HBP Rule

[TonyK]

I was reading a newspaper writeup from 1897 this week and a rule change caught my eye. In that year, the Hit By Pitch rule was changed to the present rule. Before then it was not a hit by pitch if the batter was hit below his elbow to his hand.

Maybe that's where the "hands are part of the bat" saying came from? Anyone know more about this?

[Brian McKenna]

in early baseball there was no ruling penalizing a pitcher for hitting a batter; in fact, in 1872 the first rule was enacted concerning the hit-by-pitch and it penalized the batter (he was called out if was deemed that he got intentionally hit) - in 1874 the rule was changed to just declaring the ball dead

brush-back pitching wasn't all that great a concern while pitchers were forced to deliver the ball from below the waste but by the mid-1870s it became a problem, especially as the curve ball became prevalent - batters were now seeing a ball come at them which may or may not bend away which put the batter at a great disadvantage since there was no penalty for hitting them - the curve was a further problem because pitchers had a hard time controling the pitch during its infancy phase - plus the game at times permitted a batter up to ten balls before a walk was granted - bobby mathews, for one, routinely threw the first pitch in each at bat at the batter himself or over his head

still batters were not granted first base until 1884 in the american association and 1887 in the national league - however, in 1879 umpires were given the discretion to fine pitchers between $10-50 if they thought they were deliberately throwing at batters (but with any such rule how do you judge intent? - it became unenforceable)

pitcher john schappert was particularly abusive towards batters - it was in response to his conduct and others, such as, tony mullane that sparked the aa to implement the rule in 1884

however, the hit-by-pitch rule wasn't as it is today - usually the ump only granted first if the plunking was a solid one, not a mere glancing blow - the above referenced 1897 rule change was probably designed to eliminate the umpire's judgement in the matter as to whether the hit-by-pitch was serious enough to justify putting a runner on first

[TonyK]

in early baseball there was no ruling penalizing a pitcher for hitting a batter; in fact, in 1872 the first rule was enacted concerning the hit-by-pitch and it penalized the batter (he was called out if was deemed that he got intentionally hit) - in 1874 the rule was changed to just declaring the ball dead

brush-back pitching wasn't all that great a concern while pitchers were forced to deliver the ball from below the waste but by the mid-1870s it became a problem, especially as the curve ball became prevalent - batters were now seeing a ball come at them which may or may not bend away which put the batter at a great disadvantage since there was no penalty for hitting them - the curve was a further problem because pitchers had a hard time controling the pitch during its infancy phase - plus the game at times permitted a batter up to ten balls before a walk was granted - bobby mathews, for one, routinely threw the first pitch in each at bat at the batter himself or over his head

still batters were not granted first base until 1884 in the american association and 1887 in the national league - however, in 1879 umpires were given the discretion to fine pitchers between $10-50 if they thought they were deliberately throwing at batters (but with any such rule how do you judge intent? - it became unenforceable)

pitcher john schappert was particularly abusive towards batters - it was in response to his conduct and others, such as, tony mullane that sparked the aa to implement the rule in 1884

however, the hit-by-pitch rule wasn't as it is today - usually the ump only granted first if the plunking was a solid one, not a mere glancing blow - the above referenced 1897 rule change was probably designed to eliminate the umpire's judgement in the matter as to whether the hit-by-pitch was serious enough to justify putting a runner on first

Thanks b! I've seen several box scores where both pitchers hit one another as well as several other players. Those must have been some wild games back then.

I love reading stories like the batter was HBP and was laying on the ground unconscious so a teammate brought over the team's water jug and dumped it on the player to revive him. One minor league player that was HBP and unconscious for a half hour actually returned the next day and played for his team! It was tough to get him out of the lineup.