Foot in the Bucket

From time to time, no matter how entrenched and steeped in tradition they may be, the rules need to be updated or, at the very least, debated. Consider sports, where second looks happen for both the health of the athletes and the entertainment of the fans. In baseball, the powers that be banned the spitball after the Yankees pitcher Carl Mays struck Cleveland’s Ray Chapman in the head on August 16, 1920; the shortstop died twelve hours later. After the 1968 season, which saw just six batters hit better than .300, Major League Baseball lowered the pitcher’s mound from fifteen inches to ten to help keep things exciting.

Up until the 1956–57 NHL season, a penalized hockey player had to stay in the bad box even after his opposing team scored on the power play (or, as was sometimes the case, scored multiple times). In professional basketball, the shot clock was introduced during the...