The Old Ballgame

Want to be taken out to the old ball game? Then head to over to Valley Road on Saturday for a little bit of baseball, 19th-century style.

For on that day, the Flemington Neshanock Base Ball Club will take on Maryland’s Elkton Eclipse in an old-time baseball game, presented by the Historical Society of Princeton. The day promises an opportunity to learn about baseball’s history and hear a reading of the classic poem, “Casey at the Bat.”

Fans will see a competitive game that they will recognize, but with some key differences.

“You go there and you see it and you immediately know that it’s baseball because there are nine people on the field — there’s a pitcher, there’s a batter, there’s an umpire standing to the side,” says Brad “Brooklyn” Shaw, president of the Flemington team. “I think the biggest difference you’d notice is that we don’t wear gloves. Gloves were not the norm until the 1880s, so we’re not playing with gloves. Usually the ball is a little softer than a hard ball, but it’s still pretty hard.”

Other differences can depend on what rules are in effect for a particular game. Shaw says Saturday's game will follow 1864 rules, which means a batter's ball is caught by a fielder off one bounce, the batter is out.  

Another 1864 rule stipulates that a runner can be tagged out if he runs past first base, contradicting one of the first things every Little Leaguer is told — run to first as fast as possible.

“You have to remember that you have to slide into first base,” Shaw says. “As many times as you play, sometimes you have people running through the base and the first baseman just turns around tags them and they’re out.”

Games are sometimes played under 1873 rules, which Shaw says might be in effect on Saturday if the two teams play a double header. By 1873, a ball caught off a bounce in fair play wasn’t an out (but foul balls caught off a bounce were). Those rules also allowed batters to request that pitches be high or low.

Shaw learned about old-time baseball leagues after reading about them in an issue of Smithsonian Magazine. Being a fan of baseball and history, in 2000, he went out to Long Island to watch a game, then joined a team. A year later, he started the Flemington club.

“I was one of those guys who had a little bit of talent, could always hit, but was just under being able to play on my high school baseball team, but I still love playing,” Shaw says. “I played softball for years and years and then found this.”

He says the team’s roster consists of players with varying levels of experience.

“There are some who played in high school and college and others who are just people who got tired of softball and tried this,” Shaw says. “It’s not softball, it’s a lot more interesting. Instead of playing in front of a few people, we’re playing events almost every single weekend in front of hundreds and sometimes thousands of people.”

Shaw’s team plays almost every weekend, starting in early April to mid-October. This season, his squad has played in Cooperstown, Gettysburg and Cape May. One hurdle this weekend could be the heat, with forecasters predicting temperatures nearing 100 degrees. In the 19th century, teams wore wool uniforms, but Shaw’s team dons uniforms made of a heavy cotton because some people are allergic to wool.

“When it’s 90 degrees out there, the heavy cotton is sort of like a denim, it can be very, very hot,” Shaw says.

Shaw’s team doesn’t consist of re-enactors, you won’t see players pretending they live in the 1800s. Shaw shares some history with spectators, explaining to people what’s happening in the game and answering questions. But the teams take the games seriously.

“We’re playing a real game and we’re always going to be competitive, you’ve got to be competitive to be true to the game,” Shaw says,

While the combination of history and the national pastime was perfect for Shaw, he says he didn’t know what would come of his attempt to start his own old-fashioned baseball team.

“It’s not only lasted this long but I always seem to be growing,” he says. “I don’t have enough dates for all the people who ask me to play. We’re doing pretty well.”

The Flemington Neshanock Base Ball Club will take on the Elkton Eclipse at the junior varsity baseball field at 25 Valley Road on Saturday at 11 a.m. Admission is free. Bleachers will be set up, but fans can also bring their own lawn chairs. For information, go to www.princetonhistory.org or call 609-921-6748, ext. 100.