to hold the ball in plain view of the batter

1897
•Pitchers are forbidden from intentionally discoloring the baseball
•A ball's fair or foul status is determined by where it comes to rest before passing first or third base

1898
•Balks are defined

1899
•A balk gives the batter first base; this rule is dropped after one year
•Cleveland Spiders, suffering from the pilfering of players like Cy Young by the St. Louis team (which is owned by the Robison brothers, who also happen to own Cleveland), log a 20-134 record, the worst ever

1900
•The front corners of home plate (which up to now was a square, two corners of which pointed to the catcher and pitcher) are filled in, creating the modern “home plate,” which actually does look like a child’s drawing of a house
•Western League, presided over by Ban Johnson, changes its name to the “American League,” but waits until 1901 to declare itself a “major league” and sign players “reserved” by the National League

1901
•In the National League, foul balls count as strikes up to two strikes (bunt fouls still count as strikes). Up to then, they were neither balls nor strikes

1903
•American League adopts the foul-strike rule that the National League created in 1901 as part of the Organized Baseball agreement
•World Series: First modern World Series held; Boston Pilgrims (AL) defeat Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) five games to three in a best-of-nine affair