Who Invented the Pitcher's Mound?
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In this video:
Today, the pitcher is probably the most important position on a baseball field. However, this wasn’t always the case. In the early days of the game (see: Who Really Invented Baseball?), the pitcher’s role was merely to toss the ball to players to initiate play, since the real action didn’t start until the bat hit the ball. Pitchers often lobbed the ball underhand; there were no fastballs or curveballs (at least other than the natural curve from the underhand pitch), and no balls or strikes were called. Since baseball revolved around batters hitting the ball, a pitcher would pitch as many pitches as needed until a hit was executed.
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Sources:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseb...
m.livescience.com/32680-why-is...
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sabr.org/latest/charles-alexan...
www.hardballtimes.com/the-heig...
groundskeeper.mlblogs.com/2005...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Ma...
www.sportingcharts.com/mlb/sta...
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www.baseball-reference.com/bul...
Step 1: Throw shade at Soccer
Step 2: Defend calling it Soccer
Step 3: Bask in the rejuvenating waves of hatred from the entire planet
If someone hates honesty on this subject, then they deserve the indigestion.
Especially considering the country actually responsible for the term.
I thought step 3 was start salt extraction buisness
Actually ERA means Earned Run Average
Thanks, I heard that too, but I thought I should check the comments before leaving a comment just to see if anyone else heard what I did.
I noticed that too.
Caught that too.
Quite the sticky wicket, Simon!
Yeap. That was pretty glaring.
My favorite sport of all time. Great content brother
Thank you for the explanation on the "K", I always thought it was because the pitcher had metaphorically killed "at bat".
That would be so much more metal and I will forever see it that way
Christel Headington: In my youth, I dated a girl who was not a sports’ fan at all, and being the satiric ass that I am, when the home team got 3 strike outs, I pointed to the place where someone was keeping count of the strikeouts. There was a ‘KKK’ sign as to strikeouts, and I whispered to her, ‘Can you believe that in 2006?” Both of us being fairly liberal, she freaked. I could not stop laughing as I explained what the K meant.
@@Raykibb1 -I figure that's why they hold up backward Ks, to avoid that idea.
@@christelheadington1136the backwards k means “strike out looking” just in case you don’t know already
Can you do a video about ALL of cricket for those of us in the US? I'm not interested enough to do research. And I really like your presentation.
Whoops, just posted almost the same thing -- Cricket for Yanks 😆
Trying to explain cricket to Americans is a sticky wicket.
@@jliller I made a note of your comment so I can come back and laugh at it... after somebody explains cricket to me and I know why it is funny.
@@timd3469 a difficult circumstance
Thank you so much for the soccer/football thing. It's so annoying when people whine about that like we just made up a name in order to annoy everyone.
Yeh, but American football is mostly played using hands so... it's still pretty dumb.
Myst Lunarbane Contrary to popular belief, kickers actually score more than quarterbacks.
@@MystLunarabne It's called football because it evolved from the same sport soccer did. They just chose to focus on different parts of the rules.
Myst Lunarbane and you’re still an obnoxious loser, just like all the other people that think it’s cool to find anything different from what they know to be wrong.
R3Testa YOU JUST USED REASON AND LOGIC AND THAT SCARES ME I MUST MAKE FUN OF YOU
Simon, you explain cricket to me, and I'll explain the infield fly rule to you. 😉
That seems fair
Cricket is just baseball but not shit
hell, I want the infield fly rule explained to me!
Cricket is like baseball but boring.
An in field fly ball that is easier to catch and doesn’t move far from where it lands is an advantage the offense can use to let the ball fall to the ground pick it up and make double and triple plays.
Imagine the foul lines and another one that is above the diamond.
While I played little league baseball we were taught to never let a ball we could catch in the air fall to the ground. Having bases loaded and players forced to run or and an infield fly ball to the third basemen that he can easily catch but drops touches the bag and gets an easy triple play is dirty. That’s why I think there is an in field fly ball.
I love how a video on baseball covered why soccer is called soccer.
I do think that was twisted... He needs an editor. I am an editor.
ERA stands for Earned Run Average, not Estimated Run Average
The closed captions state, Earned Run Average.
It could have changed over time.
FYI. The term "earned run average" was not common until the 1940's.
@@route2070 It was never "estimated run average". Plus that's a nonsense term.
ERA is a calculation taking number of runs multiplying it by 9 then dividing that total by number of innings actually pitched. So in essence it is an estimation. Take for example David West from the Phillies in the 93 world series. The name might be wrong but I digress. He gave up 5 runs without recording an out. His ERA was infinity. That's physically impossible.
One trick is that the home bullpen mounds are identical to the one on the field. The visitors bullpen mounds is built as askew and off as the rules tolerance allowed.
What, if any, advantage it gains I do not know. But it is something that is done.
Sounds akin to the visitors locker room being a closet compared to the home teams' palatial mansion in some schools sports facilities. I remember one being so small and dark that we could barley suit up for the game. It's supposed to give a psychological advantage to the home-team, but that obviously doesn't work in every circumstance.
@@_Abjuranax_ He barely scratched the surface into what is actually going on with the mound.
Most know about the rubber, and it's locations and height, but far more important to a mound is the "landing area" or "ramp" and it's shape and slope on the front of the mound.
Also real pitcher mounds are built with special Georgia clay and are laid out and built with templates and laser leveling in the modern era.
@@_Abjuranax_ Hayden Fry (American football coach for University of Iowa) had the visiting team locker room painted pink.
They’re still pink.
Another bonus: the reason why the pitchers mound is 60'6" away from the batter's box is because the contractor misread the plans calling for the mound to be 60'0"away, misreafing the last 0 as a 6 in the plans
@P. Taylor With the ball sometimes traveling over 100mph, those extra six inches translate to critical reaction times to the batter. You almost have to have 20/10 vision to be able to play at pro levels nowadays.
"Estimated" run average? It's "earned" run average.
It was correct in the subtitles. (In parenthesis, so the subtitler corrected his mistake. I turned them on due to a video with crappy audio, an never turned it off, because sometimes the subtitles are hillarious...)
only reason i came to comments.
@@Backroad_Junkie thank you, will have to check that out
If you really want to blow a non baseball fans mind, explain WHIP to them!! 😂😂
The curveball has been part of the game since at least the 1870s.
1968, the year of the pitcher was also the last time MLB was honored with a 30 game winner (Denny McLain), and is also the last time a pitcher (Mickey Lolich) threw and won three complete games during the same world series. Lolich is also the only LH pitcher to have pitched three complete games of the same world series.
Go get 'em Tigers!
Simon: I'll call it what ever I feel like.
You didn't mention Bob Gibson being so untouchable in 1968 as the reason why the mound was lowered 5 inches.
Ahem...Denny McLain won 32 games in '68, and the Tigers, w/o any help from D.Mc as it turned out, took the prize from the Cards, in an epic 7-game series.
Gibson is soo underrated
@@TheRealDrJoey Ahem, the rule is literally officially nicknamed the "Bob Gibson" rule within the MLB rule book. As great of a season Denny had, it was not 1.12 ERA (modern era single season record), 0.853 WHIP (modern era 6th best, 2nd best at the time) good. By the way, wins are a team stat... and should not be within the first 5 stats used to compare pitchers or to judge any individual pitcher's value or skill.
BTW, in that very series you mention.. Gibson went 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA and 0.815 WHIP. In the first two games (both of which he beat McLain), he gave up just 1 run (earned) and 10 hits through 18 innings. It took his pitching on short rest (just 2 days rest) to give up 4 runs in a single game. Meanwhile, McLain couldn't even make it out of the 3rd inning in game 4 and was crushed for 8 runs (7 earned) in 11.2 innings through the first two games. Denny would later say that pitching against Gibson made him nervous and ineffective during those games.
It's also a little harsh to say the Tigers won without any help from McLain when he won (and dominated) game 6. But had Denny not chickened out of game 4 early... Detroit probably loses that series.
In 1968 Detroit had the better team... but St. Louis had the better Ace by a wide margin. McLain was a flash in the pan, while Gibson is one of the all-time elites of the game. There is no comparison here. And this comes from a Cubs fan who despises the Cardinals, but respects their class act players of that era.
@@Unlitedsoul Well said!
@@Unlitedsoul I forgot Denny won Game 6. The pitcher who came to the fore in the Series was Micky Lolich. I was 18, in Detroit, at the time. What an insane scene that was. I could tell you things you wouldn't believe--like I saw a guy riding on the fender of a cop car, drinking a Stroh's beer. See? I wouldn't believe that either.
Detroit Metro airport was swarmed over by a crowd estimated at 40,000. My friend Bob, who has flashes of brilliance, went out to Willow Run airport, a small strip that was originally built during the war where Ford was building planes.
Sure enough, the Tigers landed at Willow Run, and Bob was one of about 50 people to great them. He got Lolich's autograph.
McLain was a flash in the pan, agreed, but a damned bright one, and he was something of a wildman. Him just outright admitting he was nervous going against Gibson is typical McLain candor. You know, he's a pretty good keyboardist, and playing in places in the off-season is what got him into mucho trouble as the years unreeled. His book, "I Never Said I Was Perfect," is a real fun read.
A few years later the Tigers had another 9-day-wonder pitcher with the Bird.
Baseball my favorite game. I am from the South but since the Senators left DC I have been a Cubs fan.
They became the Texas Rangers are the home team where I live, but I've always liked the Orioles for some reason. Caught a Rubin Sierra foul ball at a game once.
Cool about the ball I have been to both parks for the O's but never got a ball did see Cal Ripken tie Gerrig's record
I came around long after either version of the Senators left DC for Minneapolis or Texas. I was born in DC and spent the first 9 years of my life on Quantico in northern VA. Was an Orioles fan at first, but my dad's friend turned me on to the Cubs in July of 1988 when I was working for him on weekends. Grew up from my early teens through my mid 20s watching the Cubs on WGN. Then everything went behind a massive pay wall with only 4-5 games a month broadcast on WGN. Still a Cubs fan today, even if I have to pay $129/year to watch them through MLB . TV.
That is cool I lived from school age in Mount Vernon then Laurel MD after I got married then in Prince William and went to the Cannon's games. I need to get Sat for next year to watch the Cubs. No cable in this area to sparce a population.
Thank you
It's nice to see a video about baseball. Besides the minor mistake with ERA, good vid!
I see others mentioned the ERA error. Also, the Catcher is the most important defensive player because they work with every member of the team every day while pitchers work once every 5 days as a starter or every other day as a reliever. I would like to say you knocked this video out of the park...but those two minor errors make it more of a Ground Rule Double. ; )
I would agree with you over the course of a season. However, it's not even close when it comes to a game-by-game or inning-by-inning status. The pitcher is 80% of any given game. The catcher comes in around 15%, while everyone else sits at a combined 5%.
@@Unlitedsoul Negative, the CHOICE of pitcher game-to-game, inning-by-inning is what matters. Pitchers are numerous and unreliable (generally), injuries and 'bad days' come and go but the catcher remains the anchor of the team...day-to-day. I would say starting infield is even more important than pitchers in terms of team chemistry. Outfielders are not as important at pitchers, i'll concede that. However, one could argue that an Ace Starter or a sick Closer could be more important than the infield. Depends on the pitcher. But the catcher is the anchor...
I enjoyed it.👍
And this is why following the rules (or thinking outside the norm) is VERY important.
I was very impressed with the combination of his accent and baseball knowledge until "estimated run average". In your head, please insert the "not gonna lie, they had us in the first half" meme.
The teams that have played ~20 inning games into early morning probably wish ties were still a thing.
First time I thought one of your videos was too short .
I got into a fight with a baseball player.
It wasn't too bad. All I did was strike him three times and he was knocked out.
We are supposed to ignore the fact he had a Louisville Slugger in his hands and didn't beat you about the head and shoulders?
I tried to get in a fight with a baseball player, but as soon as I gave him the chance, he ran home.
How many times did you swing and miss?
that joke was foul!
@@Unlitedsoul fucking lame
Very interesting. I have often wondered why there is a pitcher's mound. Soccer was the name given to the fans of football (English football). The Nick name became the name of the game.
It was the fans? I always thought it was a term for the players that grew to engulf the sport. Nice to know.
That was a lot of statistics in a short amount of time. Good job! Might want to work on the background music. LOL
Fun Fact: Baseball, hockey, Rugby, or most sports played on 'foot' can be considered a type of Football to differentiate it from sports played on horses by the nobility.
4:43 Just call it Soccer. lol
So in the days of bounce outs, did runners have to tag and wait for the player to catch the fly ball off the bounce before they could advance? Or could they start running once it hits the ground?
Baseball is a lot more complicated than I thought.
Numerous captioning errors (like 2-5 vs 4-5 runs/game), but another great video in your series and one that I'll certainly share with my partner, who's a baseball fan for sure!
I think they may have been spoken errors, with correct captions.
I remember a time when the mounds were high and, most of the pitchers kept their foot on the rubber before they released the ball.
Do they still play Rounders in the UK?
The thumbnail looks like the pitcher is sitting in Simon's hand lol
Another reason for pitcher dominance is the proliferation of all-or-nothing batters who either strike out or hit a homer.
I went through a hardcore fad phase with baseball in the year that the Braves became "The Cinderella Team". I was on top of Topps as if I had a sexual addiction to baseball's rules and player stats. I actually hung in there for a couple-three years after my team resumed their normal "eh" status in the rankings, so at least I was more like a "great weather fan" than a "fair weather fan". I am amazed at how much new info and details I just learned of the sport from your video, so KUDOS for that mates. It's crazy how much math, science, and skill the game demands.
Thank you for pointing out that the creators of the sport named it "Soccer," not the Americans.
Awesome you'd do this video knowing you'd surely get some things wrong.
Whistley boi!
P I T C H I N G R U B B E R
I think the balls are actually less consistent than they used to be. You'll occasionally see a hitter who looks absolutely amazed at how far he hit the thing. Could be that the "pill centering" makes a bigger difference the closer it is to perfection.
Finnish style baseball pitches strait up, there elevation of the pitcher really doesn't matter. Here in Southern California we play Caps. Piling more sand to sit on, definitely gives you an advantage, but so far, no rules about it.
A Pitching clock would solve several problems with modern baseball.
Soccer is soccer. A fitting name.
Do a video about the government study on the viscosity of ketchup and how much it cost taxpayers.
???
How does the viscosity of ketchup cost taxpayers money?
*Just joking
Hey look everybody! It's another science illiterate libertarian complaining about something he doesn't understand thinking that that means it must be useless.
Non-newtonian fluids are cool. Coming up with standardized testing methods so that American factories can put out a product with higher and more uniform quality pays itself back. Basic research performed using US taxpayer money is automatically in the public domain, meaning that everybody has access to the knowledge, not just multinational corporations with their own research laboratories.
@@Markle2k look everyone a self-righteous overeducated douchebag lol
Earned run average
Elevated mound? I thought it was on the ground!
Question. Where do loogies come from and how do they get stuck in your throat?
Finally Simon can't hide behind not knowing anything about baseball anymore!
Hey there Simon, I was wondering of you could make a video about what happens when an American gets deported from another county? Do they get returned to their home state or just to the nearest port of entry such as new York or California?
The change in Pitcher's Mound height was so big it even made the Peanuts cartoon strip - twitter.com/Peanuts50YrsAgo/status/1093073869152419840
I- I already know this.
Why am I watching this
IVE BEEN TO THE JR OLYMPICS FOR SOFTBALL
I KNOW THIS
SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS TO MEEE
Who invented the pitcher's mound? I don't really care, but here I am watching it anyway
It's always great when Simon has to talk about American sports... but he got through this vid without having to say a word that might as well have been Martian to him
Soccer! Rage rage froth froth don't care.
ERA - Evaluated Ruin Approximation is the preferred definition.
This was such an American subject that I feel I was to European to truly appreciate.
Here's an idea for consideration: where did the phrase it feels like a Monday first get coined?
Early 20th century when the five-day work week was instituted?
Hey As a lifelong baseball fan, I love a good ole fashioned pitchers duel! I.e. resulting in a 1-0 shutout.
Who started the trend of holding up the leaning tower of Pisa in photos?
Al'Trolio deNapoli in 1427. ;) It was posted on his Face Scroll profile, and painted by some passing by artist.
Love the tighty whities 10 Daniel only because you love your dad
I saw the caption that says "what's it for?"...I thought you meant baseball in general....
But in Germany we learn British English in school, so we know "Fußball" mostly as "football" and the other sport as "American Football".
I wish he'd move his hands more.
Is it truly possible to develop a photographic memory, or is that strictly a nature over nurture phenomenon?
Earned run average (ERA) , not estimated run average.
Home base=home plate.
"Home base" is the name in the rules, "home plate" is what everybody else calls it.
came to hear about baseball, gets information about soccer
4:00 teams getting shut out. what does that mean?
Getting shut out means you scored no points.
And shut outs are boring to watch.
"pitches" and "pitchers" sound identical in British, which leads to some confusion.
Simon has a baseball head
ERA means earned run average.
Did you ever tell em ‘bout crickit?
And MLB is dabbling with a 62 feet 6 in mound (distance to home) by contracting out this rule to an independent league. The experiment which was only for the second half should be about over. I am curious to see how that went.
So who invented the pitcher’s mound?
You never mentioned that a primary psychological effect of having the picture on a mound is detrimental to the batter. It is all so why a person taking a polygraph test is usually setting lower than the person administering a polygraph test. It's a psychological form of dominance.
YOU ARE NOT JAMES CORBETT.
so the pitcher doesn't have to throw the ball to hard
interesting
Nearly...
Earned Run Average... Not "Estimated".
the biggest problem in baseball today has nothing to do with the ball or the skill of the pitcher, or the pitchers mound or even the strike zone. It's relief pitching. Teams are allowed a nearly unlimited number of relief pitchers, so you can stack your lineup with a huge number of hard throwing (a-bit low stamina) relief pitchers you can replace nearly every inning as early as the 4th or 5th inning to insure that every batter has to face a new and fresh pitcher ready to slam a pitch at over 100mph down their throat each time they bat after their 2nd at bat. This has lead to some baseball fans calling for a limit to the number of relief pitchers in most situations.
I still don't get why American football is called football, when it's mostly held in the hands. Why isn't it called something like carry ball? Or hand ball? The only time you actually use feet to manipulate the ball is kicking it for a field goal. And BTW, I'm American.
I don't know but it did used be a lot closer to Rugby, no forward passes so the ball moved ahead on foot.
There's already a game in the US called handball, so I imagine that's why.
Both sports originated as one thing called football, and the rules diverged.
Football...including in Europe...got its name because it was played on foot, along with other games poor people played.
As opposed to rich people who didn't play games on foot, but on horseback.
Football isn't called that because you kick the ball. There were always variations of football where the main rule was to carry the ball.
@@Kashanta Then shouldn't American Football be called "Sock-him?" (Rather than Soccer) instead of football? And then Soccer can be called football.
Still, the mound can't prevent the public to see the pitcher oftentimes touching their groin
Shout out? Its shut out!
So they figured Cricket out
You didn't answer the question of who invented the pitchers mound
I wonder if Simon is a Pitcher or a catcher?..
I thought era was earned run average.
A lot of words that Americans use that Brits hate where coined in Europe as well as the imperial system
That's because Brits hate themselves.
This shit is really funny. I played baseball for a long time. I also lettered in soccer. However WTF does soccer have to do with pitching?
made me laugh, TY
ERA is Earned Run Average
Anybody else ever paint an apple white.
Love the “I am first” reactions.
You said the scoring sweet spot was "2 to 5" runs per game yet the English captions said "4 to 5". And your later commentary implied 4 was the minimum. Could you correct the video? Thanks! You did have a lot of interesting things to say about baseball history.
You are by far my favorite person on CZcams. I was wondering if you could do a video on how groups get classified as a cult. The process that is followed from beginning to end and the channels the the process has to go through. On a related note, what would it take for the Flat Earth Society to be classified as a cult? I'm sure that they fall under the definition of a cult because their views are intellectually harmful.
Before I listen to this I'm going to guess it's because a flat area would quickly become a mud pit.
Ummm, curve balls don’t move left to right. They drop suddenly due to topspin.
Actually, it moves both in the horizontal plane and vertical plane.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Yankees-Red Sox series in London last June. My favorite part was educating my Brit seatmates on the nuances of the game. As an aside, is it just me, or have the CZcams advertisements become even more irritating?