Vintage Base Ball at Leary Field Saturday

MARK YOUR CALENDAR  

Two teams from the Essex Base Ball Association in Newbury, Massachusetts will play a doubleheader in Portsmouth on Saturday, August 17th. The E.B.B.A. is a four-team league of "base ball re-enactors" who play baseball using rules from the 1860s. (Continued below) 

 

They also have period uniforms and use period equipment (or lack thereof). The teams that will play in Portsmouth are the Lowell Nine and the Portsmouth Rockinghams (actually named after a team that played out of Portsmouth in the 1860s).

The games will be played at Leary Field in Portsmouth. There will be a 45-minute to one hour pregame period in which the rules will be explained and kids will be able to interact with the players. This will occur at approximately 11:00 a.m. - noon. The doubleheader will start at noon. The second game is expected to end around 3:30.

There will be a post-game "reception" at the Rusty Hammer at which all members of the public are invited. Although this type of historic recreation sport was originally called vintage baseball when it became popular in the late 1990s, most now refer to it as 19th Century Base Ball. By the way, in the 1860s, baseball was spelled as two words, i.e., base ball. 

Also, Edward Achorn, a journalist at the Providence Journal and the author of two books on baseball during the 19th century, will be at Leary Field where he will sign and sell his books. His titles include “Fifty-Nine in '84” and, just released, “The Summer of Beer and Whiskey.”

 

BONUS PHOTO: Portsmouth TEam