Rising Sun Downs West Chester

Rising Sun ventured accross the Mason Dixon line on Sunday May 18 on what was the last match for lead off man Memphis Jackson. The speedy Jackson leads the club in every offensive category and has been the standard for the defensively minded boys from Brick Meetinghouse. The club sent Memphis off to start his military career with a win over the freshmen from Brandywine BBC of West Chester 13-6. Rising Sun rode to victory on the striking of Cisco, Tex and the Mad Scottsman Lindsay Bruce and the speed of Memphis, Bolt and the returning Spider Edwards . Again defense was the order as the boys from south of the Mason Dixon were stingy on defense with many grand plays in the field and Greg Banker Rodenbaugh fanning a season high eight batters in the first contest between the two clubs. The match was officiated by John Medkeff of the Diamond State BBC. The two will meet again in October at the Annual Civil War Encampment in Rising Sun, Md in a special twilight match at 7pm on Friday evening October 4th.

ATLANTICS, RESOLUTES BRING BASEBALL BACK TO BROOKLYN

The Atlantics brought base ball back to Brooklyn on Sunday as they hosted the Elizabeth Resolutes in an exhibition of the national pastime to a large crowd gathered for the Brooklyn Cyclones home match later that afternoon at MCU Park in Coney Island.
Mike ‘Fatts’ Caliendo and Matt ‘Krawler’ Kouyoumdjian called the plays and explained the rule differences from the PA Booth, Rafael ‘Wickets’ Garcia spoke to the fans on the concourse and Ed ‘Pigtail’ Elmore enforced the rules of base ball as they were played in Brooklyn in 1864. Elizabeth managed a base runner in the first against Atlantic pitcher Marc ‘Nice & Easy’ Josloff but could not move him around the bases. Anthony ‘Dirty Pirate’ Cannino started the Atlantic rally in the bottom of the first with a single and then promptly stole second base. Dean ‘Dreambucket’ Emma stroked another single to move him to third and Kevin ‘Flash’ Harrison scored him from third on a bound out to the left fielder. Billy ‘Goat’ Kowalczyk followed that with a clean single to score the second ace of the inning.
While the Atlantic defense continued to suppress the Elizabeth bats the Atlantic offense came through again in the third inning as Chris ‘Pup’ Parente singled and Dreambucket hit the ball solidly for a stand-up double scoring Pup all the way from first base. With a three ace lead the pressure was on Elizabeth who kept threatening with long outs to the outfield. Finally in the fifth inning Elizabeth put their hits together and scored two times closing the score to 3-2. With a strict time limit the exhibition game was called after the bottom of the fifth inning and the match ended to the cheers of the crowd.
Next weekend the Atlantics play a round-robin of overhand and underhand matches against the Providence Grays and Elizabeth Resolutes at the Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island and then travel to Connecticut to take on the New London Thames at Fort Trumbull State Park on Sunday.

Talbot Wins Silver Ball Tournament

The Talbot Fair Plays made the long trip to Mumford, NY once again to participate in the National Silver Ball Tournament at Genessee Country Village & Museum.  They were eager to repeat as champions after sharing the title last year with Flemington.

In the first match of the day Talbot was matched up against the local FlowerCity club.  After trailing for the first 2 innings the Fair Plays began to string together hits and put runs on the board.  The game stayed close until the Fair Plays broke things open in the 7th and came away with a 22-12 victory.

The second match of the day had the team from Maryland against the Live Oak Nine.  After holding Live Oak scoreless for much of the game the gentlemen from New York finally pushed a run across in the 8th.  This would be the only run they would tally as Talbot came away with a strong 19-1 win.

In Saturday’s late game the Fair Plays were met by the Victory BBC, a formidable and competitive club that always brings out their best for the tournament.  Four previous meetings between the clubs have been split, with Victory winning in 2008 and 2010 and Talbot winning in 2011 and 2012.  After trailing for the first 3 innings the Fair Plays started pounding away and built what turned into an insurmountable lead.  The Fair Plays prevailed 23-5 in the match that left Talbot at 3-0 for the day and in great position to make the finals on Sunday.

Sunday morning’s match saw the Fair Plays opposed by the local Spring Creek squad who sported an unblemished regular season record before stumbling in their opening game of the tournament.  The Spring Creek team was motivated in knowing that a victory over Talbot would almost assure them a spot in the championship game.  The Fair Plays struck early with 5 in the first and 5 more in the second and never looked back, completing their road to the finals with a 22-4 triumph over the Spring Creek team.

This set up a rematch against the Victory BBC in the finals as Victory won their Sunday morning match to qualify.  After going scoreless in the first frame the boys from Talbot batted around in the second, plating 7 runs.  From there the rout was on as the Fair Plays scored often and by the end of a long afternoon the team had secured the Silver Ball championship, putting an exclamation point on the tournament with a 30-5 win.  It was a great team effort as all team members that made the trip contributed heavily to the mighty offensive output and played outstanding defense.

Diamond States Brew Victory at Twin Lakes

On August 3, the Twin Lakes Brewery in Greenville, DE played host to a match between the Diamond State BBC and the BBC of Rising Sun.  The visiting nine jumped out to a quick 3-tally advantage in their half of the first inning.  However, the Delaware nine tallied 6 aces in each of their first 2 at bats to regain the advantage.  The Maryland club managed to narrow the gap with another 3 aces in the 3rd inning.  After a few defensive-minded innings in which neither side has much success at the striker’s line, the Diamond State bats once again came alive, scoring 13 runs during the 6th and 7th innings to distance themselves from their opponents.  At the game’s conclusion, the final tally stood as a 30-9 victory for the Blue and Black.

All of the Diamond State strikers found success at the strikers line during the match, led by Dutch’s 5 hits as well as 4 hits apiece from Buzz, Lightning, Mini and Steady.  On the base paths, Dutch and Lightning each added 5 steals to their successful day.

The Diamond State Base Ball club will return to action on August 10 as they travel west to visit the Keystone BBC of Harrisburg.

Atlantic Downs Eckford in Battle of Brooklyn

The Atlantics met the Eckfords for a Long Island match-up at the Smithtown Historical Society this past Saturday. The Eckford squad tried out some new players for this doubleheader and faced an experienced pitcher in Marc “Nice&Easy” Josloff. The Eckfords scored first in the second inning but were equaled by the Atlantics soon after and although they would score in the fourth inning to again take the lead it would not be enough. The Atlantics put four across the plate that inning followed by three more the next and roll to a 10-4 victory. Both teams had a mix of excellent and poor defensive plays. Dean “Dreambucket” Emma led the Atlantics with three hits including a double, and was followed by Anthony “Dirty Pirate” Cannino, George “Wildhorse” Ferchland, and Nice & Easy with two hits each.

The second match showed both teams defensive prowess. The Eckfords took an early 2-0 lead but couldn’t hold on to it as the Atlantics whittled away and finally took the lead in the fifth inning. The Eckfords tallied once more in the sixth but that would be all as the Atlantics held on for the 4-3 victory. Against the stingy Eckford Defense the Atlantics only cracked four hits. The Dirty Pirate, “Tricky” Rick Stattler, Sean “Toothpick” Ness, and Billy “Goat” Kowalczyk swung their bats solidly. Nice & Easy pitched the complete game for his second victory of the day.

The Atlantics next play an exhibition game in Coney Island at MCU Park, the home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Atlantics will be playing the Elizabeth Resolutes beginning at 3:30PM.

Delaware, Rising Sun Split

On a warm and humid afternoon in the pasture on McMillan Farm in Rising Sun, Maryland, the Diamond State BBC came calling on the Rising Club. In the first game of the match the muffins from Rising Sun jumped to an early lead until  the diamond states evened the score at 4 then even again at 5 and 6 tallies each. In the bottom of the eighth frame Rising Sun put a man on then followed by 2 strait outs unitl Loquacious Bill Meehan drove in the winning run with an rbi single.  Rising Sun put the side down in order in the 9th to secure the win.
Game 2 saw Rising Sun again jump out early only to have the Diamond State come back and take the lead 7-5 in the 5th and the game was all defense the rest of the way as the visitors from Delaware held on for the 7-5 win. Afterward the clubs shared a banquet with food and drink and fellowship

Providence Joins the MAVBBL

July 23, 2013– The Providence Grays, one of the most storied clubs in 19th century base ball has agreed to join the MAVBBL starting in the 2014 season.  The Grays started play in 1998 and have been one of the leaders in vintage base ball ever since.  A club that is the model of historical accuracy, the Providence Club portaits the Rhode Island entry in to the National League that started in 1878 and won the National League pennant in 1884.  The Grays use the rules from 1884 as their home rules and thus become the first club in the league to use the overhand game as its standard rules.  The Grays when playing an 1864 club will still play one game from 1884 and one from 1864.

“This is a great day for the MAVBBL as not only do we expand our footprint further north and in to New England, but we get one of the most storied clubs in the game who will bring a lot to the table as far as education and historical accuracy.  Their club is also one of the friendliest and most gentlemanly clubs in the game as well” said Bruce Leith the coordinator of the MAVBBL. 

The Grays will become full members in 2014 playing in the Empire (Northern) Conference.  Their information will be availble on this site starting immediately.  Every club in the Empire Conference is estatic about the Grays entry.  “Our friendship with the Grays goes back to 2000 and we’ve played many memorable matches with them up all over the northeast” said Elizabeth’s captain and president, Paul Salomone.  Tom Fosolowich from the Mutuals commented “The Grays are one of the most historically accurate, if not the most historically accurate club in the country.  This team will be a fine addition to our league.”  “As everyone knows they are fine gentlemen and a sound ballclub” says Rafael Garcia from the Gothams.

Gettysburg Festival Huge Success

Gettysburg, PA– Many of the MAVBBL’s clubs participated in the 4th Annual Gettysburg 19th Century Base Ball Festival on July 20 and 21 and a good time was had by all.  Member clubs got to play some of the most storied clubs in vintage base ball lore from around the country.  For a detailed run down go to their website at http://www.GettysburgBaseBallFestival.com .  Clubs that fared well during the weekend included the Atlantics with a 4-1 record, Elkton with a 2-1-1 record, and the Gothams with a 3-1 mark.  Some of the highlighted matches included Brooklyn coming back with 3 in the 9th inning to defeat Cleveland 3-1; Elkton coming back from a 10 run defecit to tie Bay City, Talbot spotting Saginaw 10 runs before coming up just short 11-10 and Washington squeeking by Philadelphia 15-14.  Check out our media page on this website to see what the newspapers were saying about the event including “Best Facial Hair” and “Best Nicknames”. 

Elkton Cruises In Curley Cup

Easton, MD– On an often rainy, humid day on the Maryland Eastern Shore, 3 historic rivals got together to honor the memory of Scott “Curley” Murphy, the captain of the Talbot Fair Plays who tragically passed away 2 years ago in a match with the Atlantics.  All 3 clubs took time between games to honor the fallen captain of the home club.  In the first game of the day, the Fair Plays hosted the Atlantics.  A couple of weeks before the Atlantics swept both games at Smithtown, Long Island.  On this day though it was a much better game.  A tie game in to the last frame made it quite an entertaining afair.  The hometown Fair Plays scored twice though and won a hard fought match 8-6.

The Atlantics were then ready to play their 4th match in two days against the Eclipse who the Atlantics had lost to only once in 17 tries.  After scoring the game’s first run, the Atlantics looked like they may win yet again.  However the Eclipse had other thoughts and piled on 2 runs in the first and then took a 11-2 lead in to the 8th inning.  The Eclipse then tallied 8 runs to win going away 19-5.

In the 3rd game of the day, Elkton picked up where it left off against the Fair Plays.  8 runs in the first inning for the horsemen lead to a 20-5 blow out for the visitors from Elkton.  It was a great day of base ball and fellowship by 3 clubs who really enjoy playing each other.  Great food and drinks were provided by the Talbot club for a wonderful day of base ball.

Atlantics, Eclipse to Meet Fair Plays in Easton

This Sunday, June 23rd 3 of the historically better clubs in the MAVBBL will hook up for the Annual Curley Cup honoring the Talbot’s fallen captain who passed away on the field two years ago.  Brooklyn and Elkton have not met since 2011 while the Fair Plays just came back from a trip to Smithtown dropping two to Brooklyn.  The day starts at 11am with Brooklyn playing Talbot, a 1pm match up between the Eclipse and Atlantics and then the wrap up at 3pm between the Fair Plays and Eclipse.  The match will be located at the Fair Plays home field in Easton, Maryland.  If you are a fan of 19th century base ball, you won’t want to miss this day of great competition while honoring Curley.

Old Dominions Faire Well in Oatlands

On Sunday June 2nd, with afternoon weather of suspicion, the Old Dominions of Northern Virginia rallied twice to hold 2 wins versus the famed Potomac squad of Washington, D.C. The matches were played at the majestic Oatlands grounds in the heart of Loudon County Virginia. Food (the provisions were most satisfying) was available to cranks who made the journey to Oatlands to see the elephant. The kind Oatlands staff were most hospitable, providing cheers to the ballists, making certain that players were not replete of water, and even lending several muffins to partake in the base ball foray.
 
The first match started as any other sort, with a zip and whiz of the base ball across the lush green field as the Potomacs, who were victorious in the bat toss and elected to swing the willow first, must have felt the itch to strike and scored 5 tallies by the bottom of the fourth inning. However, veteran Old Dominion hurlers Stoney and Skipper were sound on the goose as they settled down the Potomac bats, allowing only one more run for the rest of the match. The match was tooth and nails after the fifth inning. The Potomac Nine were threatening on the base paths as they must have jayhawked a dozen bases. Fate would soon change, when in the bottom of the 8th the Potomacs were on the shoot with muffin Doug Miller of Oatlands. Doug, a ballist to the manner born, walloped a bases loaded sky ball deep into the rolling meadow scoring 3 aces for the Old Dominions. The jig was up for the Potomacs. The Old Dominions won the first match 10-6.
 
As clouds and thunder began to make their way towards Oatlands, both clubs ponied up to play another 7-inning match. In the second match, the Old Dominions opened the ball with 4 unanswered aces in the first 4 innings. However, the mighty Potomacs were not to be outdone, scoring 4 tallies of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning. As in the first match, both clubs battled back and forth, with strong hurling and solid defense by the basetenders. That is, until the top of the 7th when Gashouse stepped up to the dish and hit a daisy cutter through infield for a base hit. Then, Roman hit the onion to reach base. Brooklyn and Stoney handily followed to pluck the apple scoring two tallies for the Old Dominions. Stoney whitewashed the Potomac bats in the bottom of the 7th for an 8-6 Old Dominion victory. Huzzah!
 
Many thanks to our hosts at Oatlands, our friends from the Potomac Nine, and the brave muffins who supported both clubs in the base ball affair.