The official rules of the National League were first written in 1877. Since that time, many changes have been made to the rulebook. The primary idea behind many of those rule changes has been to make the game more competitive and give all players an equal chance to compete fairly.
Base on Balls
One of the most familiar rules in baseball is that a player is given a walk, or a base on balls, when he takes four pitches out of the strike zone in a single at bat. This became an official baseball rule in 1889. In 1880, it took eight called balls to get a base on balls. That number gradually was reduced throughout the 1880s until the familiar four balls became the rule.
Pitching Distance
The distance from the pitching rubber on the crown of the pitcher's mound to the back point of home plate is 60 feet, 6 inches. That distance was established before the start of the 1893 season. Before then, the distance was 50 feet. The reason for the change was domination by the pitchers. Games were regularly decided by 1-0 and 2-1 scores, so to give the hitters a better chance, the distance between home plate and the pitcher's mound was lengthened.
Pitcher's Mound and Designated Hitter
The height of the pitcher's mound was dropped from 15 1/2 inches to 10 1/2 inches before the 1969 season. This was in direct response to the 1968 season, which was known as "the year of the pitcher." Pitchers dominated the game to the point that the average total runs in each game dropped to about 6.5 runs per game, down 1.5 runs from the previous decade. Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox hit .301 in 1968, the only American League hitter to exceed the .300 mark. Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers won 31 games in '68, and no pitcher has won 30 games since. Bob Gibson led both leagues with a 1.12 earned-run average and threw 28 complete games. By lowering the mound, Major League Baseball was trying to add offense to the game.
The American League was still not satisfied with the level of offense and added a designated hitter to bat for the pitcher in 1973. The National League did not go along with that change, and the two leagues have played under separate rules since then.
Instant Replay
The major leagues decided to use instant replay on a limited basis in the middle of the 2008 season. Umpires were able to use instant replay to make home run calls and fair or foul calls. Umpires could not use instant replay on ball-strike or safe-out calls, but umpires could confirm or overturn calls by going to the replay room, reviewing the call and making a final determination.
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