"Sporting gentlemen" and "members of the gentle sex”
invited to join the club, which plays 1864-style baseball
(Patch Staff)
If you love baseball and history, a local group is looking for more members to help it celebrate baseball as it was played 150 years ago.
The Monmouth Furnace "Base Ball" Club, which plays its home games in the Historic Village at Allaire, is seeking more players. The club plays by 1864 rules -- with wood bats and without fielding gloves -- and plays against other vintage baseball clubs around the tri-state area.
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An information meeting for interested ballplayers will be held at noon on Sunday (Jan. 22) at Café Anna Bella, 1800 Route 34, Wall Township. Current team members are from Monmouth, Ocean and other
counties, and they range from teenagers to senior citizens.
“We have good old-fashioned fun,” club captain Russ McIver said. “We re-enact the way 'base ball' (two separate words back then) was conducted by the sporting gentlemen of the 19th century. Now we welcome members of the gentle sex on our team. Our uniforms include long-sleeved shirts and cravats (ties), and the pitches are underhand -- but it's a fast-paced game.”
Find out what's happening in Holmdel-Hazletfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Vintage squads from other states consider the Historic Village at Allaire hallowed ground. It was the spring training site for the 1898 Brooklyn major league squad which later became the Dodgers. The village, in Wall Township's Allaire State Park, was an iron-making “company town” in the 1800s. Today it is a living history museum with guides in period clothing who take visitors through restored buildings.
Additional information about Sunday's Monmouth Furnace meeting is available from Russ McIver at 732-859-7643 or furnace@monmouth.com.
Photo via Monmouth Furnace Base Ball Club Facebook page
