Expert: Steve L - 1/14/2005

Question
HI Steve,

Im almost certain that in the very early days of local organized baseball pitchers tossed the ball to the batter underhand.  James Creighton developed that snap toss that really raised the competition between batter and pitcher as opposed to wanting the batter to initiate play with the ball.  

Here's my question.  If I am in fact correct that the ball was once tossed underhand, when did pitchers begin throwing overhand to batters? Any specifics(years, names, teams) would be great.

Steven from nyc  

Answer
This may be more than you asked for, but...

The first Major League Code of 1876 brought in the concept of the base on balls. That year, it took nine balls to entitle the batter to a free pass to first base. That number dropped thusly:

1880: eight
1882: seven
1884: six
1887: five
1889: four - where it remains today.

In the Major League Code of 1876, pitchers delivered the ball from 45 feet. The rule stipulated that the ball must be delivered, "to the bat with the arm swinging nearly perpendicular at the side of the body, and the hand in swinging forward must pass below the hip." If the pitcher delivered overhand, or made any outward swing of the arm (sidearm,) a foul balk was called. After three foul balks, the game was forfeited.

In 1883, pitchers were first allowed to deviate from the underhand motion, and swing their arms up to shoulder height. By the following year they were nearly unrestricted provided that they faced the batter.

So, overhand pitching was legislated in 1884.

This lack of restriction led to the overhand delivery we see in today's game, and as a result, pitches delivered at higher velocities. It also put more strain on pitchers' arms and affected their endurance. The relief pitcher was also born.