where did the rule "run if catcher drops the third strike"
come from? How did it get started?

Wow!
 

The following is an extract from the "Historical Notes" for Rule 6.09(b), found in Evans' <i>Official Baseball Rules Annotated</i>:<ul>Under the original Major League Code (1876), a batsman who struck at and missed a third strike OR failed to strike at a good ball for the called third strike was obligated to run to first base “... as in the case of hitting a fair ball.”

The Rules of 1887 specified that the batsman became a base runner “...instantly after four strikes have been declared by the umpire.” This four strike provision lasted only one year.

As late as the 1940's, the batter was entitled to advance (with liability) after three strikes had been called by the umpire. By the time of the recodification in 1950, a provision had been added that stipulated that the batter could advance (with liability) after three strikes had been called when the third strike was not caught unless there is a runner on first base with not more than one out.

Essentially, this changed the previous rule in two ways:<ol><li>The batter could legally advance as a runner only if the third strike was NOT caught; and <li>The batter was not permitted to advance if first base was occupied with less than two outs.</ol>
In 1956, the wording was simplified to its present form.</ul>It is interesting to me to note from the above that up until the 1940's a batter automatically became a runner after 3 strikes, <i>whether or not the catcher caught the pitched ball on the 3rd strike!</i>. Does that mean there are actually NO strikeout statistics prior to the 1950 rule re-write? I didn't know that! What a major change to the fundamental nature of the game that must have represented, and in the year of my birth too! :p

As to WHY the change was made, Evans remains silent. Maybe one of the others has the story.

Cheers

Re: Wow!
 

Yes there are strike out stats prior to the 1950s. In fact the NL season strike out record is 411 by Hoss Radbourn of Providence in 1884. Prior to the 1950s if a third strike was called on the batter the pitcher would be credited with a strike out, even if the batter ran. It is the same today, if the catcher misses the third strike and the batter reaches first safely, the pitcher still gets a strkie out, even though no one was called out.

Re: Re: Wow!
 

Thanks for that. It just goes to show that you are never too old to learn something new. I had no idea that stikeouts and outs don't necessarily have to match up!

Cheers

In the FED rules, it used to be that a batter automatically became a batter-runner on the third strikes with first base empty (less than two outs) or in any situation with two outs. The batter-runner then is "put out" when the catcher catches the ball.

I don't know if it's been cleaned up since then (and I'm simply too lazy to look at the moment), but it kinda parallels this discussion.

Rich

That's still the FED rule.

The OBR rule was changed:

1) From "become a runner on all thrird-strikes" to "become a runner on all uncaught third-strikes" becuase the catchers started wearing gloves an moving closer to the batter, so the play became "too routine" on most third-strikes.

2) From "become a runner on all uncaught third strikes" to "become a runner on uncaught third strikes if first is open or two are out" becuase catchers started purposely not catching third strikes with a runner on first to get an easy double play. IOW, the rule is put in to protect the offense, not to reward the defense -- just like the infiled fly rule.