Baseball In The 1920's

Baseball in the 1920's is an important segment of baseball history. There are major story lines and rule changes that affected baseball from that point forward.

• Rule changes forbade baseball tampering
  
• Babe Ruth hit 60 homes runs in 1927
  
• 1920's baseball shifted from pitching to hitting
  
• First radio broadcast of a game was made
  
• A new cushioned cork center ball was introduced
  

The decade that started with 1920 baseball history was not filled with only good news though. The 1920's baseball game also saw the White Sox scandal in which professional players were found to be fixing their own games and gambling on the results.

And the baseball tampering rule in 1920 baseball was the result of the American League president ordering balls to be used in games until they were considered dangerous. One such ball had a rough spot from wear and tear and got away from the pitcher. It hit and killed the batter Ray Chapman creating shock and outrage among players and fans alike.

Balls were rough and dirty and difficult to see on the field. The spitball was the result of chewing tobacco, spitting the juice into the baseball glove and then coating the ball. But new balls are shiny and slippery, so another practice that continues to this day is the umpire using rosin to rub down new balls.

Baseball in the 1920's was a "rooting-tooting" time. It was lively and exciting, and the number of fans attending games swelled to 93 million. That is a huge number when you consider the total population of the US in the first decades. The most popular team of baseball in the 1920s was the New York Yankees with attendance data of over 10 million.

The 1920s baseball stars included names like Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig and Johnny Rawlings. These and other 1920s baseball players showed the star power and attraction of the game.

Baseball from the 1920's was the decade that entrenched baseball firmly in the American psyche. It was the beginning of the Lively Ball Era, the start of the Commissioner System and the first recognition that corruption existed in the game.

If you had to identify one major feature of 1920 baseball, 1920's ball rule changes were the most important. Baseball of the 1920s is called the end of the dead ball era. Baseball history in the 1920's also saw some new terminology. Billy Evans was the first "General Manager", and the "Commissioner" took charge of the baseball game.