Historical Society Will Play Ball The Old-Fashioned Way

If it’s April the cry of “Play Ball!” must echo through the land, and the cry has been echoing for well over a century. Whether or not Abner Doubleday had anything to do with inventing the game of baseball, it has been played in more or less its present form at least since the post-Civil War era.

Newtown Historical Society will return to the good old days of baseball on Monday, April 11, at 7.30 pm, in the meeting room of Booth Library, 25 Main Street (Route 25), with a program presented by Ray Shaw.

For many years base ball, spelled as two words in the early days, was truly the national game. Every town had its team, the industrial leagues were strong and often bordered on professional, and minor league teams were spread through the country. In addition, baseball served as a microcosm of the national values of determination, perseverance, teamwork, and the skills to be competitive.

Fielders were barehanded, catchers unprotected by facemasks until the 1890s, but the game went on. Through wars and scandals, baseball remained part of the nation’s athletic, social and entertainment lives. Ray Shaw will provide listeners with a general discussion of the evolution of baseball in America, its lasting effect on the communities it served, and the ways in which the early game was different from that familiar today. He will also suggest how people can take part in a game of vintage baseball scheduled as part of Newtown’s Tercentennial townwide picnic in August.

Ray Shaw is a Newtown resident, a business consultant by profession, and a hobbyist photographer, painter, and designer, and a longtime fan of the game of baseball. He is an avid baseball memorabilia collector, and will be bringing many samples from his collection to illustrate his presentation.

All Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshments, possibly even peanuts and Cracker Jack, will be served following the program. For further information call the society at 426-5937.