Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as the Pittsburgh Pirates loved cocaine in the 80s.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about the other version of baseball that rarely ever gets talked about.

Contrary to popular belief, the modern rules of baseball were invented by the New York Knickerbockers back in 1845.

At the time, they chose to model the rules after what was referred to as “The New York Game” and it set the foundation for the version of baseball that we all know and love today.

But something most people don’t remember is that there was a completely different version of baseball being played during this same time period.

“The Massachusetts Game” is a style of baseball that had been played in the New England area since the 18th century.

It has some similarities to modern baseball, but there’s quite a few pretty significant differences.

1/ The field is square, not diamond-shaped.

2/ There was a “Thrower” instead of a pitcher, which meant that they threw overhand (Major League baseball did not allow overhand pitching until 1884). Of course, this is one of the rules we eventually stole from the Massachusetts Game.

3/ The batter was called a “striker” and would start between first and fourth base.

4/ The bases were 60 feet apart, which made it only a 30-foot distance from where the striker was to first base. This created a game where there was a constant supply of base runners.

5/ Fielders were allowed to put a runner out by pegging them with a thrown ball - a practice called "soaking" or "plugging". It was easier for this rule to exist because the ball was half the weight of a modern day baseball (about 2.5 ounces).

6/ No foul territory. Baserunners were not required to stay within the baselines, and strikers could literally use the whole field. It was a common offensive maneuver for strikers to intentionally tip the ball back over the catcher's head. 

7/ The rules allowed 10 to 14 players on a side, and the ball had to be caught in the air for it to count as an out. Under New York rules, a catch off one bounce was still allowed. Put-outs were hard to come by, so the inning was over when the defense got one out.

One of the craziest differences, though, was the amount of scoring in the Massachusetts Game.

The rules stated that the game would end when one of the teams reached 100 runs.

So essentially, they would just keep going until one team scored 100 or both sides came to an agreement to stop sooner.

Honestly, sounds electric.

Kinda makes you think what it would’ve been like if we lived in an alternate universe where the Knickerbockers chose the Massachusetts Game over the New York Game, but unfortunately, we’ll never know.

SUNDAY DOUBLE HEADERS

There’s nothing quite like kicking back on a Sunday, reading another fantastic story from Dead Legends.

But there’s one way to make it even better; get a second story from The Underdog Newsletter.

My friend Tyler sends this every Sunday, and he never misses.

All of his stories are about athletes who’ve beat the odds and come out on top.

You’ll feel inspired and probably even a little fired up after reading his weekly emails, so buckle up.

BASEBALL TRIVIA

Find the answer in the bottom of this email!

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

From 1886-1887, Thomas “Toad” Ramsey was the best left-handed pitcher in the American Association.

He threw over 1,100 innings during those two seasons, racked up 75 wins, and threw an absurd number of complete games (127).

Some claim that he invented the knuckleball, but that has been heavily debated amongst baseball historians.

After those two incredible seasons, Ramsey’s career went off the rails a bit due to his love of booze.

By 1891, he was out of the big leagues altogether.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Wild Flight: ‘86 Mets f**k up a plane

• The First Strike: A bunch of scrubs play against world champs

• The Anthem: How “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” became the unofficial song of baseball

BASEBALL TRIVIA ANSWER: Mike Leake