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Base Ball in the 19th Century
Doc Adams
Dr. Daniel Lucius Adams was also a member of the Knickerbocker Club, serving as president for six years, and as a club officer for another six years between 1847 and 1861. During his tenure with the club, his knowledge and enthusiasm for the game were apparent, and he was selected to represent the Knickerbocker club at a convention of 14 base ball clubs. The primary purpose of the convention, held in January, 1857, was to standardize the rules of the game (a tacit concession that Cartwright’s rules of 1846 did not codify the game to the extent to which he is given credit). Quickly elected president of the 1857 Base Ball Convention, Doc Adams was successful in promulgating changes to the rules that, in fact, established the distance between the bases as 90 feet; established the number of players as nine per side; and established the length of a game as nine innings. These rules were adopted by the convention, and became the law of the still maturing base ball world. While successful in implementing these rules, Doc Adams was unsuccessful in convincing the convention to eliminate the bound rule, by which a striker was retired if a struck ball, whether fair or foul, was caught on the fly or on the first bound. The bound rule would survive until the 1864 annual meeting of the National Association of Base Ball Players, held in December, 1864. An original copy of the 1857 Laws of Base Ball was re-discovered in late 2015, and again brought to light Doc Adams’ legitimate claim to recognition by the Hall of Fame. For recent news about this effort, visit
www.docadamsbaseball.org.
19th Century Base Ball Begins
During the early 19th century, socio-economic developments, especially in metropolitan areas of the northeast, enabled the formation of clubs devoted to the pursuit of avocational pastimes, such as hunting, riding, debating, and, manly/gentlemanly competition in bat and ball games. These ball clubs would meet routinely, some as often as twice weekly, to develop their skills at the game, in accordance with the rules as they knew them. Not surprisingly, these rules, and in fact, even the name assigned the game, varied significantly from place to place. The Massachusetts Game, sometimes called roundball, prevailed in Boston. Townball was the sport of choice in Philadelphia. The New York game, generally accepted as the predecessor to today’s game, was perhaps the best documented in the first half of the 19th century.
Evolution of Rules
Strikeouts
Prior to 1857 – No definition of strikes
From 1857 to 1870:
A strike is defined as:
1. A ball struck at and missed by the Batsman without it touching his bat.
2. A ball legally delivered by the Pitcher and within the legitimate reach of the bat not swung at by the Batsman.
The umpire is allowed to call strikes on a batter that repeatedly refuses to swing at good balls. The umpire was required to warn the striker before calling a strike. After three strikes were called, the batter was bound to “make his run” to first base if the last called strike was not caught by the catcher on the fly or first bound.
1871 - The batter was given the opportunity to ask the Pitcher to deliver the ball in one of two areas. A “low ball” was required to pass between the knee and the waist of the batsman and over Home Base. A “high ball” was required to pass between the waist and the shoulders of the batsman and over Home Base. If the batter did not call for a ball upon taking his position the umpire was allowed to call strikes on pitched balls that passed between the knees and shoulders of the Batsman and over Home Base. The Batsman was not allowed to change or call for his pitch after the first ball was delivered to Home Base by the pitcher.
The Umpire was also instructed in 1871, not to make a call on the first delivery by the Pitcher to the Batsman, unless swung at and missed or hit foul. This ended after the 1874 season.
1887 (only) - 4 strikes constituted a strikeout.
Bases on Balls
Prior to 1863 – No definition of balls
1863 – If a pitcher persists in delivering not fair balls, the umpire will issue a warning, and then begin calling balls. Three balls constitute a base on balls; all runners on base advance (whether forced or not).
1868 – Three balls constitute a base on balls; only runners who are forced advance
1879 – All pitches must be called (either a ball, a strike or a foul); 9 balls constitute a base on balls
1880 – 8 balls constitute a base on balls
1884 – 6 balls constitute a base on balls
1886 – 7 balls constitute a base on balls
1887 – 5 balls constitute a base on balls
1889 – 4 balls constitute a base on balls