Sunday, August 23, 2015

WEST MARLBOROUGH: Vintage base ball on a Saturday afternoon

On Saturday I finally got a chance to watch the Mohican Base Ball Club of Kennett Square in action. It was a hugely entertaining afternoon. The members of this team, who play without baseball gloves using old-fashioned rules, won both games in the double-header against the Eclipse Base Ball Club of Elkton. The Mohicans, who are now 13-1 on the season, will take on Fairplays BBC of Talbot County, Maryland, at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. 
The Mohicans, who wear old-fashioned white uniforms with red socks and caps, play in a beautiful setting at the northwest corner of Newark and Upland Roads here in West Marlborough. A corn field marks the far edge of the outfield. There's no high-tech modern ballpark gimmickry here: the players' bench is actually a log, the scorekeeper writes the score in chalk, and after the game the players line up for a gentlemanly salute. And the pace of the game is remarkably speedy: as soon as the catcher tosses the ball back to the pitcher, he throws it again.
Bring a folding chair and watch "base ball" (yes, two words) as it used to be played. You'll see some pretty amazing athletes.

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