« The Red Sox At The Winter Meetings: Teixeira Deal Might Be Close; Offer Made To Varitek; Smoltz Joins Lowe As Potential Addition To Rotation | Home | This Day In Red Sox History: December 12, 1997 »

This Day In Baseball History: December 12th (Ground Rule Double Introduced)

By Administrator | December 12, 2008

In 1930, the Rules Committee made numerous changes to the MLB rule book… among them was the creation of the ground-rule double. Previously, a ball which bounced on the field and into the stands had been considered a home run… hereafter, it would be considered a ground rule double.

In 1933, the A’s tradeded Lefty Grove, Rube Wallberg and Max Bishop to the Red Sox for Bob Kline, Rabbit Warstler and $125,000.

In 1950, MLB owners voted to drop the bonus and high school rule which was designed to prevent the wealthier clubs from buying up all of the available talent… the rule had required all ‘bonus’ players to stay on the major league roster one season.

In 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 4-to-3 against reviewing Wisconsin’s suit to block the Braves move to Atlanta.

In 1975, the Tigers traded pitcher Mickey Lolich and outfielder Billy Baldwin to the Mets in exchange for outfielder Rusty Staub and pitcher Bill Laxton.

In 1998, after being given his last rites, Joe DiMaggio made a miraculous recovery defying the doctors dire predictions… he would live another three months before dying on March 8, 1999.

In 1998, in a deal that upset many other owners, pitcher Kevin Brown (18-7, 2.38) became the game’s first 100+ million dollar man, signing a seven-year deal with the Dodgers for an average annual salary of 15 million dollars.

Born Today: Phenomenal Smith (1864), Ralph Garr (1945), Steve Farr (1956)

Topics: MLB History |

2 Responses to “This Day In Baseball History: December 12th (Ground Rule Double Introduced)”

  1. Michael Pacey Says:
    December 13th, 2008 at 7:44 am

    Did Babe Ruth or any other sluggers before 1930 have any “ground rule home runs”?

  2. Administrator Says:
    December 13th, 2008 at 9:20 am

    Although it’s a bit counter-intuitive, I’ve found no evidence that any of the Babe’s homers are of the ‘ground rule’ variety.

    On the other hand, there is ample evidence that Ruth “lost” home runs due to the rules of his day.

    Well into the 1920s, a player who hit a ‘walk-off’ home run would not have been credited with a home run — he would be credited with only enough bases to drive home the winning run (ie, if Ruth hit a walk-off grand slam in a game the Yankees trailed by two runs, he would have been credited with a double). IT is known that he lost at least ONE home run in this manner.

    Also, for many years balls were ruled “fair” or “foul” based upon where it landed in the stands, not its position when it left the field of play. A baseball historian has estimated that Ruth lost in the vicinity of 75 home runs due to this rule.

Comments

  • Photos

www.flickr.com

  • Our Friends








  • Sponsored Links


Online Slots


The top online casinos site is Jaxcasinos.com

There's quality sports betting sites at Sportsbetting3.com

NFL betting is safe and easy with Bet-on-the-NFL.com

We have cheap Red Sox tickets, Super Bowl tickets, UFC tickets and Mayweather v Pacquiao tickets

MyTicketIn.com is offering Houston Astros Tickets, Boston Red Sox Tickets, New York Yankees Tickets, Chicago Cubs Tickets, Philadelphia Phillies Tickets, at discounted prices.

  • Red Sox Charities









  • Red Sox Minor League Affiliates