Vintage base ball: the charm of a sport where the 1860s never ended

In New York’s Hudson Valley, a league plays by old-school rules – with underhand pitching, no gloves, and questionable facial hair – to revive the game’s early quirksThe smoke-belching locomotive screeched to a halt for its final stop along the Catskill Mountain Railroad. The Kingston Guards Base Ball club alighted from their open-topped train car and stepped over the first-base line and on to their base ball diamond.The players were clad in their woolen uniforms. Baggy, crimson and grey jerseys with three-quarter sleeves. Puffy knickerbockers. The Guards ambled to their dugout to prepare for the day’s hostilities with their upriver antagonists, the Brickmakers of Saugerties. They sported bushy beards and ample facial hair, arranged in swooping and swirling mustaches and endless sideburns. Their bulky wooden bats of sundry shapes leaned against the fence. Two fresh balls were unboxed – one for the game and one in case the first got lost – their seams forming a big X. Someone sipped a drink from a large, brown growler.Aidan Lavin contributed reporting. Continue reading...

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