Historical baseball question from an Australian

[Neilster]

The other day I watched the first episode of Ken Burns' Baseball documentary. I watched most of it when it was on tv here in the 90s but I had missed this one. It seems like most of the rules had been codified by 1893 and it looks like players were using crude gloves in the 1890s. My question is, when did baseball start to look "modern"? I understand that that could mean different things to different people.

From the little of bit of research I've done, my guess would be about 1900, although you had the dead-ball era, where scores were very low, and that didn't end until after WW1. Fast balls from about 1900 seem to have been about 80mph (130 km/h). Cricket, a sport a know quite a lot about, had a somewhat similar trajectory.

The two sports had similar origins and the first international game of cricket was played between the United States and Canada in 1844. The first recognised Test Cricket (the traditional form of the game) was played between England and Australia in England in 1877. Although we have fascinating written accounts and scoresheets from that era, I used to think that until after WW1, the techniques of the batsmen and the bowlers were crude, as overarm bowling had only been legalised in 1864.

Further research and watching some very early footage has changed my opinion. By the 1890s, the fastest bowlers were hitting 85mph (138 km/h) and the batsmen look quite modern in the earliest footage from then. The batsmen also had the disadvantage of batting pitches that were uncovered when it rained, which often caused mayhem.

It seems the Babe Ruth era was crucial to the development of baseball. Whilst cricket balls have basically remained the same for about 150 years, the construction of baseballs changed in about 1920 to facilitate more home runs. That, coupled with a reduction in the size of the playing area in some stadiums and laws preventing tampering with the ball (and ball changing if dull) also helped scoring.

One big difference is that cricket maintained its amateur status until the mid 1970s, even though it was extremely popular. Because it was an international sport, it was considered enough that you were representing your country. Mind you, there were various ways, both above and below board, by which players were remunerated. By the mid 70s the top players had had enough and now there's a lot of money involved.

Speaking of cricket, the final of Major League Cricket was just played between Washington and L.A. It was a thriller that went down to the last ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IBBbWOeQH8