The trade cards in the Forbes H 804-6 set have an early copyright date of 1878. What was baseball like in 1878? Like today, there were nine players, four bases, three outs, nine innings and the object was to score runs. But there were many differences. Consider
- The pitching distance was 45 feet. (Since 1893 it has been 60 feet, 6 inches.)
- Only underhand pitching was allowed. (Overhand pitching became legal in 1884.)
- The batter could call for a high (above belt to shoulder) or low (belt to above knee) pitch.
- Nine balls were necessary for a batter to obtain a walk. (It became four balls in 1889.)
- To be called out on strikes required four strikes. (The present three strike rule went into effect in 1888.)
- A foul ball did not count as a strike. (The current foul ball strike rule was adopted in 1901.)
- There was only one umpire. (A two umpire system was established reluctantly during the 1890s.)
- Substitution for a player was very limited. (In 1891 substitutes became legal "any time for any reason.")
- Very seldom did a player wear a glove. (Occasionally during the late 1870s, a catcher or first baseman began to wear a tiny skin-tight fingerless glove.)
- There were six teams in the National League, the only major league in 1878 — Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Providence. (National League membership between 1876 and 1900 varied from 6 to 12 teams. The American League originated in 1901.)
