fans and administrators view the rules and traditions of professional baseball as time-tested and nearly sacrosanct.

This was not the case during baseball's early days, particularly in the late 19th century, when rules were changed significantly and often yearly. The modern game began to take shape in the late 1880s, with additional significant rule changes made during the rest of that century.

Early era (pre-1901)

Many of the modern rules of baseball originated with the so-called "New York game"

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