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Whether you're annoyed by the drawn-out nature of today's baseball games or you enjoy the full nine-inning experience, you can thank an early decision in the sport's evolution. Had things gone differently, America's pastime might have been limited to just seven innings.
Before 1857, baseball games were not only of uncertain duration but also lacked a fixed number of innings. According to the 8th Rule in the Knickerbockers' handbook—widely regarded as the first set of rules from which modern baseball evolved—"The game to consist of twenty-one counts, or aces; but at the conclusion an equal number of hands must be played."
Playing to 21 runs might have seemed reasonable during the high-scoring games of the 1840s and 1850s, but after the 12-12 tie in 1856—the game ended after 16 innings due to darkness—it became evident that a change was needed.
"As the level of play improved, the likelihood of one team reaching 21 runs decreased. Most of those runs were unearned, as we'd call them today," says John Thorn, Major League Baseball's Official Historian.
The choice to limit the number of innings led to the question of just how many innings should constitute a full game. This was tied to the minimum number of players required for a game to proceed. While most teams played with nine players, this wasn’t yet an official standard. As Thorn explains in his book, Baseball in the Garden of Eden:
During a Knickerbocker meeting in 1856, [Louis F.] Wadsworth and Doc Adams supported a motion to allow nonmembers to participate in Knickerbocker intramural games at the Elysian Fields if fewer than eighteen members were present (by then, nine players per side had become the de facto norm for match play, though it was still not a formal rule). Wadsworth and his supporters felt the quality of the game should take precedence over maintaining membership exclusivity. Duncan F. Curry countered with the proposal that if fourteen Knickerbockers were present, no outsiders should be allowed, and the game should be played short-handed, as had been their practice since 1845.
In essence, the debate was over whether to preserve the Knickerbocker club's exclusivity at the expense of competitive balance. Ultimately, Curry's faction, the "Old Fogies," triumphed, and the Knickerbockers agreed on playing with seven-man teams for their intramural games. Since the number of innings was still undecided, they chose to play seven-inning games to match the seven-man teams.
However, this did not apply to intermural games. By that time, the Knickerbockers had been playing against other clubs for about ten years. Given the divisiveness of the issue within their own team, they decided that a committee should be formed to establish a uniform standard for the number of players and innings in games between clubs.
The Knickerbockers sent three representatives to the committee, ostensibly backing the idea of seven players and seven innings, which would help maintain the club's exclusivity. However, Wadsworth was appointed as the Knickerbocker representative, and despite his official role, he remained committed to his original belief in "preserving the quality of the game."
"[Wadsworth] quietly collaborated with other clubs to overturn the Knickerbockers' stance, pushing for the adoption of nine innings and nine players," says Thorn, reflecting on that pivotal Convention that shaped many of today's baseball rules.
The following month, Wadsworth spearheaded a motion within the Club to have the Knickerbockers officially adopt all the new rules established at the convention. The motion passed, and from that point forward, baseball games in America were played with nine players per side and a regulation length of nine innings.
See Also: Why Does "K" Stand for Strikeout?
