The field was smaller, the pitching different, players didn’t wear gloves, and the umpire often had little to do.
Early Baseball Terms
Although the pitcher was called the pitcher, the batter was called the striker. Runs were called aces or counts and the first team to score twenty-one of them won -- nine inning games, regardless of score, were not established until 1857. Outs were called hands and, like today, each team had three per inning.
The Early Baseball Field
In general, the field was smaller. The distance between bases was 42 paces, which at that time was approximately 74‘. The distance between home plate and second base was approximately 105’ with a pitching line 12’ wide located halfway between. The equivalent of today’s foul poles were located 100’ from home plate.
In 1857, the distance between bases was officially set at 90’ and the pitching line at 45’ (today’s pitching standard of 60‘-6” was not established until 1893). The bases were similar in appearance to today’s, but home plate was an actual 9” to 12” circular metal plate.
There was no defined batter’s box. The striker, or batter, was allowed to run toward or backpedal from the ball after it left the pitcher’s hand. The official batter’s box was not introduced until1860, the same year that running toward or away from the pitch was banned.
Early Baseball Equipment
Until 1867 when bats were limited to a 42 inch length, they could be of any size, weight, and diameter, with bats up to 50“ or more in length not uncommon.
The balls used were smaller, lighter, and softer than modern ones. They were handmade, consisting of yarn or string wrapped around any type of solid core and covered with brown leather.
Gloves were not used in the 1840s and 1850s, and did not come into general use until the 1870s. Even then, they resembled golf gloves, being used to relieve the sting of the ball rather than as a catching aid. Padded gloves did not appear until the 1880s, and as late as the 1890s some players still played without any gloves.
Catchers, who often stood 10 to 12 feet behind home plate, wore neither masks or chest protectors. Those, too, would not come into use for another 20 years.
Strikers, Pitchers and Umpires
The striker was allowed up to three swings at the ball no matter how many pitches were delivered. There were no called strikes or balls. The idea of called strikes was not introduced until 1858. Five years later, umpires were allowed to call “unfair pitches” (balls). For several years, it only took three balls to constitute a walk.
There were three ways that a striker could commit an out: (1) By grounding out; (2) having a hit ball caught on the fly or on the first bounce; or (3) being thrown out by the catcher after missing his third swing (he was allowed to try to reach first base whether the catcher caught the ball or not).
Pitchers could only throw underhand in a straight arm motion perpendicularly to the ground. Sidearm deliveries were first allowed in 1874 and overhand pitches, at least in the National League, a decade later. There was no pitching mound, that not coming along until the 20th Century.
Pitchers could take a running start toward the pitching line before delivering the ball. A balk could be called if he crossed the line before the ball was released. This running was curtailed years later when various size “pitching boxes” were tried. The first pitching rubber did not appear until 1893.
Finally, the first umpires sat at a table along the third base line. Their main duties consisted of keeping the scorebook, calling balls fair or foul, and settling any disputes that might arise between the teams. They would not take a more active role until the late 1850s.
Other 19th Century baseball articles: Fleetwood Walker, The Cuban Giants, Early Women Baseball Players.
Source: E. Miklich, 19th Century Baseball.
