When did they decide to raise the pitcher's mound?

Question

When was this decided and how did they decide how high to raise it? I've always wondered this.

Answer 1

Actually the mound has only been lowered. In 1968 the rule of how high the mound was allowed to be was lowered from 15 inches to 10 inches.

edit: After some research the 15 inch rule cam into effect in 1904. There is nothing I can find that states any restriction on how high the mound could have been before that.

Answer 2

The pitching mound first came into being with a rule change in 1893 (previously, the pitchers threw from field level), but they did not at the time specify how high it should be. In 1903, the height was set at 15 inches. After the 1968 season, the height was lowered to 10 inches because of perceived pitching dominance.

Answer 3

It was set at 15 inches in 1903. There probably were all sorts of heights before that, so the rule was standardized then as something of a fair height.

Then after the 1968 season, in which the American League batting champ hit .301 (Yastrzemski), the mound was lowered to 10 inches. It has stayed there ever since.

Answer 4

I don't think it has been raised, but who else has noticed how the pitchers these days are starting to look like offensive linemen. I mean it seems there are more and more pitchers that are like 6'5 and weight 265 than I would have ever thought. Where are these guys coming from?