I don't think you should let your baseguys call a HBP. That's the plate guys call. Foul balls @ the plate are a different story, but HBP??? Hard call from 90 feet away. Plate guys needs to get that himself.

There's no mention of that in Evans' book.

Since I do a lot of high school and under, I depend on my partners (only adults) to catch the bouncing hit or things that can be blocked. We go over an in-depth pre-game whenever possible. :eek:

Which doesn't mean it didn't used to be a rule.

As usual, Greymule is correct in his assessment of history.

Here is an excerpt from 19th Century Baseball speaking of Paul Hines, the first batter to be credited with a HBP and awarded first base in 1884. Prior to that, a batter did not get first base for getting plunked:

Also in 1879, the National League introduced, for one season only, the "Reached First Base" statistic. It included times reached via hits, walks and errors, but not hit by pitch because batter did not receive a base after being hit in 1879. Paul Hines, in 85 games, reached first base 193 times to lead the league-his sixth "first."

In 1882, Hines became the first player to wear sunglasses during a major league game, and on September 25 played in the first true doubleheader in National League history. The Grays split the two games with the Worcester Ruby Legs in the first instance of two games for the price of one.

His final five "firsts" came in 1884 and specifically the 1884 World Series. He was the first National Leaguer to bat in World Series history. During that at bat he became the first batter to be hit by a pitch (the game was played under American Association rules which allowed a batter to receive his base after being hit by a pitched ball).

Here is the link for the whole article/site:
http://www.19cbaseball.com/players-paul-hines.html