Nowadays, it’s hard to envision a situation in which a team would need to think of ground rules regarding an»flow of spectators upon the playing area,» but as always, we refer you to the cardinal principle: There’s a reason that this is in the rulebook, and the rationale is exactly as bizarre as you would expect.
Thanks to the formation of the American League the first World Series was played in 1903. The matchup featured Honus Wagner and the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Boston Americans — whose rotation was headed by some guy named Cy Young.
As you may imagine, anticipation was high. So large, in fact, when the Series shifted to Pittsburgh for Game 3, Exhibition Park couldn’t match the entire crowd: The announced attendance was a bit over 18,000 lovers, but so many more snuck through fences that eventually some 20,000-25,000 had swarmed the area:
Field
The city had to call in more than a hundred police officers to deal with the audience, which stood 10 deep in front of the backstop and just a couple of feet by the time that the game really began. Ground rules needed to be composed Considering that the spectators clearlyn’t went anywhere, and also the responsibility fell on Pirates player/manager Fred Clarke.
The decision of clarke? Any ball that rolled under the rope separating the field from the lovers and past the outfielders would be mastered a ground-rule triple. The four games played at Exhibition Park — the World Series was a best-of-nine before 1905 — showcased 17 triples that were ground-rule, and Boston rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the championship in eight games.
