Baseball, 1864-style, Sunday at Allaire

The great-granddaughter of one of the national pastime's pioneers will be among the spectators Sunday (October 2nd) when the Bog Iron Boys will host the Harrisburg (PA) Keystones at the Historic Village of Allaire.

The teams will play baseball by the rules of 1864 – without fielding gloves. Doc Adams wanted it that way. Major League Baseball's official historian calls Adams “the most significant figure in the early history of baseball.”

Marjorie Adams of Connecticut, Doc's descendant and an advocate for his election to the Hall of Fame, will attend Sunday's game. Her great-grandfather invented the shortstop position and set bases 90 feet apart, the number of innings at nine and the number of players on a team at nine.

The New York physician played with the Knickerbockers in Hoboken, the actual birthplace of baseball. Adams presided over the adoption of “The Laws of Base Ball.” His original document recently sold for
more than $3 million.

Sunday's 12 noon game will be the last one at home for the Bog Iron Boys this year. After facing the Pennsylvania team, the Allaire team will finish the season in Maryland against the Chesapeake Nine on October 9th.

The Historic Village of Allaire, 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 authentically restored buildings. Admission to the park will be free on Sunday. It is at 4262 Atlantic Avenue, Farmingdale. Spectators are urged to bring lawn chairs to the game.

The baseball team wears long-sleeved shirts and cravats (ties). Although the 1864 rules call for underhand pitches, they play a fast-paced game. Vintage sport re-enactors from other states consider the village hallowed
ground. It was the spring training site for the 1898 Brooklyn major league team which later became the Dodgers.

The Bog Iron Boys are seeking more volunteers to play with the team next season. Current players are from Monmouth, Ocean and other counties – some even from nearby states – and they range from teenagers to
senior citizens. Additional information is available from Russ McIver at 732-859-7643 or furnace@monmouth.com. ###

photo captions:

The Bog Iron Boys in action.

Library of Congress illustration shows that baseball was a gentleman's game in 1864.

Allaire re-enactors Rich Wieland and his wife Mary Ann Nemeth, a village guide and craftmaker, live in Toms River.