09.10.09
Dickson’s Baseball Dictionary
New Bedford will make an appearance in the next edition of the Dickson Baseball Dictionary and be noted with a first. The Dictionary is an amazing piece of work that any baseball fan would love. It contains over 7,000 entries of baseball definitions along with cross references, illustrations, etymology, notes and first usages.
The first that New Bedford is associated with is the earliest known print use of the phrases “New York Game” and “Massachusetts Game”.
On September 2 the New Bedford Republican Standard noted:
The Base Ball Club recently formed in this city, is progressing finely. Its members met on the City Common at 5 o’clock Monday morning, and had a very spirited game. They have assigned Monday and Wednesday mornings, at the hour mentioned, and Friday afternoons at half-past 4 o’clock, as the time for practice. The manner of playing is the New York mode, and not the one usually adopted in Massachusetts.
Then on September 13 the New Bedford Evening Standard reported:
A number of seamen, now in port, have formed a Club entitled the “Sons of the Ocean Base Ball Club.” They play on the City common, on Thursdays, and we are requested to state that the members challenge any of the other clubs in the city to a trial either of the New York or Massachusetts game.
I was surprised to learn that I had discovered the first known use of the phrases. I’m sure the phrases were not invented in New Bedford. But where did New Bedford hear of them? Where and when were they first used? The early usage of the phrases may help explain how the New York game spread.
For the record, according to the Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the previous noted first usage of the phrases was in the 1859 publication of the Base Ball Player’s Pocket Companion which was published in Boston.
Incidentally, New Bedford is mentioned in the current (3rd) edition of Dickson’s. Under the entry for “season” on pages 753-754 the November 26, 1858 Evening Standard is quoted as an example.
For all of you that are eager to get a look at this volume it looks like only one library in the area will be getting a copy of it. According to the library catalog the New Bedford Free Public Library has a copy on order.
08.11.09
Less Than 9
According to many baseball historians baseball didn’t always have 9 players. Actually depending on which version of baseball you are talking about it some times had as many as 20 or 30. But the version you know of today may have been played with 8-11 players. The codified rules of 1857 was the first time the rules mandated nine players. In the 1870s there was actually talk of adding an extra shortstop evening out the field to 10 players each (let’s not get in to the designated hitter here).
Playing modern day vintage baseball can leave some teams short of players at the last minute. I have played in a couple of games in which we were short a player for each team, limiting us to 8 players each. We managed to get by with the batting team supplying the catcher. (It really is an honest game.)
It appears that 19th baseball teams sometimes had problems fielding a full nine for games. In 1869 the Red Rover Base Ball Club of Fairhaven played the Union Base Ball Club also of Fairhaven. The Red Rover, using only eight players, beat the Union club by a score of 35 to 28. The box score for the game suggests that the Red Rover went without a left fielder. I would guess that they shifted their fielders around when they needed.
Probably one of the more unique games with less than nine involved the Riverside Base Ball Club of Acushnet and an “unattached nine” of New Bedford. Both clubs took the field with only 7 players. The unattached went without a right and left fielder while the Riverside club went with out a shortstop and center fielder.
Some how it seems that the Riverside club made the better choice in using two outfielders. But the unattached players beat them 45-22 in 5 innings. Unfortunately the newspaper at the time didn’t give any information about how the game was played with so few players other than the box score and line score:
Runs in each Inning.
Riverside, 0 0 8 10 4
Unattached, 9 14 12 3 7
A couple of weeks before this game the same two teams played. It is not noted in the papers of the time if both teams had their full 9 players for the game but these unattached fellows beat the Riverside club in that game 70-34. Not bad for “9″ guys without a team.
06.02.09
New Web Site for Vintage Ball
A vintage ball practice was held on Sunday and it was pretty successful. We had a very nice turn out and we will go at it again this Sunday. I have created a new site for the club at http://www.ironsidesbbc.org. I thought I should keep the ball club and the historical research separate from each other. I still plan to maintain this site as I do research. Things have been slow lately as I haven’t been able to break away to dig in to research. So check out the new site for updates on the club’s progress. It is named the Ironsides Base Ball Club after the original club of the same name that played in New Bedford in 1858.
05.22.09
Who wants to play ball?
There appears to be a reviving interest in getting a vintage base ball team together. If you are interested in playing please let me know. I would like to organize a get together soon so everyone can swing a heavy bat and check out the vintage base balls (They are much softer and will not kill your gloveless hand. I promise.)
Hopefully the photos below will inspire you to get involved. You don’t have to have a whole lot of playing experience or be in shape for that matter. I haven’t played baseball in 7 years and I am getting incredibly winded typing this.
I stole these images from Ray Shaw of the Newtown Sandy Hook of Connecticut. I hope he doesn’t mind. Check out more of his images: http://www.diamondpix.com/.
Most of the vintage clubs out there have their schedules in place but I would like to get people together to get a feel for playing vintage ball and go from there. Drop me a line here or at info [at] scvbb.org. Also, feel free to join us on our Facebook Group.
03.09.09
Muffin Baseball
A ‘muffin’ is a term that was applied to a new or inexperience ball player in the early 1860s. In the collections of the
Umass Dartmouth Archives and Special Collections is a booklet containing humorous illustrations of the type of play you may expect to see of a mid-19th century muffin. The booklet, Base Ball as Viewed By a Muffin, was published in 1867 and illustrated by Savillion Van Campen. Van Campen was the president of the Ironsides Base Ball Club based in New Bedford in 1858. At the time of publication he was secretary and a member of the Wamsutta Base Ball Clubs first nine. The previous year he had been a member of the Wamsutta Club’s muffin nine. For a guy who had been playing the New York game since at least 1858, it is not clear why he was on the muffin nine. Perhaps it was just for fun.
By the late 1860s muffin baseball had become popular in response to the professionalism of baseball. According to Peter Morris’ book, But Didn’t We Have Fun? muffin baseball spread rapidly during the late 1860s showing that baseball was meant to be played for fun. Rules were not taken seriously and in some cases old rules were reverted to such as the bound rule in which a player could be put out when his batted ball was caught on one bounce as opposed to catching it on the fly. In fact some muffin games forbid players from catching fly balls. They could only be caught on the bound. Muffin games often matched up teams based on appearance or marital status such as in games of fat vs. skinny players or married vs. single players. Other muffin games didn’t limit the number of players on the field. More than nine players could be on a side with two or more fielding one position.
On July 4, 1866 the Wamsutta Base Ball Club played in once such muffin game in which the club’s single men defeated the club’s married men 56-46. Shortstop and each of the outfield positions were manned by two players each and the box score listed a position called the Catcher’s Stop in addition to the catcher. This was most likely a second catcher or a back up to the catcher.
11.04.08
Talking Baseball at the Dighton Public Library
Courtesy Dighton Public Library
Tommorow evening (November 5) at 6:30 I will be giving a presentation at the Dighton Public Library. I plan to talk a little bit about baseball history, vintage baseball and show some vintage baseball pics. Please come out to listen and find out more about playing vintage ball.
The library is located at 395 Main Street, off Route 138 in Dighton.
From Somerset:
Follow Rt. 138 through Somerset past the Dighton Town Line. Look for the Library sign at the corner of Main St. (blinking light). Take a left onto Main St. The library is half a mile on the left.
From the north:
Take Route 24 south to Exit 11 (Berkley/Dighton). Take a right off the exit ramp. Follow this road to Berkley Commons (first stop sign). Keep following to a second stop sign. At the fork in the road, stay right. Continue to the Berkley/Dighton Bridge (a one-lane bridge) and cross the bridge. You will pass Bristol County Agricultural School. Follow to the light at the intersection of Rt. 138. Take a left onto Rt. 138, pass the police station, and take a right at the blinking light onto Main St. The library is half a mile on the left.
From the south:
Take Route 24 north to Exit 10 (Assonet/Dighton). Take a right off the exit ramp. Continue straight until the road ends. Take a left at the stop sign. Continue to the Berkley/Dighton bridge (a one-lane bridge) and cross the bridge. You will pass Bristol County Agricultural School. Follow to the light at the intersection of Rt. 138. Take a left onto Rt. 138, pass the police station, and take a right at the blinking light onto Main St. The library is half a mile on the left.
09.28.08
Trap Ball
The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house All that cold, cold, wet day. – from The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Unfortunately because of this lousy weather brought on by the storm I share a name with, I can not try out the new game I just got. Well, actually it is quite an old game. Trap Ball, I am told through various readings, was played as far back as the 14th century and into the 19th century. Mainly played in England, there is some evidence that it was played in colonial America but it may not have been as popular as it was in England. However, it does show up in some American publications as late as the 1890s. I have not seen evidence to suggest that it was played on the Southcoast of Massachusetts but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be played now, right?
Many publications note that it was a children’s game played by boys. From time to time it is suggested that it was played by adults such as in Games and Sports; Being an Appendix to “Manly Exercises” and “Exercises for Ladies” by Donald Walker published in London in 1837. In the dedication of the book, Walker states
In many of these Games, ladies may participate: most of them, they may witness and patronize. As not inconsistent, therefore, with female taste, I beg leave to inscibe them to you – in homage at once to Beauty and Intellect.
Walker does not say if Trap Ball was played by ladies. In Games For All Seasons by James Blackwood (London, 1858) which includes an entry for Trap Ball he states in the preface “In the present volume will be found descriptions of the principal games played by boys as well as girls…”
According to A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs, and Ancient Customs, From the Fourteenth Century, Volume II (London, 1881) the game is defined as:
A game played with a trap, a ball, and a small bat. The trap is of wood, made like a slipper, with a hollow at the heel end for the ball, and kind of wooden spoon, moving on a pivot, in the bowl of which the ball is placed. By striking the end or handle of the spoon, the ball of course rises into the air, and the art of the game is to strike it as far as possible with the bat before it reaches the ground. The adversaries on the look-out, either by catching the ball, or by bowling it from the place where it falls, to hit the trap, take possession of the trap, bat, and ball, to try their own dexterity.
The next entry of the dictionary defines the bat in Trap Ball as a Trap-Bittle. The rules of the game seem to vary. Another version of the rules is similar to the above except that the batter calls out an estimate of bat lengths the ball will reach the trap after the fielder has thrown the ball at it. If the batter is correct in the guess the batter adds to the score that number of bat lengths (each batter gets a point for each safe hit). If the number of bat lengths estimated by the batter is more than the actual number, the batter is out. Many other versions of the game suggest that there is a foul territory on either side of the batter. If the ball is stuck in to foul territory, the batter is out. It also seems common that if the batter swings and misses while trying to hit the ball after striking the trap 3 times… the batter is out.
There is no base running in this game and it seems that a minimum of two people are need to play. Many players can be divided up in to teams, with the teams switching sides once everyone on one side has been put out. Or no teams are selected and instead a batting order is selected and individual tallies are kept.
Below is the Trap Ball set that I purchased minus the ball. The ball pictured came from Lemon Ball which is made to the specifications of the Massachusetts game of baseball. The Trap Ball set came with a smaller (about 2″) ball made of dark leather sewed in the figure 8 style. I’ll have to check my notes for descriptions of the actual ball used in Trap Ball. I am afraid that the ball that came with the set may get lost easliy due to its size. The Massachusetts ball may still be small enough to strike from the trap and not be easliy lost. Anything bigger would probably be difficult to elevate high enough from the trap to strike it.
08.18.08
Lowell vs. Wamsutta
John Lowell, ca. 1861
One hundred forty years ago this week the Wamsutta Base Ball Club took on the mighty Lowell Club of Boston. The Lowell Club was one of the more talented baseball clubs in the area during that time. It was formed in 1861 by students of various Boston secondary schools at the suggestion of John A. Lowell and the Bowdoin Base Ball Club to play the New York game. The New York game was played in New England but it was facing competition from the Massachusetts game. In honor of Mr. Lowell, the club was named after him.
The Tri-Mountain Base Ball Club is widely considered to be the first club in New England formed to play the New York game. Formed in 1857, they didn’t play their first match against another club until early September of 1858 when they beat a club from Portland Maine. It remains a mystery as to why the Tri-Mountain club did not play the Ironsides Club of New Bedford which had been formed to play the New York game at that time.
The Lowell club quickly established their talent by winning their first game against Medford 17-10. Lowell played its second match in May of 1863 against the established Tri-Mountain club. Lowell won 37-1. In 1866 the Lowell club’s first nine would win every match they played.
In 1868 the Lowell Base Ball Club set out on tour of New England cities in an effort to reach out and be “neighborly”. While the tour lasted only during the month of June the Lowell club made a trip to New Bedford in August where they faced the Wamsutta club. The game lasted 3 hours and 25 minutes. It was painful 3 hours in 25 minutes for the Wamsuttas losing to the Lowells 62-6 in 7 innings.
New Bedford Republican Standard
August 20, 1868Base Ball. – The game between the Lowell and Wamsutta clubs at Myrick’s on Friday was concluded at the end of the 7th inning, with the following score:
Lowell. Wamsutta.
O. R. O. R.
Lovett, p., 1 9 N. E. Howland, 2. b., 3 0
Alline, 3. b., 3 7 J. H. Tallman, r. f.., 3 0
Dennison, 1. b., 0 8 O. N. Pierce, p., 1 1
Sumner, 2. b., 6 4 Walter Clifford, s. s., 3 0
Bradbury, c., 1 8 G. D. Gifford, c., 2 1
Rogers, c. f., 1 8 C. Almy, Jr., c. f., 3 0
Newton, l. f., 4 6 M. M. Howland, l. f. 2 2
Hawes, r. f., 3 6 F. W. Knowlton, 1. b., 2 1
Dillingham, s. s., 2 6 W. C. Gooding, 3. b., 2 162 6
Runs in each Inning.
1st. 2d. 3d. 4th. 5th. 6th. 7th.
Lowell, 5 9 1 10 6 11 20
Wamsutta, 1 0 2 1 1 0 1
07.24.08
Ball Playing Banned in New Bedford… in 1821
One hundred eighty seven years ago the New Bedford Mercury publish the recently passed by-laws for New Bedford including a ban on ball playing:
Voted, That the following Rules and Regulations be established the By-Laws of this town, viz: –
First, Any person, who shall, after the 1st day of July next play at ball, or fly a kite or run down hill upon a sled, or play any other sport which may incommode peacable citizens and passengers in any street of that part of this town commonly called the Village of Bedford, shall for every such offence, upon convicition of the same forfeit and pay the penalty of fifty cents, with costs of prosecution; the said penality to be applied to the use of the poor of this town.
This does not mean that it was baseball being played on the streets of New Bedford. It could have been any number of ball games such as football, cricket, trap ball or any of the “old cat” games. It could be baseball but the by-law writters chose not to be specific about the types of ball games banned as Pittsfield did 30 years prior to the New Bedford by-law. Various laws have been passed banning the playing of ball in New England since at least 1762 when the town of Salem ordered that no one would be allowed to play “Foot-Ball, or the Exercise of Bat-and-Ball, or Cricket, within any of the Publick Places, Streets, or Lanes” in town. Closer to home, Providence passed a ban on ball playing in 1823.
I will also point out that in those same 1821 New Bedford by-laws there was already a problem with graffiti:
Fifth. And whereas some evil minded persons are in the habit of disfiguring fences and buildings, by wantonly painting on them, and by writing and drawing obscene words and pictures on them, to the disgrace of this town in the eyes of strangers, and to the disgust of well-disposed citizens: — Therefore, Voted, That any person who shall after the first day of July next, be convicted as aforesaid of any such offence, shall forfeit and pay a penalty of not less than one dollar, nor more than five dollars, for every such offence,
with the costs of prosecution; said penalty to be applied as aforesaid.
No doubt that neighborohoods such as Hard Dig were targeted with this law. But did the placement of the by-laws indicate the severity of each problem? Ball playing, kite flying and sledding were listed in the first by-law while graffiti was addressed in the fifth by-law. Number two on the list was blocking the streets with lumber and rubbish. Number three was a speed limit on horses (6 miles per hour) and the fourth delt with carriages blocking the streets. There were a total of 12 by laws altogether. The graffiti penalty had the highest penalty of five dollars along with storing more than 25 lbs. of gun powder in one place and stacking fish for the purporse of making manure. Take a look at the by laws here.
06.14.08
Say it ain’t so; No Cape League ball for New Bedford?
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 amature 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.
