Pitchers mound lowered by 5 inches, 51 years ago today

Major League Baseball lowered the pitchers mound height from 15 inches to 10 inches, 51 years ago today.

The rule change was part of a response to the issue of pitching becoming too dominant in the NL and AL, as evidenced by five no-hitters thrown during the 1968 season:

1	Tom Phoebus
	Baltimore Orioles (AL)
	Saturday, April 27, 1968 Baltimore Orioles 6, Boston Red Sox 0 Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)
2	Jim “Catfish” Hunter
	Oakland Athletics (AL)
	Wednesday, May 8, 1968 Oakland Athletics 4, Minnesota Twins 0 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) (Perfect game)
3	George Culver
	Cincinnati Reds (NL)
	Monday, July 29, 1968 (Second game of doubleheader) Cincinnati Reds 6, Philadelphia Phillies 1 Connie Mack Stadium (Philadelphia)
4	Gaylord Perry
	San Francisco Giants (NL)
	Tuesday, September 17, 1968 San Francisco Giants 1, St. Louis Cardinals 0 Candlestick Park (San Francisco)
5	Ray Washburn
	St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
	Wednesday, September 18, 1968 St. Louis Cardinals 2, San Francisco Giants 0 Candlestick Park (San Francisco)

Other rule changes required the slope of the mound to be uniform and gradual and reduced the size of the strike zone to the armpits to the top of the knees.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale criticized the changes.

“If they think this is going to make .300 hitters, they’re mistaken,” Drysdale told the Associated Press. “Last year could have been just a one-year thing. I think they should have waited a year to see how it goes before panicking like this.”

So how did the moves work? Well, 1969 did see an uptick in runs scored, but no-hitters actually increased by one and three pitchers notched their second career no-nos!

1	Bill Stoneman
	Montreal Expos (NL)
	Thursday, April 17, 1969 Montreal Expos 7, Philadelphia Phillies 0 Connie Mack Stadium (Philadelphia) (His first of two no-hitters)
2	Jim Maloney
	Cincinnati Reds (NL)
	Wednesday, April 30, 1969 Cincinnati Reds 10, Houston Astros 0 Crosley Field (Cincinnati) (His second of two no-hitters)
3	Don Wilson
	Houston Astros (NL)
	Thursday, May 1, 1969 Houston Astros 4, Cincinnati Reds 0 Crosley Field (Cincinnati) (His second of two no-hitters)
4	Jim Palmer
	Baltimore Orioles (AL)
	Wednesday, August 13, 1969 Baltimore Orioles 8, Oakland Athletics 0 Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)
5	Ken Holtzman
	Chicago Cubs (NL)
	Tuesday, August 19, 1969 Chicago Cubs 3, Atlanta Braves 0 Wrigley Field (Chicago) (His first of two no-hitters; Holtzman becomes the second MLB pitcher to throw a no hitter without a single strikeout.)
6	Bob Moose
	Pittsburgh Pirates (NL)
	Saturday, September 20, 1969 Pittsburgh Pirates 4, New York Mets 0 Shea Stadium (New York)

Things didn’t work out for Drysdale, either. After an All-Star season in ’68, Drysdale battled through arm soreness until finally hanging up the cleats in August of ’69.

It’s interesting to note that both the year before the rule changes, ’68, and the year after, ’69, are the only seasons in MLB history to see teams exchange no-hitters on consecutive days, Perry/Washburn in ’68 and Maloney/Wilson in ’69.