By Ethan Rutter Author: Thomas Gilbert

 The years of are referred to as the Dead Ball Era, the period before the emergence of Babe Ruth.

 The name Dead Ball came about because of the lack of offense during the time period of  The baseballs were used for about one hundred plays each, which softened the balls and made it harder to hit homeruns.  Fences were also very deep some as far as 600 feet, most fences now barely reach distances over 400 feet.

 In 1909 there were complaints about the lack of offense and a baseball with cork in the middle was made just like the ones we use today.  Certain players had career years like Ty Cobb who batted over.400, but pitchers soon regained control with pitches like the spitball.  A batting average of.400 means that for every 10 at-bats, a batter gets 4 hits.

 In 1913 a pitcher named Russ Ford invented the emery ball by scuffing up the ball and cutting it. This made the pitch move more and thus it was harder to hit.  Pitchers also had the spitball in which a pitcher might spit some chewing tobacco spit on a ball, also adding to the movement of a ball.  These pitches were very hard to hit.

 During the year that the Dead Ball Era ended, eight Chicago White Sox players purposefully lost a world series, when they were offered a lot of money from gamblers to do so.  Baseball lost a lot of fans, but luckily players like Babe Ruth came along and brought fans back. With the end of the Dead Ball Era, hitting again became a big part of the game.

 Because of all the lack off offence during the Dead Ball Era, changes were made to the game like fences being moved back.  Also baseballs were made with cork in the middle, so it rebounds faster off the bat and goes further.  In addition, a ball batted, or one that has come in contact with the ground and is scuffed, is removed from play and replaced with a new one, which ensures fair play between the pitcher and the hitter.

 The offence produced as a result of these changes has made the game of baseball more popular and viewer friendly.  These days it is common for many players to have batting averages of over.300, but during the Dead Ball Era this was not so.  In 1905 only 2 players batted over.300 and they were Wee Willie Keeler and Elmer Flick.

 The author of Dead Ball taught me a lot about how offence was all but absent during the 20 years of the Dead Ball Era.  Pitchers had unfair advantages because they could scuff the ball and alter it with saliva.  I know that I am very glad changes were made to make the game more offensive, it makes the game more exciting to watch and play.