The 1869 Red Stockings of today?

[Spitball]

Does anyone know anything about the Cincinnati Red Stockings team that apparently travels around the country playing baseball in the garb of 1869 and by the rules of that era?

I was just in Massachusetts for my 40th class reunion. We were staying at a Holiday Inn just south of my hometown. Saturday morning, my wife came up from the lobby and said there were a bunch of men down there dressed in old-time baseball uniforms. Later, as I was headed down the hallway, I ran into a woman dressed in a vintage Reds' uniform. I asked her some questions and she said her boyfriend played on this team. She said that Friday they had played a game in Newbury, Massachusetts, and they were about to go play one on the Boston Common.

I never heard of this so I googled it:

http://www.1869reds.com/

Has anyone ever seen them play?

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Spitball

Does anyone know anything about the Cincinnati Red Stockings team that apparently travels around the country playing baseball in the garb of 1869 and by the rules of that era?

I was just in Massachusetts for my 40th class reunion. We were staying at a Holiday Inn just south of my hometown. Saturday morning, my wife came up from the lobby and said there were a bunch of men down there dressed in old-time baseball uniforms. Later, as I was headed down the hallway, I ran into a woman dressed in a vintage Reds' uniform. I asked her some questions and she said her boyfriend played on this team. She said that Friday they had played a game in Newbury, Massachusetts, and they were about to go play one on the Boston Common.

I never heard of this so I googled it:

http://www.1869reds.com/

Has anyone ever seen them play?

I actually play for the other team that is part of the Cincinnati Vintage Base Ball Club - the Cincinnati Buckeyes.

[Redsfan320]

I saw a VBB game a few years back, inaugural game for the Oxford (Ohio) VBB Club. Was pretty cool.

320

[Spitball]

Originally Posted by Chip R

I actually play for the other team that is part of the Cincinnati Vintage Base Ball Club - the Cincinnati Buckeyes.

So how does this team afford to come to Massachusetts to play baseball? Are they paid or does someone sponser them?

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Spitball

So how does this team afford to come to Massachusetts to play baseball? Are they paid or does someone sponser them?

We do this on our own. Our team went to Gettysburg last month. It's not like we go all over the country every year. We mainly stick to this area and there are more vintage teams in Ohio than in any other state. Indiana has its fair share as well.

If you are in the Dayton/Springfield area, you can see a triple-header of base ball on Sunday beginning at noon at Heritage Park in Springfield. If you are in the Greater Cincinnati area, there will be 2 games next Saturday and 2 games on Sunday featuring the Red Stockings and Buckeyes at Heritage Village in Sharon Woods Park in Sharonville. Matches begin at 1:00 p.m. and admission to Heritage Village is free.

There are many similarities to the modern game but the main difference is that the players do not wear gloves. The ball is larger and somewhat more softer than a modern baseball but if you catch it wrong, it can be painful. Another major difference is that pitching is underhanded from 45 feet off flat ground. Also foul balls are outs when caught on one bounce but a ball is foul only if it lands in foul ground first. So a ball that starts in fair territory and then spins into foul territory is a fair ball. Balls and strikes are not usually called unless the batter continually takes too many good pitches or the pitcher cannot throw strikes.

It's great fun to play and if you come see the games, you can sit much closer to the action than at a major league game and for much less money. If you ask, players - and sometimes the umpire - will answer any questions you have about the game.

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by Chip R

We do this on our own. Our team went to Gettysburg last month. It's not like we go all over the country every year. We mainly stick to this area and there are more vintage teams in Ohio than in any other state. Indiana has its fair share as well.

If you are in the Dayton/Springfield area, you can see a triple-header of base ball on Sunday beginning at noon at Heritage Park in Springfield. If you are in the Greater Cincinnati area, there will be 2 games next Saturday and 2 games on Sunday featuring the Red Stockings and Buckeyes at Heritage Village in Sharon Woods Park in Sharonville. Matches begin at 1:00 p.m. and admission to Heritage Village is free.

There are many similarities to the modern game but the main difference is that the players do not wear gloves. The ball is larger and somewhat more softer than a modern baseball but if you catch it wrong, it can be painful. Another major difference is that pitching is underhanded from 45 feet off flat ground. Also foul balls are outs when caught on one bounce but a ball is foul only if it lands in foul ground first. So a ball that starts in fair territory and then spins into foul territory is a fair ball. Balls and strikes are not usually called unless the batter continually takes too many good pitches or the pitcher cannot throw strikes.

It's great fun to play and if you come see the games, you can sit much closer to the action than at a major league game and for much less money. If you ask, players - and sometimes the umpire - will answer any questions you have about the game.

You didn't happen to make a stop in Leesburg, Va? They had a 1869 baseball event at a park about a month or so ago. I wanted to go but had other things planned that day. It sounded like a very interesting event to go to. They were scheduled to play games all day on a Sunday but it was cut short because of rain.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

You didn't happen to make a stop in Leesburg, Va? They had a 1869 baseball event at a park about a month or so ago. I wanted to go but had other things planned that day. It sounded like a very interesting event to go to. They were scheduled to play games all day on a Sunday but it was cut short because of rain.

I'm afraid not. I'm sure there will be other games there and it will be worth your while.

[Spitball]

Has anyone read If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock? It is a great historical fiction/time travel novel written in the early 1990s. It is about a guy who finds himself back in 1869, and he becomes a member of the Cincinnati Red Stockings. It is an excellent book and is said to have inspired some of the historical leagues of today. I loaned my copy out years ago but would love to read it again.

Btw, the cover was really bad. It featured a photograph of guy in a 1970s Cincinnati Reds uniform.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Spitball

Has anyone read If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock? It is a great historical fiction/time travel novel written in the early 1990s. It is about a guy who finds himself back in 1869, and he becomes a member of the Cincinnati Red Stockings. It is an excellent book and is said to have inspired some of the historical leagues of today. I loaned my copy out years ago but would love to read it again.

Btw, the cover was really bad. It featured a photograph of guy in a 1970s Cincinnati Reds uniform.

That book is what sparked my interest in vintage base ball.

[RichRed]

Originally Posted by Spitball

Has anyone read If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock? It is a great historical fiction/time travel novel written in the early 1990s. It is about a guy who finds himself back in 1869, and he becomes a member of the Cincinnati Red Stockings. It is an excellent book and is said to have inspired some of the historical leagues of today. I loaned my copy out years ago but would love to read it again.

Btw, the cover was really bad. It featured a photograph of guy in a 1970s Cincinnati Reds uniform.

Absolutely loved that book. I think I first heard of it right here on RedsZone.

[Spitball]

One of my favorite parts of If I Never Get Back is when the players are on a train and passing time by singing songs together. When it is the protagonist's turn, he starts singing "Home, Home on the Range." He is at the point when he is singing "...where the deer and antelope play" and sees no one else is singing. He then realizes the song has not yet been written. It is an awkward moment for the main character but really quite funny.

[KittyDuran]

Not great pics... But here's a game up in Springfield. BTW Chip (aka Rollie Fingers) is pitching for the Buckeyes.

[Blimpie]

Originally Posted by Spitball

Has anyone read If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock? It is a great historical fiction/time travel novel written in the early 1990s. It is about a guy who finds himself back in 1869, and he becomes a member of the Cincinnati Red Stockings. It is an excellent book and is said to have inspired some of the historical leagues of today. I loaned my copy out years ago but would love to read it again.

Btw, the cover was really bad. It featured a photograph of guy in a 1970s Cincinnati Reds uniform.

I have read it twice and it remains one of the best books I have read over the last several years.

By the way, they reprinted the book in paperback in 2007 and changed the cover art. That version shows nothing but a wooden baseball bat slightly out of focus.

[Chip R]

Video from Sunday's game.

http://www.wlwt.com/video/29009877/detail.html