Hands Down Means You’re Out—

Playing America’s Game In The 19th Century

By Dottie Evans

Hip, Hip, Huzzah!

In a burst of good sportsmanship, opposing nine-man teams shouted these words together at the close of baseball games that were played in nearly 150 New England towns throughout the latter part of the 19th Century.

As Ray Shaw, speaker at Monday night’s Newtown Historical Society meeting explained, the yesteryear version of America’s favorite game was quite different from what we know today.

“The outfield was known as the garden, a ground ball was a daisy cutter, and by Massachusetts rules if you didn’t tag the runner you could just throw the ball at him,” Mr Shaw said.

There were no gloves until the 1880s and no hats or helmets. There was no baseball diamond and no pitcher’s mound.

There were no strikes and no balls –– the umpire merely gave fair warning to the batter if he suspected too many pitches were being deliberately allowed to go by in the hopes of tiring the pitcher. Such gamesmanship was considered most unsportsmanlike.

Stealing was not generally done until after the pitcher released the ball. Sliding was considered undignified. And whether a ball was fair or foul depended on where the ball first hit the ground, not where it rolled or ended up.

In 1860, the pitches were underhand. By 1886, they were overhand –– when catchers wore gloves to handle the high speed throws.

“The rules changed nearly every day, and it was a very active game,” Mr Shaw said.

“It is said baseball was invented in 1839 by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York. It started out as a gentlemen’s club sport and evolved around Civil War times as the troops came home to their towns,” he added.

Throughout the period from 1840 to 1900, national enthusiasm for the game of baseball was unbounded as neighborhood teams faced off in flat meadows where the tall grass had been hacked down by sickle and scythe. It was a time when towns fielded several teams that competed locally and regionally before their loyal fans.

In the 1880s, Newtown’s roster of teams included the O’Connell Street Colts, the Newtown Athletics, the Sandy Hook Colts, the Sandy Hook Cowboys, the Newtown Juniors, and the Sandy Hook Hoboes, a team comprised largely of businessmen.

As Mr Shaw learned from reading back issues of The Newtown Bee, around 1894 Newtown baseball games were played at the Fair Grounds (on Taylor Field off Church Hill Road), on the Hawleyville Grounds (not clear where), at Ronald Park (on Castle Hill), and in the back of Cady Mountain in the Hanover Road District.

Town Historian Dan Cruson sitting in the audience provided background on players of the day and possible field locations.

Mustering Today’s        Vintage Team

Mr Shaw not only described the game as it was played “before the age of monstrous gloves, extensive body armor, and juiced balls,” he also made a pitch for the upcoming Tercentennial Vintage Baseball Game scheduled to take place on August 6 at Fairfield Hills.

“I hope they’ll decide to play the game while the townwide picnic is going on –– not before or after,” he said adding that the Hartford Senators –– another modern-day vintage baseball team –– would be the opponent.

“Our own Newtown Sandy Hook Baseball Team is now being formed. Our games will be played in the manner and dress of the time, and by the rules and conduct of the era.”

Among the support positions organizers of the Newtown Sandy Hook Baseball Team are looking to fill are baseball historian, tally keeper, announcer, and sponsors to help with start-up costs. Men or women are equally welcome as players and for all support positions.

“Of course, the ladies will wear long dresses and hats as they would have done in those days,” Mr Shaw said.

The umpire is perhaps the most important position to be filled.

“It must be a powerful individual who can stride around and show a bit of attitude,” Mr Shaw noted.

Indeed, umpires during baseball’s vintage years were nothing like today’s version. There was only one umpire per game, and he was free to roam the field at will.

The umpire might ask a runner to tell him whether he was out or not, and if he needed help from the stands, he could ask the fans known as “cranks” what had happened. If he thought the cranks were misbehaving or cheating, he could fine them.

As part of its inaugural year, the Newtown Sandy Hook Baseball Team will go on the road “to showcase our town’s diversity and spirit, and build awareness for this unique part of New England,” Mr Shaw said.

“We hope to turn back the clock with help from local volunteers dressed in vintage clothing who can provide horses and carriages, horse-drawn wagons, Victorian games, a large-wheeled bicycle, and anything else that contributes to the vintage theme.”

Event organizers are looking for food vendors to set up booths on August 6, and for persons who could help create and finish stitched uniforms. They hope onlookers, players, and picnickers will be able to park their cars elsewhere and walk to the event for a more authentic experience.

“Playing baseball the vintage way –– it’s going to be a whole turnback experience for mind and body,” Mr Shaw promised.

To help with the inaugural season of Newtown’s modern-day vintage baseball team, contact Ray Shaw at 270-0596 or by email at rcshaw1@earthlink.net.