The National League Moves the Pitcher Back to 60 Feet, 6 Inches

On March 7, 1893, the National League voted 9-2 to eliminate the pitcher's box and replace it with a rubber slab set at a distance of 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate. The rule established the pitching distance that remains standard today, more than 130 years later.

Before 1893, pitchers threw from inside a rectangular box whose back line sat 55 feet, 6 inches from home plate. The new rule pushed the release point back five feet and replaced the box with a flat rubber plate measuring 12 inches by 4 inches. Pitchers now had to keep one foot on the rubber during their delivery instead of running and jumping within the box.

The effect on scoring was immediate and dramatic. In 1892, the National League's collective batting average was .245. In 1893, it jumped to .280. Run production surged. Pitchers who had dominated from the shorter distance suddenly found hitters catching up to their fastballs. Several careers ended or stalled because of the change, while hitters thrived in the new environment.

A persistent legend claims the distance was supposed to be 60 feet even, and that a surveyor misread a zero as a six on the original document, producing the odd measurement. Historians have found no evidence to support this story. The five-foot increase from the back line of the old pitcher's box to the new rubber placement accounts for the distance precisely.

The 1893 rule change did more to shape the modern game than almost any other single decision. It established the fundamental geometry of the pitcher-batter contest and created the balance between offense and defense that baseball has been adjusting ever since.