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.

Specifically defined, the dead-ball era refers to an era in baseball characterized by extremely low-scoring games; in fact, it was the lowest-scoring period in major league baseball history. Using major league statistics, the dead-ball era started in about 1903, and continued to 1918. A common misconception about the dead-ball era is that it was caused by a scarcity of home runs. However, home runs were also rare in the 1890s—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.

Baseball during the dead-ball era

During the dead-ball era, baseball was much more of a strategy-driven 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. From there he would often steal or be bunted over to second base, and 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. Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Owen Wilson set a record of 36 triples in 1912, a little known record that is without a doubt one of baseballs unbreakable records, as is the 312 career triples of Sam Crawford, a teammate of Ty Cobb and also a star during this era.

Such a lack of power in the game led to one of the more ironic player nicknames in history. Frank Baker, one the best players of the dead-ball era, earned the nickname of "Home Run" Baker merely for hitting two home runs in the 1911 World Series. Although Baker led the American League in home runs 4 times (1911-1914) his highest home run season was 12, and he finished with 96 home runs for his career.

The best slugger of the dead-ball era was Philadelphia Phillies outfielder "Cactus" Gavvy Cravath. Cravath led the National Leage in home runs 6 times, with high total of 24 for the pennant winning Phillies in 1915, and seasons of 19 home runs each in 1913 and 1914. Cravath, however was aided by batting in the Baker Bowl, a notorius hitter friendly park aided by a short 280-foot distance to right field.

The reasons for the dead-ball era

The foul strike rule

The foul strike rule 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. Prior to this rule, foul balls were not counted as strikes, thus a batter could foul off a countless number of pitches with no strikes counted against him. This gave an enormous advantage to the batter. In 1901, the National League adopted the foul strike rule, and the American League followed suit in 1903.

The ball itself

Before 1920, it was very common for a baseball to be in play for over 100 pitches, as in cricket. 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. The longer the ball was in use the softer it would become, and hitting a heavily-used, softer ball for distance is much more difficult than hitting a new, harder one. There is also the argument that the ball itself was softer to begin with, so it was harder to hit.

The spit ball

Another reason that the ball was hard to hit was because pitchers could basically do whatever they wanted to the ball. The spitball pitch was permitted in baseball until 1920. Pitchers often marked the ball or scuffed it or spit on it or anything else they wanted. This made the ball "dance" and curve much more than it does now, making it more difficult to hit. Tobacco juice was often added to the ball, which discolored it. This made the ball difficult to see, especially as baseball parks did not have lights until the late 1930s. Obviously, this too made hitting more difficult.

The end of the dead-ball era

There is much debate as to why the dead-ball era ended. There are a few reasons, though, which are generally accepted. 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; most balls do not last more than just a few pitches. Also, there was the Black Sox scandal of 1919. There is speculation that after the scandal, the ball itself was reformulated so it would be easier to hit.

Finally, there was the arrival of Babe Ruth. Ruth demonstrated how effective a power-hitting game could be in his first season with the New York Yankees in 1920. The combination of these factors led to the beginning of station-to-station baseball, where it became much more common for teams to wait for the home run.