November 3, 1953, 70 years ago: Baseball's rules committee restores the pre-1939 rule which says that a sacrifice fly is not charged as a time at bat.
Also‚ the committee votes for the "no gloves on the field rule." Hank Greenberg‚ the Hall of Fame-to-be slugger who is now the general manager of the Cleveland Indians, had proposed the change‚ saying, "Aside from the possibility of hindering the play‚ gloves on the field look sloppy." It also made it easy for opposing players to sneak creepy-crawly or otherwise disgusting things into the glove of an easily scared player, such as the Yankees' Phil Rizzuto.
The committee also makes a rule that any runner will be called out for deliberately running the bases backwards, or even taking a lead off the base in the wrong direction.
A new balk rule is instituted which gives the batter an option: If he gets a hit after a balk is called‚ he has the option of accepting the outcome of the pitch‚ instead of being limited to the advance of the runner(s). This is the baseball equivalent of a football team that is the beneficiary of a penalty having the option to decline it, if the outcome of such is more advantageous to them than the outcome of the penalty.
Rule suggestions that are rejected include the re-legalization of the spitball‚ 2 bases for an intentional walk‚ and the option of declining ball 4. None of these ideas have been picked up since.