Rules or things you didnt know about the game of baseball

joey12508 · Feb 13, 2015

Heard this yesterday and looked it up today. "Before 1931, a ball that bounced over an outfield fence during a major league game was considered a home run"
I never heard that before.

katieneack · Feb 13, 2015

This is actually written in the rule book:

Any Playing Field constructed by a professional club after June 1, 1958, shall provide a minimum distance of 325 feet from home base to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction on the right and left field foul lines, and a minimum distance of 400 feet to the center field fence.

and so is this...
Batting out of order rules - If a manager tries to sneak his cleanup hitter back to the plate when his No. 8 hitter is due up, umpires are explicitly instructed not to call attention to it. The move is only illegal if the opposing team appeals before the first pitch to the next batter, after which it becomes legal.

Austin · Feb 13, 2015

There are probably a bunch of weird old rules I don't know about.
But since I don't know about them, I can't write about them.
Paradox!

gt2590 · Feb 13, 2015

From Wikipedia:

In 1887, Major League Baseball counted bases on balls (walks) as hits. The result was skyrocketing batting averages, including some near .500; Tip O'Neill of the St. Louis Browns batted .485 that season, which would still be a major league record if recognized. The experiment was abandoned the following season.
There is controversy regarding how the records of 1887 should be interpreted. The number of legitimate walks and at-bats are known for all players that year, so computing averages using the same method as in other years is straightforward. In 1968, Major League Baseball formed a Special Baseball Records Committee to resolve this (and other) issues. The Committee ruled that walks in 1887 should not be counted as hits. In 2000, Major League Baseball reversed its decision, ruling that the statistics which were recognized in each year's official records should stand, even in cases where they were later proven incorrect. Most current sources list O'Neill's 1887 average as .435, as calculated by omitting his walks. He would retain his American Association batting championship. However, the variance between methods results in differing recognition for the 1887 National League batting champion. Cap Anson would be recognized, with his .421 average, if walks are included, but Sam Thompson would be the champion at .372 if they are not

sschauer · Feb 13, 2015

I found this out when thinking why don't you pull the catcher like in a hockey game if no one is on base had to look it up. The catcher is the only player that is allowed and must be in foul territory before the pitch. Admittedly the umpire would not like the catcher to be in the outfield before the pitch but one of those defensive shifts weird idea I thought of.

mmier118 · Feb 14, 2015

That a team can be required to record a "fourth out" to prevent a run from scoring. This happened for the dodgers when they had runners on second and third and 1 out. The dodgers batter hit a line drive to center that was caught for out number two and the center fielder threw the ball to second where the runner trying to get back to the bag was tagged out. The runner on third left third on contact and crossed home plate before the runner at second got tagged out. Since he crossed the plate before the third out and since the third out was not a force out his run counted. The Diamondbacks since they thought the inning was over left the field and the run counted. For the run not to count they would have needed to throw the ball to third base for a "forth out" since the runner did not tag up. For scoring purposes the force out at third would be counted as the third out and the runner at second would not be considered an out, but anyways the dodgers got the run because one of their coaches knew the rule and the Diamondbacks did not.

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Rules or things you didnt know about the game of baseball

joey12508

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katieneack

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Austin

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gt2590

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sschauer

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mmier118

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