In 1856 the job of the pitcher was not to deceive the striker but to put the ball where the batter wanted it. The striker would show the pitcher using his hand where he wanted it 45 feet away from the pitcher's box. Pitchers got faster and they had to adjust the game and in 1881 they moved it back to 50 feet. In 1888 overhand pitching was allowed for the first time and that gave the pitchers a big advantage since they were throwing it much harder at the old 50-foot distance. To balance the pitchers and batters, the National League which was modern-day MLB voted 9-2 on March 7, 1893, to move the pitcher back. In 1893 they decided to remove the pitching box and put down a rubber 60 feet away. A surveyor read the zero as a six lead to the modern-day odd distance of 60 feet 6 inches. This is Past Ball Podcast and as the Great Bob Uecker said Get Up Get Outta Here!

The Past Ball Podcast is a podcast that gives you a quick story on some of the craziest, wildest, funnies, or just plain informative on America's Past Time. Unlike a catcher in a passed ball, we will not drop the ball on give you the past.

Do you have a topic or story you want us to cover? Feel free to email us at pastballpod@gmail.com.

Shoutout to Collin Wood at Artota Records for the tunes you hear in this episode. If you are looking for custom tunnage email him at collin.wood0804@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.