Why are the bases in baseball 90 feet apart?

Answer 1

Why is a football field 100 yards long (120 including the end zones)...That is just the way it was laid out..and isn't it remarkable that it is exactly right, creating close plays at first...making many plays close and keeping the game exciting.

It is amazing that despite the advancement in equipment and the development of athletes, the ground ball to the shortstop still beats the runner by one step :)

1857

The Base Ball Convention of 1857 held in New York on January 22, by former Knickerbocker President Daniel "Doc" Adams, was the first convention of its kind. Over a dozen clubs sent delegates to the meetings. During this convention Adams was elected President of the Convention and headed the Committee on Rules and Regulations.

Adams changed the length of the game to nine equal innings, instead of declaring the first team to score 21 "aces" or runs, the winner. Adams also declared that five innings must be played to be declared a game.

He set the distance between bases at 30 yards. It has been assumed that the distance was 30 paces between all bases although this distance was never specified in the original Knickerbocker Rules. The only mention of distance is listed in Rule 4 and states; "The bases shall be from "home" to second base, 42 paces; from first to third base, 42 paces, equidistant."

The definition of a pace from An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828: Pace: "1. A step. 2. The space between the two feet in walking, estimated at two feet and a half. But the geometrical pace is five feet, or the whole space passed over by the same foot from one step to another." The definition was not changed for Webster's 1853-revised edition) This means that the distance from home to second would have been 105 feet and the Cartwright base paths would have been 74.25 feet.

The pitching distance was also not described in the Knickerbocker Rules. Adams set the distance from the 12' pitcher's line (which is centered to an imaginary line that is between home base and second base and extends from third to first) to home base at 45 feet.