Dead-ball era: Encyclopedia - Dead-ball era

Dead-ball era

The dead-ball era is a baseball term generally used to describe the period between 1900 (though some date it to the beginning of baseball) and the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1920.

Dead-ball era - Origins of the term

Specifically defined, the dead-ball era refers to an era in baseball characterized by extreme low scoring games, in fact, it was the lowest scoring period in major league baseball history. Using major league statistics, the dead ball started in about 1903, and continued to 1918. A common misperception of the dead-ball era is a scarcity of home runs, yet home runs were also rare in the 1890's-a very high run scoring decade. The deficiency of scoring in the dead-ball era simply magnified the problem of a lack of home runs in the game.

Dead-ball era - Baseball during the dead ball era

During the dead-ball era, baseball was much more of a strategic, station-to-station game. It relied much more on stolen bases, hit and run plays and similar strategies than on home runs. It was basically a speed game, what would be referred to now as "small ball." Such plays as the Baltimore Chop were popular, where a batter would intentionally hit downward on the incoming pitch so that by the time the fielders were able to retrieve the ball, the batter had reached first base. And then often he would steal second base, or be bunted over to second, and then move to third base or score on a hit and run play.

There are many statistical examples from this era that show how much more speed oriented the game was. Between 1900 and 1920, there were 13 occasions when the league leader in home runs had fewer than 10 home runs for the season. Meanwhile, there were several instances where the league leader in triples had 20 or more, which is almost unheard of in recent years. Also, batting averages were much higher during the dead-ball era; .400 averages were much more frequent, because hitters went for much higher percentage hits than they did during the live ball era, with home runs being more difficult to hit.

Dead-ball era - The reasons for the dead-ball era

Dead-ball era - The foul strike rule

This was the major rule change that, in just a few years, sent baseball from a high scoring game to one where scoring any runs became a struggle. In 1901, the National League adopted the foul strike rule, and the American League followed suit in 1903. Prior to this rule change, foul balls were not counted as strikes, thus a batter could foul off a countless number of pitches with no strikes counted against him, an enormous advantage for the batter.

Dead-ball era - The ball itself

Before Ray Chapman died in 1920 after being hit by a pitch, it was very common for a baseball to be in play for over 100 pitches. A ball would be used in a game until it was starting to unravel. The early baseball leagues were very cost-conscious, so fans would have to throw balls back that had been hit in the stands; even if a ball was discolored, often due to tobacco juice applied by players, it was kept in the game. Because of this, and because the baseball parks had no lights until the late 1930s, it was very difficult to see the ball. And since the ball was hard to hit anyway, it was very difficult to hit it very far. As the ball was being used, it would get softer, and hitting a softer object for distance is much more difficult. There is also the argument that the ball itself was made softer to begin with, so it was harder to hit.

Dead-ball era - The spit ball

Another reason that the ball was hard to hit far was because pitchers could basically do whatever they wanted to when it came to the ball. The spitball pitch was permitted in baseball until 1920, but was phased out after Chapman's death even though the pitch that killed him was not a spitball. Pitchers often marked the ball or scuffed it or spit on it or anything else they wanted. This made the ball "dance" and curve probably much more than it does now. And such practices added to the discoloration, so it was harder to see the ball, particularly as evening approached.

Dead-ball era - The end of the dead-ball era

Again, there is much debate as to why the dead-ball era ended. There are reasons which are agreed upon by most, though. One was the end of the spitball as a legal pitch. This happened when Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was killed by a pitched ball on August 16, 1920 when pitcher Carl Mays of the New York Yankees hit him in the head with a discolored ball. Today, balls are usually replaced over 60 times in a game.

Also, of course, there was the Black Sox scandal of 1919. It's never been proven, but it's always been rumored that after the scandal, the ball itself was reformulated so it would be easier to hit. And then, of course, there was the arrival of Babe Ruth. The combination of these factors led to the virtual end of station to station baseball. Instead, it became much more common for teams to wait for the home run.

Category: Baseball

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Dead-ball era", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki