Despite the threat of stormy weather all weekend, 12 MAVBBL clubs got together at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to celebrate 19th century base ball and show the public how the game was played in 1864.  The Athletic Club of Philadelphia put on a great show as clubs from all over the league got together for a fun festival.  There was no pressure of a winner and clubs that came out on the wrong side of the boxscore didn’t go home dejected, but rather they left getting to play someone they either had not seen for a while or never saw before.  The schedule was set so the New York clubs would get a chance to square off against foes it had only seen on paper from Washington, Arundel, and Mechanicsburg.  Clubs from Easton, Elkton, and Chesapeake City got to play teams from New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania as well as New York.  Make sure you check out the scores posted in the results page (see the column on the right side) to see who won what games.  This weekend though, everyone was a winner.  Special thanks to the clubs that participated: Philadelphia (host), Delaware, Talbot, Elkton, Mechanicsburg, Chesapeake, Arundel, Flemington, Potomac, New York Gothams, Flemington, and Chesapeake City.

The Philadelphia Navy Yard will play host to a fine display of 19th century base ball this weekend featuring 12 clubs from the MAVBBL.  The host Athletic BBC has put together a great weekend of base ball and 19th century fun for the entire family.  Matches start at 10am each day and go on until about 4pm.  Come see clubs from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Washington DC play base ball the same way it was played in 1864 using the same style uniforms and equipment and playing by the same rules and customs of the day.  For more information, go to http://phillyvintagebaseball.org/

RESOLUTES WIN PAIR FROM NEW YORK

The first match began with the Gotham BBC at the line. Monk and Wickets scored in that half of the frame and the Resolutes followed with 3 aces of their own. In the 2^nd frame no team scored. In the 3^rd frame Scratch scored an ace on a walk, steal of 2^nd and a cross of 4^th base after Crash’s 2 base hit. The Resolutes followed with 0 aces of their own. In the 4^th frame, again the Gotham BBC scored 1 ace with a Monk 1 base hit, steal of 2^nd and a cross of 4^th base on Scratch’s 1 base hit. The Resolutes followed with 0 aces of their own. In the 5^th frame, no team scored. By the end of the 5^th frame, the score was Gotham BBC 4 Elizabeth Resolutes 3.  In the 6^th frame, the Gotham BBC scored scored on Weed’s 2 base hit and hands by Professor and Monk. Of course, Weed hurts himself during the play. In the bottom of that frame, the Gotham BBC forgot how to limit the damage and played catch with themselves while Resolutes ran the bases. We really need to learn that fundamental rule of controlling the opponent’s base running. By the end of the frame, the Resolutes scored 3 aces. In the 7^th frame, the Gotham BBC scored 0 aces and the Resolutes scored 1. Stacks ended the frame with a nice line drive catch. Again, in the 8^th frame, the Gotham BBC scored 0 and the Resolutes score 1. In the top of the 9^th frame, the Gotham BBC scored 0 aces. Game over, Gotham BBC 5 Resolutes 8.

The second match of the day began with the Gotham BBC in the field and a redesigned team. Without regard to his teammates’ feelings and right in front of their faces, Oates happily took cash from the Resolutes to leave for the day.In the top of the 1^st frame, the Resolutes scored 2 aces. In the bottom of the frame, Monk struck and stole bases to get himself to 3^rd base. He would eventually come home on Wickets’ 1 base hit. In the top of the 2^nd frame, Crash ran 1 mile to catch a booming strike and 1 bound. Neither team would score that frame. In the 3^rd frame, the Resolutes scored 1 ace and the Gotham BBC scored none. In the 3^rd frame, the Resolutes scored 1 ace and the Gotham BBC scored 1 on Scratch’s 2 base hit and well struck 1 base hit by Wickets. By the end of the 3^rd frame the score was Gotham BBC 2 Resolutes 4. In the top of the 4^th frame, the Resolutes scored 2 aces and the Gotham BBC responded with 0 of their own. In the top of the 5^th frame the Resolutes scored 4 aces and the Gotham BBC scored 1. In the 7^th frame, the Gotham BBC was threatening. Wickets raced himself around the bases, thieving two of them to get to 3^rd. With Crash at the line, the team was ready for another ace. Crash struck the ball down the 3^rd base line, drawing the 3^rd base tender, pitcher and catcher to the ball. Wickets watched while Crash got to 1^st base and then decided to run. The 1^st base tender threw to the catcher and Wickets was tagged out. No team scored that frame.In the top of the 8^th frame with 1 hand and a Resolute on 1^st base, the striker hit a towering fly ball to short stop. Scratch realized he could make the double play by letting the ball drop. This was a pretty cool idea but he only let it drop once. The striker was out and there was no force at 2^nd base. No aces were scored the rest of the game. The final score was Gotham BBC 3 Resolutes 10

Talbot Goes 3-1-1 in Mumford, NY

Genesee Valley- The Talbot Fair Plays won their first 3 matches of the National Silver Ball Tournament in upstate New York this past weekend and tied their last to earn a spot in the Championship match on Sunday.  The Easton Nine downed the Victory BBC 18-15, the Rochesters 14-5, and the Flower City BBC 16-14.  In its last match it tied the Live Oaks 10-10 before the time limit ran out in the 8th inning.  It was good enough to earn a return to the championship to meet the Cleveland Blues.  The Blues had defeated the Flemington Neshanock last year in the Silver Ball Championship.  This year, it would be the same result- the Blues won 20-5 to take home its 2nd straight Silver Ball Championship.

A Split in Cecil County

Elkton, MD- The two teams from the Elkton Base Ball Club, the Cecil Club of Chesapeake City and the Eclipse BBC of Elkton squared off at the Terrapin Station Winery on Sunday.  In the first game, after the Eclipse struck first, the Cecils slammed 10 aces in the 3rd inning and held on for a 14-12 win.  In the second match, Elkton held a 4-3 lead when Chesapeake City scored twice in the 7th to take the lead.  Elkton scored one run in the 8th and held the Cecils scoreless in the 9th.  In the bottom of the 9th, as the Eclipse has done so many times this year, they got their first two men in to scoring position before Erik Meyers hit a long drive to centerfield easily scoring the runner from 3rd to earn the split with a 6-5 win

Atlantic Takes Islip Cup

On the grassy plains of the Islip Grange, the Atlantic Base Ball Club joined the Flemington Neshanock and New York Gotham clubs in the first ever Islip Cup Tournament. This round-robin tournament brought together spectators and farmers from all around Long Island.  In the initial match, the Flemington club took the lead on a balk in the 1st inning.  Unfortunately, that was their only ace to tally that game.  The Flemington lead was quickly erased as the Atlantic lead-off hitter TC used all his might and speed to round the bases for a home run.  TC didn’t stop there as he went a perfect 4 for 4 with 3 doubles and scored in each at bat.  Dreambucket also swung the stick well with 2 doubles, and Butcher contributed 2 hits also.  Pigtail and the Atlantic defense did not allow any more Flemington runners to score and the Atlantics went on to win by the score of 13-1.

In the 2nd match between the Flemington Neshanock and New York Gothams, a back and forth contest ensued.  Each team took and lost the lead more then once leading to a tie game at 6 aces each entering the 10th frame.  In the top of the 10th, the Gotham pitcher Bugsy was fatigued and hung a few too many hittable pitches as the Gotham defense could not stop a 6 run rally by the team from Jersey.  Undeterred, the Gotham batters rallied to score 3 aces and attain runners on the bases.  Alas, the Gothams could not plate any more runs and fell to the Flemington squad by the score of 12-9. 

With losses by both the Flemington and Gotham teams, the Atlantic squad needed a victory over the Gotham Club in the third and final match to attain the coveted Islip Cup.  A pitching matchup between the Atlantics Tree and Gothams Wickets promised for a entertaining game.  Tree shook off a bit of rust to keep the Gothams to 7 aces, while Wickets had to face the gauntlet of Atlantic bats and held them to 18.  For the Atlantics, TC and Willy Mo roped 4 hits each, while Toothpick and Dreambucket gathered 3 hits a piece.

Special Note:  Look under tournaments/festivals for information on the Philadelphia Base Ball Exhibit and Fair on August 20-21 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.  13 MAVBBL clubs will be participating.  Come out and see most of the clubs in the Mid Atlantic play base ball the way it was played in Philadelphia in 1864!