ASEBALL REALIZED it had a problem in 1909: Its teams were getting smarter than its rule book.
There was growing enthusiasm for a newfangled strategy called "relief pitching." But there was no obvious way of preparing for a pitching change. The rules did not allow much time for warming up: If a manager wanted to pull his starter, he was supposed to immediately name a reliever, who in turn was supposed to get to the mound right away. That didn't often lead to great pitching. And so managers were inspired to find a workaround.
This story is from the May 2023 edition of Sports Illustrated US.
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This story is from the May 2023 edition of Sports Illustrated US.
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