Baseball Looks Very Different Than It Did the Last Time Cubs Visited Fenway Park in 1918

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May 20, 2011

Baseball Looks Very Different Than It Did the Last Time Cubs Visited Fenway Park in 1918 When the Cubs last visited Fenway Park, Woodrow Wilson was president, gasoline cost 8 cents per gallon, George Herman "Babe" Ruth was a star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and Charlie Chaplin was starring in A Dog's Life. Clearly, a few things have changed.

The game of baseball, however, lives on, but not without a few changes. Since the Red Sox beat the Cubs 2-1 in Game 6 of the '18 Series at Fenway Park, there have been a few modifications to the rulebook. Check them out below.

All information from Baseball-Almanac.com

1920
Spitball is outlawed.

A batter hitting a home run in the last of the ninth inning with the winning run on on gets credit for a home run — thus, the birth of the walk-off homer.

RBIs added to official score.

1925
The minimum home-run distance was set at 250 feet — or a few feet deeper than many Little League parks nowadays.

1969
The pitcher's mound was dropped five inches after Bob Gibson went 22-9 with a 1.12 ERA in the '68 season.

The strike zone was condensed to "the area from the armpits to the top of the batter's knees."

"Saves" were created for the first time.

1971
All major-league players were ordered to wear protective helmets.

1973
The American League began using designated hitters for pitchers on an experimental basis.

1975
"The ball was permitted to be covered with cowhide because of the shortage of horses."

2008
MLB adds limited instant replay to be used to determine home runs or fair/foul calls.

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