off the next inning, with the pitch count reset to 0-0. While this ensures that the players all bat roughly the same number of times, the game will almost always end before the last cycle is complete, so that the #1 hitter (for example) almost always has one plate appearance more than the #9 hitter, which is a significant enough difference to affect tactical decisions. This is not a perfect correlation to each batter's official count of "at-bats," as a sacrifice (bunt or fly) that advances a runner, or a walk (base on balls or hit by pitch) is not recorded as an "at-bat" as these are largely out of the batter's control, and does not hurt his batting average (base hits per at-bats.) History Development of the set batting order Early forms of baseball or rounders from the mid 19th century did not require a fixed batting order; any player who was not on base could be called upon to bat. The concept of a set batting order is said to have been invented by Alexander Cartwright, who also instituted rules such as the foul ball and tagging the runner (as opposed to pegging him with the ball), and devised the shortstop position. In the early days of baseball, the rules did not require that the batting order be announced before game time. This permitted strategic decisions regarding batting order to occur while the game was in progress. For example, Cap Anson was known to wait to see if the first two men got on base in the first inning. If they did not, he would wait and hit in the next inning. However, in the 1880s, organized baseball began mandating that the batting order be disclosed before the first pitch. For example, Rule 36 ("The Batsman's Position--Order of Batting") in The Playing Rules of Professional Base Ball Clubs of 1896 stated the following: "The Batsmen must take their positions within the batsmen's lines ... in the order in which they are named in the batting order, which batting order must be submitted by the Captains of the opposing teams to the Umpire before the game, and this batting order must be followed except in the case of a substitute player, in which case the substitute must take the place of the original player in the batting order. After the first inning the first striker in each inning shall