History ObviousRulePatch / Sports

** In the 1993 season, the San Francisco Giants were eliminated from the NL East on the last day, despite having more than 100 wins. They needed a win to tie the Atlanta Braves, who were in first place in the NL West. In an attempt for Major League Baseball to prevent something like this from happening again, the divisions were realigned to three divisions per league instead of two. The playoffs were also expanded from four teams to eight, a new round was added with the wild card added in both leagues. This playoff format did not debut until 1995, due to the advent of the Major League Baseball Strike of mid-1994 that erased the remainder of the season.

*** The second wild card, added in 2012. Until 2012, when a second wild card was added to the format (resulting in an opening elimination game between the wild card teams), divisional teams could not meet in the opening Division Series as a division winner vs. wild card matchup. While MLB wanted to protect big-time rivalries like Yankees vs. Red Sox for later in the playoffs, this meant the team with the best record were sometimes not rewarded with getting the weakest draw of the playoff field; this was amended in 2012. Also, up to this point, since there was only one wild card team, a wild card leader with a large lead in the standings could rest and line up their pitching rotation, which division winning teams argued eliminated their advantage from winning the division. Thus, a Wild Card elimination game was created, where the two wild cards would meet in a do-or-die and most likely would have to both burn their best pitcher to win it, then immediately fly out for the next series, whereas the top division winners could rest and set their pitchers.

*** From 1995-1997, home-field for the opening Division Series round rotated amongst the three divisions, where two pre-selected divisions would have their winners receive home-field, while the third division winner and the wild card would not. The best-of-five would also have an unusual 2-3 format where the road team in the series would open the first two games at home before the final three would be decided at the home team's park. While this meant a lower seed could not clinch at home, it was an advantage to start a series at their park first. Both were amended in 1998 to award the better record with home-field advantage, and to go with a 2-2-1 format where the higher seed gets the opening games and a possible do-or-die Game 5 at home.

*** The "Rob Ray rule" requires players' jerseys to be tied to a player's pants to prevent them from coming off easily during a fight. In the '80s and '90s, pugilists frequently wore baggy jerseys that would come off easily and in a fight and give their opponents nothing to grab on to. Sabres enforcer Rob Ray, while not the first to (ab)use the technique, is probably its most famous adherent simply because of the fact he turned it UpToEleven.

** The off-the-ball-foul rule, which was created to prevent the opposing team from chasing around the worst free throw shooter on the team with possession of the ball. One such poor shooter happened to be Wilt Chamberlain.
** Beginning in the 2016-17 season; [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation the NBA]] introduced new rules stating that any "away from the ball" foul committed in the last two minutes of a period or overtime would not only result in the fouled team not only having a free-throw opportunity but would allow them to retain possession; an attempt to curtail intentional fouls committed against a team's worst free-throw shooter (most famously being known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack-a-Shaq Hack-a-Shaq]] strategy in which opposing teams targeted Hall-of-Fame center Shaquille O'Neal, knowing that Shaq was a poor free-throw shooter[[note]](with a career average of around 52.7% from the charity stripe[[/note]]).

** More recently, this was done in response to a play on the opening drive of the 2021 ACC[[labelnote:*]]Atlantic Coast Conference[[/labelnote]] championship game. UsefulNotes/{{Pitt|sburgh}} QB Kenny Pickett broke out of the pocket, gained about 20 yards, and then dropped his knee slightly as if planning to slide to the ground.[[note]]Keep in mind that in college football, a ball carrier is down once any part of his body other than his feet or hands touches the ground, even if no defender makes contact.[[/note]] Wake Forest's defenders immediately relaxed, not wishing to risk a penalty for hitting Pickett on the way down. Pickett then regained his stride and blew by the defense to complete a 58-yard TD run. Less than a week later, the NCAA issued a new rule interpretation, directing officials to treat a fake slide as a real one and call the play dead at the point of the fake.

* The women's doubles event in badminton during the 2012 Olympics saw two matches in which both pairs were blatantly playing poorly so that they would get a better draw in the next round. To avoid a repeat of this, the next Olympics saw the runners-up in each group in all events being assigned a pair by a random draw (save for not being drawn against the winner of the group they were in).

** The 2021 season had one instituted mid-season. The season started with six no-hitters and one of the lowest batting averages in MLB history. To combat this, MLB made it mandatory for umpires to inspect pitchers for foreign substances after leaving the mound. Pitchers who violate this rule or refuse a search are ejected and issued a suspension.

** Another early example was when the St. Louis Browns hired little person Eddie Gaedel - who stood at 3'7" - as a batter. The resulting strike zone was ''ridiculously'' tiny (estimated at 1.7 inches high), so all he had to do [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing was stand still, get the walk, then be subbed out for a pinch runner]]. The league voided his contract the very next day, claiming it made a mockery of baseball - no official rule has been written, but this is a trick that OnlyWorksOnce.

** The ban on exposing the back of the head is due to a cheat two épeéists came up with, in which they turned their back and their opponent, grazing their own leg on the way (which registers as a touch scored). Nobody is quite sure why the rule patch also applies to foil and sabre, since the legs are only valid target areas in épeé.

** In baseball, once the batting order is determined at the start of the game, it is fixed by defensive position and can only be changed by substitution. However, defensive players can swap positions at will. As a result, a common later-inning tactic is the "double switch," in which the pitcher is replaced by a pinch hitter immediately before his turn in the batting order, and a new pitcher replaces another position player later in the lineup. Then, when the team takes the field, the pitcher and pinch hitter (or another substitution) swap positions. However, in leagues with a designated hitter, this would allow the team's strongest hitter to bat more than once every nine plate appearances. As such, if a team swaps the designated hitter with another fielding position, the team forfeits the designated hitter and the pitcher must bat.

** It should be noted that a lot of obvious rules patches are put in simply to increase driver safety in a sport where it once held ''very'' true that AnyoneCanDie. Since safety equipment adds weight and bulk cars very often had little driver protection until the 1970s. A few obvious fixes included actually having roll hoops that ''reached above the driver's head'', mandating seatbelts, putting padding and liners in the fuel tanks, fire extinguishers and electrical circuit breakers, and putting the driver's feet behind the line of the front wheels.

** Hockey fans began taking an increasingly dim view of dangerous hits to the head in the mid-to-late-2000s after several prominent players had their careers derailed or ended by concussions and prominent research began to highlight the long-term dangers of repeated blows to the head. The NHL seemed content to wait for things to blow over...until the league's marquee player, Sidney Crosby, was hit with a devastating - but, at the time, completely legal - hit to the head that knocked him out of the game for almost a year and a half. Unsurprisingly, the following season saw the rules around hits to the head and concussions tightened considerably.

** How ties and overtime have been handled in the NHL has become a series of increasingly patchwork rules. Traditionally, if the game was tied at the end of regulation, it either ended in a draw or went to sudden death, where the next goal wins. The NHL followed the former format until 1983, when it instituted a 5-minute sudden death overtime period; if the game was still tied afterwards, it was recorded as a tie and each team got a point in the standings (whereas a win was worth two points and a loss was worth none). However, in the late 90s teams began to play very defensively in overtime, reasoning that it was better to play it safe and walk away with one point than gamble and risk going home with none. This led to an increase in the number of ties and, concordantly, in fan dissatisfaction. The NHL attempted a rules patch by making overtime 4-on-4 and guaranteeing the extra point to both teams that made overtime (effectively meaning that a team that won in overtime would get an extra point). The intended patch was only marginally successful; while overtime scoring increased, teams now just played defensively in the minutes leading up to overtime instead, so that they'd guarantee themselves at least one point. The NHL changed the rules again in 2004, eliminating ties and introducing a shootout at the end of overtime; bizarrely, the rule that gives teams an automatic point for reaching overtime remains, even though its justification has now been nixed from the game. Beginning in the 2015-16 season, overtime is now 3-on-3.

** Many of NASCAR's rules patches are used for safety purposes. Their two biggest examples are restrictor plates to slow the cars down at Daytona and Talladega, and mandated head and neck restraints for all drivers after the lack of such a device was a contributing factor to the death of UsefulNotes/DaleEarnhardt. It should be noted that Earnhardt refused to wear the HANS device.

** In 2012, Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League but finished outside the top four of the Premier League, meaning the fourth-placed team - Tottenham Hotspur - were relegated to the Europa League, due to UEFA's rules meaning no country can have more than four teams in the competition. In May 2013, UEFA announced that, as of the 2015/16 season (the rules for the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons were fixed and could not be changed), the limit of teams was raised to five - meaning that such an event could only occur again if both the Champions League and Europa League (whose winners qualify for the Champions League if they don't do so via their domestic league) are won by teams from the same top three ranked leagues (currently England, Germany and Spain) and both teams finish outside the top four.

* The 1956 Summer Olympics' swimming competition saw a Japanese breaststroker exploit the rules by not surfacing after the initial dive and would only break the surface near the end of the length, before staying underwater after the turn, as not breaking the water reduced the drag caused but increased speed. After other swimmers copied this style and passed out from the resulting oxygen deprivation, a new rule was introduced which saw swimmers needing to surface quickly at the start of each length and break the water with every stroke.

** The NFL modified the overtime rules, starting in the 2010 postseason, and expanded into the regular season since the 2012-13 season, after Creator/PeytonManning's Colts and Brett Favre's Vikings lost key playoff games in their respective seasons in overtime without touching the ball (the Chargers in the 2008-09 Wild Card, the Saints in the 2009-10 NFC Championship). The new rule states that during overtime, if the first team kicks a field goal at the end of their initial drive, the other team gets the ball, and from then on, sudden death starts (of course barring a field goal from the team, in which the game would keep going). The only exception is if the first team scores a touchdown or gives up a safety, then the game instantly ends. Ironically, the Vikings, who had lost said game to the Saints, were one of the four teams that voted against the rule change.

** In the 1993 season, the San Francisco Giants were eliminated from the NL East on the last day, despite having more than 100 wins. They needed a win to tie the Atlanta Braves, who were in first place in the NL West. In an attempt for Major League Baseball to prevent something like this from happening again, the divisions were realigned to three divisions per league instead of two. The playoffs were also expanded from four teams to eight, a new round was added with the wild card added in both leagues. This playoff format did not debut until 1995, due to the advent of the Major League Baseball Strike of 1994 that erased the remainder of the season.

----

** In 1977, the NFL implemented the '''Tom Dempsey Rule''', requiring that any kicker who has a deformity or missing part of their foot must wear prosthetics that replicate the natural shape of the missing foot. This was because Tom Dempsey had no toes on his right foot and [[http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kicker-tom-dempsey-of-the-los-angeles-rams-kicks-a-field-goal-against-picture-id107912652 wore a custom shoe with a flat front]], which many people believed gave him the ability to kick with distance and accuracy that no other kicker in the league would be able to replicate. After Dempsey set a then-NFL record for the longest field goal ever at 63 yards, the consternation over his supposed advantage reached a fever pitch, which led to the implementation of the rule. (Dempsey retired soon after.) In the decades that followed, the question of whether Dempsey really did have an advantage has become a lot iffier, particularly as other kickers without this supposed advantage have been able to meet and even surpass Dempsey's record (subsequent records of 64 yards (2013, Matt Prater) and 66 yards (2021, Justin Tucker) have been set by kickers kicking with a full foot), but the rule nonetheless remains on the books.

** In 1977, the NFL implemented the '''Tom Dempsey Rule''', requiring that any kicker who has a deformity or missing part of their foot must wear prosthetics that replicate the natural shape of the missing foot. This was because Tom Dempsey had no toes on his right foot and [[http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kicker-tom-dempsey-of-the-los-angeles-rams-kicks-a-field-goal-against-picture-id107912652 wore a custom shoe with a flat front]], which many people believed gave him the ability to kick with distance and accuracy that no other kicker in the league would be able to replicate. After Dempsey set a then-NFL record for the longest field goal ever at 63 yards, the consternation over his supposed advantage reached a fever pitch, which led to the implementation of the rule. (Dempsey retired soon after.) In the decades that followed, the question of whether Dempsey really did have an advantage has become a lot iffier, particularly as other kickers without this supposed advantage have been able to meet and even surpass Dempsey's record (subsequent records of 64 and then 66 yards have been set by kickers kicking with a full foot), but the rule nonetheless remains on the books.

** In 1977, the NFL implemented the '''Tom Dempsey Rule''', requiring that any kicker who has a deformity or missing part of their foot must wear prosthetics that replicate the natural shape of the missing foot. This was because Tom Dempsey had no toes on his right foot and [[http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kicker-tom-dempsey-of-the-los-angeles-rams-kicks-a-field-goal-against-picture-id107912652 wore a custom shoe with a flat front]], which many people believed gave him the ability to kick with distance and accuracy that no other kicker in the league would be able to replicate. After Dempsey set a then-NFL record for the longest field goal ever at 63 yards, the consternation over his supposed advantage reached a fever pitch, which led to the implementation of the rule. (Dempsey retired soon after.) In the decades that followed, the question of whether Dempsey really did have an advantage has become a lot iffier, particularly as other kickers without this supposed advantage have been able to meet and even surpass Dempsey's record (subsequent records of 64 and then 66 yards have been set by kickers not affected by this rule), but the rule nonetheless remains on the books.

** In 1977, the NFL implemented the '''Tom Dempsey Rule''', requiring that any kicker who has a deformity or missing part of their foot must wear prosthetics that replicate the natural shape of the missing foot. This was because Tom Dempsey had no toes on his right foot and [[http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kicker-tom-dempsey-of-the-los-angeles-rams-kicks-a-field-goal-against-picture-id107912652 wore a custom shoe with a flat front]], which many people believed gave him the ability to kick with distance and accuracy that no other kicker in the league would be able to replicate. After Dempsey set a then-NFL record for the longest field goal ever at 63 yards, the consternation over his supposed advantage reached a fever pitch, which led to the implementation of the rule. (Dempsey retired soon after.) In the decades that followed, the question of whether Dempsey really did have an advantage has become a lot iffier, particularly as other kickers without this supposed advantage have been able to meet and even surpass Dempsey's record (subsequent records of 64 and then 66 yards have been set since the rule's implementation), but the rule nonetheless remains on the books.

** In 1977, the NFL implemented the '''Tom Dempsey Rule''', requiring that any kicker who has a deformity or missing part of their foot must wear prosthetics that replicate the natural shape of the missing foot. This was because Tom Dempsey had no toes on his right foot and [[http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kicker-tom-dempsey-of-the-los-angeles-rams-kicks-a-field-goal-against-picture-id107912652 wore a custom shoe with a flat front]], which many people believed gave him the ability to kick with distance and accuracy that no other kicker in the league would be able to replicate. After Dempsey set a then-NFL record for the longest field goal ever at 63 yards, the consternation over his supposed advantage reached a fever pitch, which led to the implementation of the rule. (Dempsey retired soon after.) In the decades that followed, the question of whether Dempsey really did have an advantage has become a lot iffier, particularly as other kickers without this supposed advantage have been able to meet and even surpass Dempsey's record (the subsequent records of 64 and 66 yards were set by kickers who kick with a full foot), but the rule nonetheless remains on the books.

** In 1977, the NFL implemented the '''Tom Dempsey Rule''', requiring that any kicker who has a deformity or missing part of their foot must wear prosthetics that replicate the natural shape of the missing foot. This was because Tom Dempsey had no toes on his right foot and [[http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kicker-tom-dempsey-of-the-los-angeles-rams-kicks-a-field-goal-against-picture-id107912652 wore a custom shoe with a flat front]], which many people believed gave him the ability to kick with distance and accuracy that no other kicker in the league would be able to replicate. After Dempsey set a then-NFL record for the longest field goal ever at 63 yards, the consternation over his supposed advantage reached a fever pitch, which led to the implementation of the rule. (Dempsey retired soon after.) In the decades that followed, the question of whether Dempsey really did have an advantage has become a lot iffier, particularly as other kickers without this supposed advantage have been able to meet and even surpass Dempsey's record, but the rule nonetheless remains on the books.

** In 1977, the NFL implemented the '''Tom Dempsey Rule''', requiring that players who are missing limbs must wear prosthetics that replicate the natural shape of the missing body part. This was because Tom Dempsey had no toes on his right foot and [[http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kicker-tom-dempsey-of-the-los-angeles-rams-kicks-a-field-goal-against-picture-id107912652 wore a custom shoe that essentially turned his kicking leg into a hammer,]] giving him the ability to kick with distance and accuracy that no other kicker in the league to replicate[[note]]although later scientific analysis showed that kicking with a full foot improved accuracy, calling into question the claims that Dempsey really did have an advantage due to his disability[[/note]]. Dempsey retired soon after the rule's implementation.

* In women's international gymnastics, the "Produnova" vault (handspring to double front tuck) was a frequent source of LoopholeAbuse. For over a decade, it was the single highest-valued vault in women's gymnastics, beating out other top vaults for half a point or more [[note]]the nature of the vault -- for all its difficulty, it's simpler in terms of technique and is more about power -- also made it attractive to gymnasts who may [[https://www.sbnation.com/2016/8/14/12474066/rio-2016-olympics-womens-gymnastics-death-vault lack the level of coaching]] they'd need to learn the more technically complex twisting vaults that many top vaulters perform[[/note]]. This led some gymnasts to compete the vault even though they couldn't quite land it fully on their feet (instead landing it in a sitting position), and a few even managed to make it to event finals doing this, because the difficulty was enough to keep them in the running even with a fall deduction. The 2017 Code Of Points finally introduced a new rule that if "the gymnast lands on the feet [and] any other body part simultaneously", the vault will be considered a much lower-valued single front tuck, thereby preventing gymnasts from benefiting from the high difficulty value unless they can actually land the skill correctly.