VINTAGE BASE BALL RULES

The game is constantly evolving, sometimes rapidly, sometimes at a slow pace. In the mid-19th century game was considerably different than today's game - and even that of the late 19th century.Yet to the average spectator the vintage game will appear very similar to the modern game.

One major difference is that most "ballists" played with their bare hands.

Another major difference is that fair or foul balls caught on one bounce are considered outs, just a ball caught on a fly in today's game is an out. Players could also catch the ball on the fly, and eventually more players began to catch the ball in this manner and the one-bounce rule was removed.

One quirk was that a ball was considered to be fair by where the ball first touched the ground. That is, if a ball hit in front of home plate then spun foul, it was a fair ball.

Other rules:

- Teams flip a coin before the start of the game to see who will bat first and who will be in the field. Unlike today's game, the home team could bat first.
-  Players could advance on a one-bounce out, but not a caught fly.
- The ball was pitched underhand. Also, it was not considered gentlemanly to try and deceive the striker with a trick pitch. The goal of the hurler was to allow the striker a good whack of the ball. In fact, the striker could request where he wanted the ball to be pitched!
- There were no called balls and strikes. A batter was still out on three swings and misses, but foul balls were not counted as strikes.
- If a striker makes a foul tic and the behind (catcher) captures it, whether on one bounce or on the fly, the striker is out
- There is no leading or stealing. Depending on the rules being used, players could advance on a catcher's muff, with the exception being advancing to home from third (for example, this applies during 1860 rules, but not games being played under 1858 rules. The Grays play by 1860 rules).
- The batter who leads off is the one who is due up after the player who made the final out. So if Player B is up with Player A on first base, and on a ground ball, Player A is forced out at second base to end the inning, Player B would lead off the next inning.
-  In scoring, the base a striker ends up at is how you determine his hit. In other words, if a player gets a hit and moves to second either on a throw, "error" (fielders are never credited with errors), etc., he would receive a double. If a Player A is on first and is forced out at second on a hit by Player B, who is safe at first, Player B would be credited with a single.

More: Vintage Base Ball Terminology