While the game of baseball developed and experienced a series of changes, so too did the field dimensions, specifically the pitcher’s mound.
Nowadays, the pitcher is often viewed as one of the most vital positions on the field, but this wasn’t always the scenario. The early years of gameplay employed the pitcher to merely toss the ball (often underhand) to the batter to commence gameplay. During this time, no balls or strikes were called, and the pitcher lobbed the ball as many times as it took for the batter to get a piece of it.
As time passed, pitchers began testing out wild pitches in an attempt to lure the batter to swing at unreachable balls flying down the dirt strip. This curiosity resulted in the league implementing the pitching box in 1864. The pitching box stood 45 feet away from home plate and measured 3 feet by 12 feet. Pitchers were confined to the box and were now unable to get a running start for their throw.
The year 1893 marked the introduction of the pitching slab, as well as the pitching mound, in an attempt to create equilibrium between pitchers and hitters. The height of the mound has not remained consistent throughout baseball history and was the topic of concern between teams facing each other. Teams were often found adjusting the height of the mound to throw off the visiting pitcher. Other instances of mound modifications came from the bullpen, where visiting pitchers claimed the height differed from the actual heap on the field.
Today, the standard mound in an official MLB stadium sits at a contemporary 10-inches high. As pitchers begin to dominate the game once again, the competitive tension between pitchers and hitters continues to wage on.