Central Jersey native Rich Wieland combines his love for local history and playing softball by demonstrating "base ball" as it was more than 150 years ago.
His team, the Monmouth Furnace Base Ball Club, is looking for more members for its 2017 season. Its home games are in the Historic Village at Allaire, and it follows official 1864 rules -- with wood bats, no
over-running first base and (most significantly) without fielding gloves!
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 range from teenagers to senior citizens.
Find out what's happening in Matawan-Aberdeenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“We have good old-fashioned fun,” he 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 an action-packed game.”
Find out what's happening in Matawan-Aberdeenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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 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. Wieland's wife Mary Ann is a docent and a craftsperson in Allaire's auxiliary.
Additional information about Sunday's Monmouth Furnace meeting is available at 732-859-7643 or furnace@monmouth.com.
