When was mound lowered

The strike zone was much larger, measuring from the shoulders to the bottom of the knees, rather than today's armpits to top of the knees. Regulations also allowed for a mound 15 inches high, though the real heights varied by ballpark.

It felt like they were 40 feet away. Pitchers had hacked the game of baseball. Top hurlers slung fastballs nearly as hard as modern greats toward a larger strike zone with more lenient officials. Umpires rarely cracked down on illegal pitches like spitballs or curveballs coated in Vaseline or pine tar. The resulting lack of offense had thrown baseball into a crisis. Seven teams hit. The Yankees as a team batted.

The big league average ERA that season was 2. Teams combined to score 6. Last year, they scored 8. So after the season, MLB officials lowered the mound to 10 inches and shrank the strike zone to its modern size. The changes were made, according to one wire service, "to add more enjoyment for the fans and more offense in the games which the pitchers dominated in both the National and American leagues this past season.

Baseball also asked umpires to better enforce rules about illegal pitches. A pitcher who brought his hand to his mouth while standing on the mound would have his next pitch called a ball. A pitcher found to have thrown an illegal pitch or with an illegal substance on the mound would be ejected.

But big league players and managers weren't convinced the rule changes would have the desired effect or that baseball even had a problem. The Majors set the record for the lowest-ever batting average. Seven teams hit. The Yankees, as a team, hit just.

The White Sox scored a meager 2. And while he knocked out 15 homers, he also hit. The Dodgers and Mets weren't much better, averaging just 2.

Four stats that showed why baseball had to lower the mound after 4 stats that explain why mound was lowered after ' By Michael Clair. Here are four of the stats that probably led to the change: 1. Bob Gibson's 1. Supporters of lowering the mound point out that the longevity of a pitching career has extended since dropping the mound from 15 inches to 10 inches, and that could be enhanced by an ever bigger drop in the elevation. There have been 29 pitchers who have pitched in at least 22 big league seasons since , and 24 of them spent the bulk of their career in the big leagues after , including all 10 pitchers who had careers of 24 seasons or longer.

Nolan Ryan is the ironman among pitchers with a year career. Tommy John rebounded from the elbow surgery since named after him so well that he pitched 26 seasons in the big leagues - including 14 after the procedure.

During the era of the inch mound, when four-man rotations were the norm, it was not uncommon for league leaders to have well over innings pitched. There has not been a pitcher work innings in a season since , when Carlton tossed The era of the lowered mound, however, has led to increases in career workloads. The composite ERA from ''68 was 3. Six of the eight lowest season ERAs in the expansion era since came in the eight years prior to , led by the 2.

Luis Ayala , who was released last week by Washington, signed with Baltimore, but it was a Minor League deal.