Home Plate?

[brett]

Was it shaped to look like a home?

[Brian McKenna]

My guess is that it's designed (the back of it) that way because of the diamond shape of the field. Note the difference to second base. When measuring the 90' between bases, only half of second base figures in the 90' feet - as opposed to all of first and third. I would image the the front of the plate is as it is to more-clearly define the strike zone.

My other guess is that it was called home before the current shape came about and that no effort was made to cut it like a child's drawing of a house - rather for strategic reasons.

It is interesting though.

From Wiki answers but I haven't verified. I'll look at Peter Morris' book later.

Prior to 1900, the home base was shaped like the other 3 bases. It was imbedded in the ground and positioned with an edge pointed at the pitcher's mound. That configuration made the corners just tiny spots. For the 1900 season the owners changed the shape of the home base in an effort to give umpires a better view of the base to be able to call balls and strikes. A base, (first, second, third) is a 12x12 inch square or 144 square inches. The new home base was 216 square inches and shaped like a pentagon with straight lines replacing the edges. Not only did the new shape help the umpires but it gave pitchers a bigger target to throw at.

[ipitch]

I've always just thought of it as a square with the corners cut off (so that the edges line up with the base lines). It's just a coincidence that it's "home shaped" and called home plate. I assume it's called "home" because it's where you start on offensive and also where you finish (or try to).

[Brian McKenna]

1872 - rules dictated a home plate made of white marble or stone

1885 - the AA specified that it should be made of white rubber due to the increased dangers due to sliding movement. The NL allowed rubber or stone.

As previously noted, the 5-sided plate was introduced after the 1899 season for the benefit of pitchers and umpires to see the strike zone better.

The beveled edges were introduced after the 1936 season.

[digglahhh]

One thing that made me question the history of home plate is the use of the term, "outside" or "inside corner." The term "corner" evokes the image of a vertex, yet what is referred to as "the corner" is actually much more accurately described as an "edge," or merely a "side." That lead me to question whether home plate, at one time, was just a square base, like the others, that was simply rotated so that it sat like a diamond. It would have matched the infield and made logical sense as far the development of the term "corner of the plate."

Of course, I wasn't sufficiently motivated to test my theory by researching the history of the shape of the plate or origin of the use of "corner" as it related to inside and outside pitches.

[ipitch]

One thing that made me question the history of home plate is the use of the term, "outside" or "inside corner." The term "corner" evokes the image of a vertex, yet what is referred to as "the corner" is actually much more accurately described as an "edge," or merely a "side." That lead me to question whether home plate, at one time, was just a square base, like the others, that was simply rotated so that it sat like a diamond. It would have matched the infield and made logical sense as far the development of the term "corner of the plate."

The plate still has corners, no? A pitch can barely pass over the one of the front corners without passing over the edge/side.

I've noticed that some baseball announcers say "a strike ON the outside corner" and some say "a strike OVER the outside corner". Some probably have said it both ways.

[digglahhh]

The plate still has corners, no? A pitch can barely pass over the one of the front corners without passing over the edge/side.

I've noticed that some baseball announcers say "a strike ON the outside corner" and some say "a strike OVER the outside corner". Some probably have said it both ways.

Yes, well any polygon has corners, right... And, it is indeed possible for a pitch to catch the front corner of the plate, and be off the plate by the time it is in the catcher's glove. Those are great pitches, that's kind of one of the goals of pitching right, to throw the most unhittable strikes possible.

But, I was talking about how, generally speaking, the use of the term corner is more often than not really a reference to an edge. When that first struck me it made me wonder if at some point the plate was a different shape that matched that expression more literally.