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ADAMS GETS HIS WAY! BOUND RULE IS NO MORE!
STARTING IN 1865, ALL FIELDERS MUST CATCH THE BALL ON THE FLY TO RECORD AN OUT

NEW YORK CITY (Mar. 13, 1865) – At the Rules & Regulations meeting of the N.B.B.O. Executive Committee last March, Knickerbocker B.B.C. president Doc Adams forced a vote on an issue that he had been obsessed with since the creation of the National Base Ball Organization: the elimination of the Bound Rule, which allowed fielders, especially outfielders, to record an out by catching a fly ball after one bounce. Adams lost the vote but was able to convince the presidents of nineteen other N.B.B.O. clubs to agree with him. Adams, undeterred by the result, vowed to use his power as the president of the N.B.B.O’s second-oldest club to continue to press for the elimination of the Bound Rule until he was victorious.

After a successful 1864 year both on and off the field it was time for another set of N.B.B.O.E.C. Rules & Regulations meetings, and Doc Adams followed through on his threat to take the contentious Bound Rule issue and slam it back on the table. However, Adams did not merely wait a full calendar year to reintroduce the issue, instead spending the past year talking to players, coaches, and executives, many of whom were either former cricket players or extremely familiar the sport, about the implied virtue in catching the ball the same way that cricket players do. Adams, whose role and club make him very influential, gained sympathetic ears and converted many to his side of his pet cause ahead of the meetings at the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York City.

At last year’s R&R meetings, Doc Adams stood almost alone amongst his New York League colleagues in advocating for forcing players to catch the ball on the fly. The traditionalists in the N.Y.L. saw no need to change what they felt worked perfectly fine, and also argued that if they wanted the game to be like cricket then they would simply go and run cricket clubs. The larger N.E.L. clubs agreed with their New York brethren, and Adams was forced to face defeat.

At this year’s R&R meetings, Adams was far from alone in vociferously arguing for the Bound Rule to be made a part of base ball’s past. Alongside him were the presidents of American & Quaker State, the two Philadelphian clubs that exist in a city where cricket was very popular. Joining them was the president of Gotham, whose facilities were at the St. George Cricket Grounds, and the president of St. John’s, the most dominant club in the sport.

This time around, the argument was convincing: if organized base ball wanted to be seen as at least equal to cricket, its players needed to display the same skill as cricket players. That included being able to catch a fly ball regardless of how uncomfortable it might feel against the hands, just as was done in cricket.

Whereas the vote in last year’s meetings was 20 for & 28 against removal of the Bound Rule, in this round the vote was 37 for & 11 against – easily more than the vetoproof two-thirds needed to vote in favor of eliminating the rule and mandating fly balls to be caught to retire batsmen. The Bound Rule was officially out.

What would this mean for the product on the field? Some members of the Writers Pool speculated that eliminating the Bound Rule would lead to a large increase in hits to the outfield. Instead, it is more likely that in upcoming seasons fielding errors made by outfielders will take flight as they try to adapt to the rule change. The Bound Rule let outfielders ease up on batted balls they would have otherwise reached in order to snag them on a single bounce and record an out. Now, they will be forced to run under the ball in time and safely catch it before it hits the ground. Without the speed of the ball being greatly decreased by a bounce off the grass, fielding miscues are sure to increase.

With the players now having to catch the ball on the fly while they are in the field, runs per game are sure to increase in 1865. Will further adjustments be made to assist fielders? Time will tell.