With the Cape Cod League set to play a game on Monday in New Bedford, the Standard Times published a story yesterday about the unlikely possibility of New Bedford getting a Cape league team:

City’s hopes for Cape league franchise beginning to fade

NEW BEDFORD - Mayor Scott W. Lang has made no secret that he wants the Cape Cod Baseball League to expand to the city, but the storied amateur collegiate league seems to have an it’s-not-you-it’s-me attitude about the courtship.

“The likelihood is really not all that great,” Wareham Gatemen general manager Tom Gay said of the city’s chances. “It has nothing to do with New Bedford, but with expansion at all.”

This is discouraging considering that New Bedford has history of playing Cape Cod teams going back to at least 1867 when a club from Barnstable played the Wamsutta Club in New Bedford:

The New Bedford Republican Standard

September 12, 1867

The game between the Wamsutta Base Ball Club, of this city, and the Cummaquid, of Barnstable, on Saturday, was won by the former, by 25 runs, in seven innings. The eighth inning was played by the Cummaquid, scoring one run, but the game was called when the Wamsutta on the eighth inning had made six runs, with two men out, the Barnstable boys having barely time to get to the cars.

New Bedford last had an organized, high level team in 1934. That year the New Bedford Whalers played in the Northeastern League. They finished with a 46 win 60 loss season. 1934 was the only year of the Northeastern League. It folded at the end of the season and the Whalers folded with them. The New Bedford Whalers had played in the New England League the year before finishing the season with a 58-33 record in a split season format. New Bedford, with the best record in the league, finished in first place during the second half (Worcester won the first half). A round robin playoff system was decided upon for the end of the season consiting of New Bedford, Worcester and Lowell. But New Bedford withdrew from the playoffs when they learned that they would not face first half winner Worcester in a single series to determine the champion. The New England League folded after that season prompting New Bedford to join the ill fated Northeastern League. The New England League was revived in 1941 as a semi-pro league with New Bedford as a club member.

Organized baseball still exists in the New Bedford area in the form of American Legion ball and adult leagues with players trying to extend their playing days or relive their glory days (and even non glory days). The Southeastern Massachusetts Baseball Association existed about 10 years ago based in New Bedford and included teams such as the Fairhaven Lumber Red Sox, Mattapoisett Marlins and Fall River Indians. That league folded and was eventually replaced by the Southcoast Baseball League which is currently operating. Fall River has the Fall River Independent Baseball League (formally the Southeastern Massachusetts Baseball League) and the Cape has the Baseball Clubs of Cape Cod for its has been but still- wants-to-play competitive ball players.

As far as competitive spectator sports entertainment, there maybe other alternatives such as the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Invite the NECBL here to play a game or two and see what sort of interest is out there for this league. Although it is not as well known as the Cape league, it is quality baseball. Just remember to remind people of the long history of baseball in New Bedford and on the south coast. Baseball loves its traditions and history and so does the south coast. Baseball is part of south coast’s history and it is a tradition that needs to be revived.

This must be the inspiration for Field of Dreams. To be fair it was the book Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella first published in 1982 that inspired the film. This is one of those rare cases where the movie was still good having read the book first. Unfortunatley people seem to know of the movie more than the book.

New York Times; Aug. 8, 1910

A HEAVEN WITH BASEBALL.

Preacher Believes It Will Be Found in a Spiritual Form.

Mattapoisett, Mass., Aug. 7 – “Baseball in Heaven,” was the subject of a sermon preached to-day by the Rev. C. Julian Tuthill, pastor of the Congregational Church. He said in part: “Heaven is but an evolution of this world. A Christian may love a ball game and loving it remain a Christian. Why, then, is it not safe to prophesy that even the game of baseball will have its place in some spiritual form in Heaven.”

Would this group have been opposed to the mixing of baseball and religion?

Boston Investigator; March 7, 1894

Here is an event I thought I would pass on. It is not too local, just about an hour away. Maybe there is a local historical society that would like to make vintage base ball part of their program. Read on…

Lace up your sneakers!!  It’s time for Vintage Baseball with the Hingham Historical Society.

 

Come  to the opening bash of the Hingham Vintage Baseball season at the home of Mike “King” Kelly, Hingham’s 1880’s Hall of Famer at 507 Main Street, Saturday, May 31, 2008  6:00 to 10:00 P.M.  Who was King Kelly? At the height of his career in the 1880s, hitter and base-stealer extraordinaire Mike “King” Kelly was hired by the Boston Bean Eaters for the unheard of sum of $10,000. Kelly was then presented Kelly with a home on Main Street in Hingham, followed later that year by a carriage and two horses. To the bitter disappointment of Boston and Hingham fans, Kelly only stayed for a year before he left town to join the Cincinnati Reds. Even so, it was long enough for Kelly to make a colorful impression locally. He was known to promenade through town accompanied by his valet and a little pet monkey on his shoulder.

 

Historical Society members, and current owners of the “King” Kelly House, Moira and Cameron Congdon, will host this grand event. Originally built in the 1850s, the Kelly house contains many of the original fine details of its fine Neo-classical construction, in addition to Victorian-style furnishings that evoke “King” Kelly’s world. And no doubt keeping with the spirit of “King” Kelly, Moira confirms that the house “is a perfect place to have a party.”

 

And a party it will be. Revelers will enjoy live music, beer, barbecue, and a chance to meet sports writer and King Kelly biographer, Marty Appel, who will be on hand to sign copies of his book Slide, Kelly, Slide. Other attractions include raffles of sought-after prizes, including, Red Sox tickets, fresh lobsters, baseball artwork, hand-made bats and more.  “King” Kelly himself will be on hand to give baseball tips to the Historical Society’s vintage players, the Coopers and the Derbys. Tickets are $35 each, $40 the day of the event. Tickets will be sold at the Hingham Historical Society office at 30 North street, 11-3pm Tuesdays – Saturdays, Dot Gallery, 112 North Street, Mondays through Saturdays, Henneseys (aka Hingham Liquors) 118 North Street, and The Sub Galley, 39 Station Street. Check the Hingham Historical Society website for other sale locations, www.hinghamhistorical.org.

 

Mike “King” Kelly, one of 19^th century Hingham’s most colorful residents, was known as the “king” of baseball at the height of his career in the 1880s and 1890s. He was a superstar of the Victorian era:  his picture was seen on billboards, cigarette packs, posters, and baseball cards across America. At his acquisition by the Boston Beaneaters in 1887, he was given a house on Main Street.

Here are a couple of news clippings that mention ball playing. The first is children’s poetry from the New Bedford Mecury 200 years ago this month. The second is commentary from the Cleveland Daily Herald in 1841 on the fun of playing ball.

New Bedford Mercury

May 13,1808

SELECTED POETRY.

CHILDHOOD.

CHILDHOOD! happiest stage of life,

Free from care and free from strife,

Free from memory’s ruthless reign,

Fraught with scenes of former pain;

Free from fancy’s cruel skill,

Fabricating future ill;

Time, when all that meets the view,

All can charm, for all is new;

How thy long-lost hours I mourn,

Never, never to return!

Then to toss the circling ball,

Caught rebounding from the wall;

Then the mimic ship to guide

Down the kennel’s dirty tide;

Then the hoop’s revolving pace

Through the dusty street to chase;

O what joy! – it once was mine,

Childhood, matchless boon of thine!

How thy long-lost hours I mourn,

Never, never to return!

Cleveland Daily Herald

April 15, 1841

Playing Ball, is among the very first of the ’sports’ of our early years. Who has not teased his grandmother for a ball, until the ‘old stockings’ have been transformed into one that would bound well? Who has not played ‘barn ball’ in his boyhood, ‘base’ in his youth, and ‘wicket’ in this manhood? – There is fun, and sport, and healthy exercise, in a game of ‘ball.’ We like it; for with it is associated recollections of our earlier days. And we trust we shall never be too old to feel and to ‘take delight’ in the amusements which interested us in our boyhood.

            If ‘Edith’ wishes to see ‘a great strike’ and ‘lots of fun,’ let her walk down Water Street some pleasant afternoon towards ‘set of sun’ and see the ‘Bachelors’ make the ball fly.

Yesterday morning, Joe the star second baseman of the Mattapoisett 150th game and I made a trip to Tabor Academy to give a demonstration on how to play 19th century base ball. The Tabor students have the luck to be offered an elective English course during their senior year called “Baseball in American Society”. The students learn about the role of baseball in society and history with an emphasis on reading and writing about baseball. How cool is that? Among the readings for the course are Shadow Ball, The Natural and Shoeless Joe. There are colleges and universities that teach baseball and culture themed classes. I seem to remember at one time there was a class taught at Umass Dartmouth relating to the 1919 Chicago White Sox as a labor history course.

The Tabor teacher, Tom Jaillet, tries to get the students to experience playing 19th century baseball including the Massachusetts Game. This year he invited Joe and me out to demonstrate vintage base ball to the students. We met at the softball diamond and I quickly went over some of the basic, quirky rules of the New York game circa 1860. But the best way to learn is to do. The students took the field while Joe pitched and I caught. Overall the fielding displayed by the Tabor 10 or 11 students was excellent. Playing ball with out gloves did not deter them one bit. Barehanded fly balls were caught with ease and after one or two one-hop infield hits the students remembered that those were indeed outs. I would place this bunch a step above a muffin nine and with some work they could be one of the best crack clubs on the south coast of Massachusetts since 1877.

Not only is this year the 150th anniversary of the first known baseball team in New Bedford (predating the Wamsutta Club’s claim by 8 years), it is also an anniversary year for the New Bedford high school team. In 1858 the New Bedford High School fielded a team making them the first high school or secondary school in the country to do so.

To verify this I have been searching for published works about the history of high school baseball but I haven’t had much luck. The only references to early high school baseball teams that I have found have been in the Illinois High School Association’s website which states “Worcester High School in Massachusetts has been traditionally recognized as the first secondary institution to form a team that competed against teams outside of the school.” It notes that their first game was against a club called the Eaglets which Worcester beat on October 12, 1859. Harold Seymour’s brilliant work Baseball: The People’s Game also notes Worcester High School as having the first high school baseball club. My source of New Bedford superseding the Worcester club comes from one line in the October 18, 1858 New Bedford Evening Standard:

The Old Hickory Base Ball Club have challenged the High School Base Ball Club to play the Massachusetts game.

The Massachusetts game was a competing form of baseball in Massachusetts with the New York game. It is important to note that the Massachusetts game is considered to be baseball and not a different bat and ball game such as rounders. Some differences in the games were:          

   Massachusetts Game                                                                 New York Game

First club to score 100 wins                                         Club ahead after 9 innings wins

Square shaped field, bases at 4 corners              Diamond shaped field

Pitcher threw overhand                                                  Pitcher pitched underhand

Fielder can strike runner with ball for out      Fielder must tag runner or base

Ball must be caught in air for an out                      Ball can be caught on a bound

A look back New Bedford’s history of public education in the early 1800s shows hostility to funding public schools even though state law required localities to fund public education. Instead of public education for all of its citizens, New Bedford voted to fund their public school “to school the poor children in this town”. Presumably the rich hired private tutors or sent their children off to private schools. In 1827 a state law went in to effect requiring all towns in the Commonwealth with at least 500 families to open a high school. But in 1829 the town voted to close its high school. They were able to do this because the law was changed to give the towns the option to operate a high school. Although children under six years old could still attend the public school, the high school remained closed until 1837 when it reopened on a permanent basis. By 1858 the high school was operating as a four year course of study, preparing students admitted at age 12, for college.

Although sports teams may not have become the norm for high schools and colleges until later in the 19th century it is safe to say that school aged kids were playing ball in New Bedford in the first half of the century. An 1822 bylaw levied a fine to anyone who would “play at ball, fly a kite or run down hill upon a sled… in any street of that part of the town commonly called the Village of New-Bedford”. Thomas Rodman wrote about being “initiated into the mysteries of Foot-ball, Base and every game boys pursue” when he was a student at Friends Academy in the mid-1830s. When it became fashionable to form social clubs based on sports in the mid 1800s, young adults formed their own clubs as well.

But let’s get back to the high school club. The New Bedford game appears not to have taken place until the following month when the New Bedford Republican Standard reported that the High School club beat Charles Clifford’s Old Hickory club 100-73:

The New Bedford Republican Standard

November 18, 1858

Base Ball. - The match game we noticed a few days ago, took place on Saturday afternoon between the High School and Old Hickory Clubs. After playing about two hours and a half, the High School boys, the challenged party, were declared the victors, having scored 100. The Old Hickory Club scored 73. During the first half of the game the latter Club took the lead. Considerable interest was manifested by a large number of spectators. At the close the vanquished gave three cheers and the victors responded.

Those appear to be the only references to high school baseball in the 1858 New Bedford newspapers.  It is not clear if this club was sanctioned by the high school as an extracurricular activity or if it was made up of high school students calling themselves the High School Base Ball Club. Harold Seymour notes that the Worcester club in 1859 was formed by students on their own. School officials at first protested calling the club a high school club before warming up to the idea of a high school baseball club and supporting it. If New Bedford high school officials had issues with the High School Base Ball Club it wasn’t reported on in the papers. It is hard to judge how long the 1858 edition of the high school team lasted. There were just a few mentions of baseball in the 1859 and 1860 New Bedford papers but nothing on the high school club. In fact there is no mention of baseball in the newspapers again until 1866. In that year, in addition to the Wamsutta and other clubs, the Howland Grammar School Association formed the Acushnet Base Ball Club. This association was formed by a Middle Street Grammar School student for the “prevention of profanity and vulgarity”.

High school baseball appears again in the New Bedford papers in 1867 when the High School club beat Friend’s Academy 33-17, presumably playing the New York rules which the Ironsides Base Ball Club introduced to New Bedford in 1858.

Here is to another 150 years of baseball in New Bedford and throughout the south coast of Massachusetts (and maybe high schools will go back to wood bats).

After putting in a lot of time last year in to forming and organizing a vintage club I have decided against putting in additional time again this year in to trying it again. I put in a lot of time, effort and money (I don’t have) and in the end there were not quite enough dedicated to playing a full schedule. Did I mention that I put a lot of time in to it last year? On the plus side I have some cool vintage baseball bats, baseballs and a cap! Instead, this summer my wife will be setting up at the Rochester Farmers’ Market selling handcraft fabric children’s aprons, capes, dolls, etc. I will also attempt to make cloth baseballs made to the style of the 19th century lemon peel design to sell at the market. The first couple of ones I made are pretty sad but there is time for improvement.

The idea of putting together a vintage club is not completely dead. Mattapoisett is in the process of planning an annual historical festival, a scaled down version of the 150th anniversary celebration. Although vintage baseball is not mentioned in the Wanderer’s report of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen’s Meeting, I have been contacted by one of the event organizers about including vintage baseball as part of the activities. I don’t have all of the details yet but when I do I will post them here.

My hope is that this will be a good place to reorganize plans for a vintage ball team. Most likely the club’s name will be changed from the Ironsides to something based on a historic Mattapoisett town team. Should this work out, the club could play at other local events and could expand in to playing other vintage clubs. And maybe, just maybe get those cool reproduction uniforms.

If anyone is interested in playing in this event, please contact me.

The Standard Times recently did a story about Thanksgiving traditions. One of those traditions began 22 years ago when SouthCoast football officials met for breakfast before the Thanksgiving Day games. It seems that football has become part of the Thanksgiving ritual for many people. For the record, I am not one of them and I do not know much about the history of football with Thanksgiving. According to the Detroit Lions website they have been playing Thanksgiving football since 1934. In 1890 Harvard proposed to Yale that football be played between the two schools on Thanksgiving. In 1855, William Sumner of Milton, Massachusetts had to withdraw from a game of football on Thanksgiving due to injuries he received from an assault the week before. Football was known on the south coast in the nineteenth century. Thomas Rodman, son of abolitionist Samuel Rodman of New Bedford, learned to play football at Friends Academy in the 1830s. In early December 1859 the staff of two newspapers, the Republican Standard and the Mercury played a best of five series. According to James D’Wolf Lovett, football at this time was a much different game. Play was continuous (unless the ball went out of bounds) until one team got the ball over their opponent’s boundary line. One goal ended the game. With the series tied at two games apiece both teams decided not to play the deciding game because as the Republican Standard noted, “the best of feeling prevailed”. It was baseball, not football that was the traditional Thanksgiving Day sport of choice as long as 150 years ago. On Thanksgiving Day 1858 the Union and Bristol County baseball clubs of New Bedford met on the City Common for a game. The Evening Standard began their report of the game “From time immemorial Thanksgiving and Fast days have been set apart for ball playing…” suggesting that perhaps baseball had long been established as a tradition on Thanksgiving in New Bedford. The report noted that “The regular Ball season is considered to close with Thanksgiving”. On Thanksgiving Day 1859 and 1860 the Franklin Base Ball Club played an inter-squad game at a location on the southern end of County Street. Both teams celebrated after the games with dinners of turkey and oysters.The Civil War most likely interrupted this ball playing tradition (or at least the local newspapers understandably decided it wasn’t important enough to report). By 1866 baseball was once again played in New Bedford in November and in 1867 Thanksgiving Day baseball games featured the New Bedford Boot and Shoe Manufactory, the Annawan Base Ball Club, the National Base Ball Club and the Wamsutta Base Ball Club.

I am not sure when the tradition of football replaced baseball as the Thanksgiving Day sport. Perhaps it gradually made the transformation as the ball became harder and wintry weather made play difficult as the rules evolved. Softball made its introduction in the 1880s in Chicago as in indoor sport at Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Day 1887 a game of baseball was played on the Polo Grounds, presumably by these softball rules. Most likely people wanted a sporting diversion on Thanksgiving that could be played in rain or snow and football offered that diversion.

I have an update about baseball in New Bedford in 1858. It appears that all of the clubs in New Bedford made the jump to the Massachusetts Game before the end of the year. In late November the Republican Standard reported:

Ironsides Club at a special meeting held Tuesday evening, voted to be governed by the Massachusetts rules of play, instead of the New York rules which have hithertogoverned them. By this change all the Clubs in the city now play that game.

I haven’t found any evidence that notes when the other clubs formally became Massachusetts rules clubs. I am not really sure why they all made the switch. It is not that the New York rules clubs were with out competition. There were three clubs playing by those rules. It may have been the reluctance of the Massachusetts rules clubs to play any games by New York rules that drove the clubs to conformity. By making the switch, the clubs would have more options for competition. It appears that by the end of November, after losing competing clubs that made the switch to the Massachusetts rules and having been denied the opportunity to participate in the Thanksgiving Day game, the Ironsides gave up and joined the other clubs by abandoning the New York rules.

The reasons for the demise of the Massachusetts Game have long been debated among baseball historians and fans. Those reasons, what ever they may be, may explain why a city such as New Bedford completely abandoned that form after the Civil War and after establishing those rules as the ones to be played on “Massachusetts soil”. In 1867, a year after the formation of the Wamsutta Base Ball Club, there were at least 47 different clubs that formed in New Bedford throughout the season. None appear to be Massachusetts rules clubs.

Some members of the Ironsides Base Ball Club names show up on the Wamsutta Club’s roster in 1866 including Stephen Delano, H. Wilder Emerson, Otis N. Pierce and Savillion Van Campen who had been president of the Ironsides Club. In the end the Ironsides’ preferred method of rules prevailed.

Due to a last minute cancellation by the Cornish Game Hens of Providence, the Ironsides Base Ball Club was asked to fill in for a match game against the Bristol Blues in picturesque South Dartmouth on Saturday. Unfortunately for many members of the Ironsides BBC the announcement to join the game was too short of a notice to attend the games. However, representing the Ironsides along with me were Judy Wallace and Dave Gries along with newcomers Rick Crosby and Steve Rezendes.

Game one started at approximately 1:00 and was played in the style played in the year 1886. Seven balls was all that was needed for a batter to receive a free pass to first base and a hit batters only reward was to stand at home plate and take another shot at hitting. Only one batter was hit during the game (and lived to tell about it) and no one received a free pass via a called 7^th ball. Batters were able to call for the pitcher to throw a high or low pitch. On the field the players, with the exception of the catcher, played with out the aid of a gloved hand.

The Ironsides were split up for the first game with the members of the club playing on opposing sides. Steve Rezendes played short stop on a team consisting of three players from the Game Hens, employees from Concordia Company and a Bristol Blue or two. Rick Crosby and I played on the team that was made up mostly of the Bristol Blues. Rick played left field and I had the misfortune of being stuck in right field were I saw no action.

A close seven inning game was played with the scored was tied at 1-1 going in to the 7^th. The Bristol Blues scored a run in the 7^th to pull off a 2-1 victory.

The second game was started after a lengthy break due to good food, drink and magic bars. The rules of 1861 were played for the second game. Again, the Ironsides were split up for the game. Rick and I played with the Game Hens and some Blues. Rick was stationed at third and I was at second. Judy and Dave played in the second game at left field and second base respectively.

Steve had to leave after the first game and I had to leave during the progress of the second game. The report is that the club with the majority of Blues lost the match in 8 innings of play by a score of 8-4. Everyone played well and the addition of Steve and Rick is a hopeful sign that the Ironsides can come together with a full squad to play on a regular basis for next season.

A record of hits and runs made by the players was not kept for the game. The innings and score was kept by the Bristol Blues’ faithful umpire. The games greatly contributed to the moral improvement of the Ironsides who have had to find other forms of entertainment to keep them occupied while not playing.

Thanks to Stuart MacGregor and John Simmons for inviting us out and a thanks to Concordia for providing the play ground and refreshments.

Ironsides ballist Judy Wallace reported a video is circulating on YouTube. It is a short (2 minute) video of the Mattapoisett 150^th game with the Bristol Blues and Essex Base Ball Club. The video says the game was a circa 1855 game. It was actually 1861 rules we played. And the Bristol Breakers is actually the Blues misidentified. Check it out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9WfolZYpgU  (Click on the link. The embedded video does not work).