Dead-ball era

The dead-ball era is a baseball term generally used to describe the period between 1900 (though some date it to the beginning of baseball) and the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1920.

Baseball during the dead ball era

During the dead-ball era, baseball was much more of a strategic, station-to-station game. It relied much more on stolen bases, hit and run plays and similar strategies than on home runs. It was basically a speed game, what would be referred to now as "small ball." Such plays as the Baltimore Chop were popular, where a batter would intentionally hit downward on the incoming pitch so that by the time the fielders were able to retrieve the ball, the batter had reached first base. And then often he would steal second base, or be bunted over to second, and then move to third base or score on a hit and run play.

Related Topics:
Stolen base - Hit and run - Baltimore Chop - Batter - Fielders - Bunt

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There are many statistical examples from this era that show how much more speed oriented the game was. Between 1900 and 1920, there were 13 occasions when the league leader in home runs had fewer than 10 home runs for the season. Meanwhile, there were several instances where the league leader in triples had 20 or more, which is almost unheard of in recent years. Also, batting averages were much higher during the dead-ball era; .400 averages were much more frequent, because hitters went for much higher percentage hits than they did during the live ball era, with home runs being more difficult to hit.

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