Rules And Customs

The modern game of baseball is the result of an evolutionary process. It was not invented or created by any one person, despite failed attempts to create that impression. Baseball interests of the past have done much to damage the game's history, and it is a major effort to untangle fact from fiction. Baseball historian John Thorn continues to add to our knowledge about bat and ball games and one of his most recent discoveries and his chronology of the game can be found on the SABR site.

Baseball has also never been uniform. The game in Japan is slightly different from the one in Cuba, which is different than Major League Baseball, and even then, the two leagues have slightly different rules. In vintage base ball, where the game from a time and place in the past is re-created, it becomes even more complex, for depending on the time and place, the game could be quite different. If you watch an 1860 game in Columbus, Ohio the emphasis is on the spirited, amateur gentlemen clubs of the day, whereas an 1873 rules game played in New Jersey, depicting a time when the best players were sought and professionalism of the game was taking root, the emphasis is on how well the game is played. As a counterpoint, baseball in the rural Midwest became popular after the Civil War, and several museums depict this type of amateur town game at different points in time.

One part of baseball history is not in doubt. The record of establishing codified and standard base-ball rules, and modifying them each year, has been retained. Prior to 1857, established mens' clubs devoted to a bat and ball game were free to create and modify their own rules. Children also made up their own rules. But the New York Knickerbockers, who had been experimenting with a set of rules since 1845, led the way to establish the first national base ball convention, and create the first standard set of rules. This act resulted in the first national association, the NABBP. Players in Massachusetts did much the same with their old folk game of Town Ball shortly thereafter. Today, people who re-create old-style ball games embrace these old rules as the foundation for their modern games.

Below you will find links to the rules most commonly used by VBBA member clubs, grouped by year. Included are comments, interpretations and customs commonly found in vintage base ball games of that year, and a locations where you can find re-created games under those rules.


1860's Base Ball Terms and Rules

1860's Rules

Now you know the rules, but how did today's game differ from the nineteenth century? We will begin at the beginning. In 1845 the Knickerbockers of New York put down the first rules for what would later become modern baseball. In their game the pitcher would stand a mere 45 feet from the striker and deliver the ball underhand so as to allow the striker to put the ball into play. There were no balls or strikes at that time. Once the ball was in play the fielders would try to put the striker out in much the same way as today's game except that no one used a glove. Base ball gloves were an innovation of the 1870's, but they did not become standard gear for ball players until the 1890's. One major difference in put outs from today's game was that if a ball was caught on one bounce the striker would be called out. The runners could advance on a one bound ball at any time, but the striker would be out. No doubt this rule was instituted to make up for the fact that fielders had to play with their bare hands. Balls and strikes began to be called by umpires due to stalling on both sides of the ball. A batter might take extra pitches with a man on base, because the more pitches he took the more chances there were for the catcher to muff a ball. In muffing the ball the runner may have a better chance to advance. Pitchers began to throw "bad balls", in order to get the hitter to go fishing for a pitch outside his called strike zone. In the 1800's a batter could ask for either a high, or low strike. The pitcher would then have to accomodate, and any fouled off pitches did not count as strikes.

It was because of all of these accomodations for hitters that some very important rule changes came about in the 1880's. The batting averages of many strikers had become very high, and base ball enthusiasts were crying that the game was losing some of its scientific lure. In order to aid pitchers the games rulers of the day decided to move the mound back to 50 feet, but now they allowed hurlers to toss the ball to the striker in an overhand fashion. The result was rather dramatic, and batting averages plummetted. The rules makers tried to aid the hitters by shortening the number of pitches that would constitute a walk from 9 pitches down to seven, and making pitchers throw 4 strikes instead of 3 to make an out. That rule only lasted for a short period of time, and eventually the rules makers settled on 4 balls for a walk and the original 3 strikes for an out.
After a long time the base ball gods finally found something that would aid the hitters as much as the overhand delivery aided the pitchers. In 1893 the rules changed the distance from home to the pitcher's box again, and this time they moved it back to the 60 feet 6 inches that we are familiar with today. Then all was right with the world.

What Does that Mean?
Sometimes a vintage ballist seems to have a language all his own. The nineteenth century base ball lingo is a bit different from today, but this is what they really meant.

1860's Terms Modern Definition
Aces Runs
Daisy-Cutter A hot ground ball
Howitzer A hit to the long field
Hurrah Hooray
A Hand Lost Player is out
Striker Batter
Tallies Runs