# Baseball and a nine-ball walk, according to Cecil. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 30, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677 "2003-12-30T02:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/1 "2003-12-30T02:07:59Z")
Given [this column:](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_302a.html) Is there a link to “baseball law”? Being a hockey player myself, I understand there are current regulations and rules, but baseball still seems to mystify me as to certain origins. Not pickin’ a debate. Just a hockey player curious about the nuances of baseball. Tripler Just lookin’ for historical references out of curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/2 "2003-12-30T03:19:08Z")
Here are the [current rules](http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/official_rules/foreword.jsp). If you are looking for the ways the rules have changed over the years, I can’t help you. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/3 "2003-12-30T03:22:52Z")
Here’s a descrption of the changes up unitl 1899. [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/excerpts/rules\_chronology.stm](http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/excerpts/rules_chronology.stm) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/4 "2004-01-01T00:51:50Z")
The walk on 9 balls was quickly reduced to 7, then to 6, 5, and finally 4 for the obvious reason that otherwise nearly _everybody_ would be called out on strikes. I personally believe the reason the number of balls necessary for a walk was 9 had to do with the way the numbers 3 and 9 pervade the game of baseball. There are **9** men on a team, there are **3** bases each **9** 0 feet apart, the ball is **9** inches in circumference, **3** strikes and you’re out, **3** outs ends the inning, and there are **9** innings in a game. (In the original rules, there weren’t necessarily 9 innings; the game ended after the first inning in which a team had accumulated 21 runs – but 21 is divisble by **3** , too.) ---
**Author:** ![redbird007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@redbird007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redbird007)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/5 "2004-01-02T08:06:49Z")
> [@](#): > > There are **9** men on a team, there are **3** bases each **9** 0 feet apart, the ball is **9** inches in circumference, **3** strikes and you’re out, **3** outs ends the inning, and there are **9** innings in a game. (In the original rules, there weren’t necessarily 9 innings; the game ended after the first inning in which a team had accumulated 21 runs – but 21 is divisble by **3** , too.) \*\*[/ Actually, there are four bases. I haven’t come across anything that substantiates the belief that baseball gives any special status to “3” or “9” in its rules. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/6 "2004-01-02T13:41:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Actually, there are four bases. No, there are four bases in rounders, but in baseball, there are three bases. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/7 "2004-01-07T08:08:24Z")
1st, 2nd, 3rd, Home Looks like 4 to me. ---
**Author:** ![rallen1974](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rallen1974](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rallen1974)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/8 "2004-01-07T19:50:02Z")
home is a plate, not a base. cheers Rick ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/9 "2004-01-07T20:04:42Z")
And more importantly, as I said in the first place, Rounders actually _has_ a Fourth Base. Elimination of Fourth Base is one of the things that makes Baseball Baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Faldage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Faldage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faldage)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/10 "2004-01-07T20:31:00Z")
rallen1974 > [@](#): > > home is a plate, not a base. Official Rules: 2.00 Definition of Terms > [@](#): > > A **BASE** is one of four points which must be touched by a runner in order to score a run; more usually applied to the canvas bags and the rubber plate which mark the base points. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/11 "2004-01-07T23:28:38Z")
Ah. I keep forgetting. The official position of Major League Baseball is that Rounders doesn’t exist, along with the first page of “Northanger Abbey” and any other evidence that might upset the Doubleday hoax. ---
**Author:** ![Faldage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Faldage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faldage)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/12 "2004-01-08T19:20:53Z")
I love a good non sequitur. Baseball has four bases therefore it doesn’t recognize Rounders or the fact that baseball wasn’t invented by Abner Doubleday. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/13 "2004-01-09T22:17:25Z")
It is a fact that, in Rounders, the batter starts at home, and runs to first, second, third, and fourth base, scoring when he reaches the last. One of the changes from Rounders to Baseball was that fourth base was eliminated, and the runner ended at home, instead. It is also a fact that establishing the Doubleday hoax meant that Rounders had to be erased from American history. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/14 "2004-01-10T03:23:40Z")
It is also the case the Major League Baseball has for some time rejected the Doubleday hoax, and recognizes baseball’s evolution from Rounders. Baseball has 4 bases. ---
**Author:** ![Faldage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Faldage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faldage)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/15 "2004-01-13T18:52:15Z")
> [@John W. Kennedy](#): > > It is a fact that, in Rounders, the batter starts at home, and runs to first, second, third, and fourth base, scoring when he reaches the last. One of the changes from Rounders to Baseball was that fourth base was eliminated, and the runner ended at home, instead. I dunno about rounders, but in Town Ball, as played at the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, the striker starts at a point half-way between fourth stake and first stake. That baseball conflated home and fourth base does not change the fact that there are four bases in baseball. How many legs does a cow have if you call one of the legs an arm? ---
**Author:** ![Cowardly\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@Cowardly\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowardly_Lion)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/16 "2004-01-15T00:12:20Z")
Sorry if this seems to be hijack of the thread, but I found OldGuy’s link very interesting: [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/excerpts/rules\_chronology.stm](http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/excerpts/rules_chronology.stm) In it there are a couple of mentions of cricket uniforms and cricket bats, does this imply that cricket was an alternative ballgame prior to the civil war? It’s just that coming from a cricketing country I find the notion of an American cricketing heritage somewhat unsettling in a Twilight Zone kind of way 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/17 "2004-01-15T06:01:26Z")
> [@Cowardly Lion](#): > > does this imply that cricket was an alternative ballgame prior to the civil war? I don’t know how prior you mean, but yeah. My source for this is I went to college in Williamsburg, Virginia, where the colonial town employees (it’s supposed to be 1760’s) played cricket frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Faldage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Faldage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faldage)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/18 "2004-01-15T17:40:53Z")
> [@Cowardly Lion](#): > > In it there are a couple of mentions of cricket uniforms and cricket bats, does this imply that cricket was an alternative ballgame prior to the civil war? It’s just that coming from a cricketing country I find the notion of an American cricketing heritage somewhat unsettling in a Twilight Zone kind of way 🙂 I’d have to dig for some references, but, yes, many early ballists were also cricketers. Early base ball scoring (the recording of achievements in a game) was similar to cricket scoring. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/19 "2004-01-20T02:34:01Z")
Not sure I could walk with nine balls… :smack: Yeah, I deserved that smack. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-and-a-nine-ball-walk-according-to-cecil/221677/20 "2004-01-29T08:44:14Z")
> [@Faldage](#): > > I’d have to dig for some references, but, yes, many early ballists were also cricketers. Early base ball scoring (the recording of achievements in a game) was similar to cricket scoring. Harry Wright, one of professional baseball’s most influential founders, was born in England and played cricket in New York before turning to baseball. His 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings squad, the first all-professional team, played some cricket matches durings its nationwide tour.