Monthly Archives: September 2014

Vintage Baseball, Classic Rain

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“Vintage Baseball, Classic Rain” – Rita Christopher/The Day

“In the end, the weather won, but not before the spectators at the tri-town vintage baseball game had a chance to cheer for their teams and the players had a chance to take some impressive cuts at the soft, brown, lemon-size sphere that mid-l9th century teams played with.

It was baseball, even if the correct spelling in the 1857 rules, by which the games were played, was two words: base ball. But base ball was baseball with a difference. Players didn’t use gloves; outs could be made both by catching a fly ball or by catching the ball on one bounce. No stealing bases, no taking leads, no laying down bunts.”

Baseball: It Ain’t What It Used To Be

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“Baseball: It Ain’t What It Used To Be” – Rita Christopher/The Day

“Don’t look for a designated hitter-that’s a 1973 innovation. And don’t look for some of the other moves that are traditionally part of a ball game-no stealing, no bunting, no runners taking leads off the bases. This is 1857 baseball, and it is a different game, even written differently, as two words: base ball.

And base ball is making a comeback at Devitt Field in Deep River, on Sunday, Sept. 21. The historical societies of Essex, Chester, and Deep River are sponsoring a tri-town vintage baseball challenge. In the round robin, each town will play a two- or three-inning game against both the others…”