From the desk of: THE NEW YORK GAME
Vintage Base Ball
Sept. 30, 2017
Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn
vs.
Elizabeth Resolutes
FROM
RAHWAY RIVER PARK
N.J.
Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn: A Return to Prominence.
I last visited the Atlantic BBC a year ago for their season finale at Salem, MA. With this year's vintage base ball season fast drawing to a close, I was happy to finally catch up with the club again during last Saturday's match against the Elizabeth Resolutes at Rahway River Park, New Jersey.
Before long I was asking Atlantic club captain "Who is this year's champion of base ball?"
"We are!" Shakespeare said to me delightedly, but also lamented the Maryland circuit's unwillingness to travel north for the sake of determining a unified vintage base ball champion.
I followed up asking who, then, wound up being their toughest competition this season?
Wide-eyed, the Atlantic third baseman declared with haste, "Eckford."
I've been attending vintage base ball contests for nearly a decade now, and each and every match has been a marvel for me to behold. The early history of our National Pastime is fascinating to me. But researching it pales in comparison to watching these various member clubs (of re-creationists, hobbyists, historians, enthusiasts, and passionate lovers of base ball) presenting the game as it was played during the 1860's and early 1870's. In matches featuring elevated levels of athleticism, skill, and strategy, the attractiveness and competitive allure of the old "New York Game" becomes more evident.
Two vintage member clubs which perhaps best embody these very attributes and provide the most accurate glimpse into the ambitious origins of Base Ball are indeed the Atlantic Base Ball Club and the Eckford of Brooklyn.
I've learned over the years through watching them, and these various 19th century style matches, a catcher possessing soft and sure hands is likely to have been synonymous with winning. In fact, I'm sure a nimble and sure-handed catcher in the bare-hand era would have been a major asset capable of directly influencing the outcome of games. As per 1864 rules, the batter is ruled out when any ball struck fair or foul is fielded on one bounce by the opposing defense. The same applies with foul-tips; if secured by the catcher on one bounce, the batter is out.
Shakespeare and I joked about this rule during Saturday's first game against the Resolutes. I asked if making out on foul tips was the most frustrating aspect of this game? With his eyes rolling skyward in agreement, he strained to accurately convey the chagrin one experiences at the plate.
Enter Eckford backstop, Sammy, a veritable weapon behind the plate, and a qualified game changer. His proficiency behind the plate permits for a harder/faster pitching delivery by freeing his battery mate, Express, from fear of passed balls. I spoke with both gentlemen during last year's MAVBBL Festival held at Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island. Together, they strive to create anywhere from 12 to 15 outs per game on foul tips alone. I watched the Eckford battery employ this strategy with great success against the Elkton Eclipse and Diamond State club. After which, an Atlantic loss against Elkton left Eckford of Brooklyn free to claim the (recognized) local vintage base ball crown of 2016.
In speaking with a few opposing MAVBBL competitors they conveyed to me slight dissatisfaction with how Express borders on the edge of an illegal pitch. But if Eckfords' top pitcher indeed snaps his wrist upon release, he disguises it well. I also discussed this very strategy last season with Shakespeare, whom when pitching fancies speed as well.
In any event, last season was easily the toughest the Atlantic have endured in quite some time, but only because they've set such high standards for themselves. Injuries played a part. In fact, Shakespeare is presently nursing a sore hamstring; Goat has two knees barking mad at him; meanwhile real life beckons for others. Their regular first baseman, for instance, Flash has a beautiful new addition to his family commanding most of his attention these last two seasons.
While it was nice seeing TC, The Dream, Hawk, Tuna, Wickets, and a few others in action again, this time around Toothpick, Fingers, Krawler, and a few other regulars were not in attendance.
That being said, the team is also transitioning and incorporating several newer and younger talents into the fold. Among them is third year member, Scarecrow. He's not the Atlantic's regular catcher. Chaos, another recent addition to the club usually is. But Scarecrow (pictured right) did play a full game behind the plate on this day. And for someone who not too long ago suffered third degree burns to both hands, he expertly fielded the position and neutralized potential base-stealing threats with a strong and accurate arm.
For seven straight seasons spanning 2009 through 2015, the Atlantic club averaged a 46-9 (.839) record. But scheduling also proved problematic in 2016, and so they only played 42 games last year in which they posted a 26-16 (.619) record.
Other clubs could only hope to struggle that well.
Paul, captain of the Elizabeth Resolutes and otherwise known as Quickstep, told me his own club is wrapping up a season they'd much rather forget. Last Saturday's match against the Atlantic proved no less exasperating.
When I reminded Shakespeare prior to the start of play how last season marked the first time in the last eight years the Atlantic failed to win 40 games in a season, he gleamed, "We'll have 40 victories by the time this day is through." Needing two victories, the Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn achieved just that, taking both games against the Elizabeth Resolutes.
The Atlantic lost three games last season by an aggregate score of 37-7 against the Eckford of Brooklyn. It's no wonder, then, why Shakespeare earlier in the day seemed to relish speaking about this year's Atlantic head-to-head split against Eckford. He said they played six very spirited games, with each club taking three.
Now sporting a more familiar 40-8 (.833) record, the Atlantic club will travel back to Massachusetts, where they'll play their season finale against the Providence Grays again later this month at Salem Common.
A mere formality, though, as the Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn has already regained the local vintage base ball high ground.
vs.
Game One
ABBC 40
Elizabeth 12
1870 RULES
Ball is stitched with more recognizable
two panels instead of four.
Despite being a lopsided affair, the match did not play-out without controversy. Somehow, the Maryland Game crept beck into the conversation in the form of some obscure interpretation of a supposed rule, or lack thereof.
Dream and Quickstep
continue their dispute like gentlemen in between frames.
Dean The Dream offers a tip of the cap
after striking a home run to deep left field in the sixth frame.
Chaos also contributed two doubles, and a triple towards the Atlantic victory.
*
Game Two
ABBC 13
Elizabeth 0
1864 Rules
HUZZAH!
