Old-time 'base ball' Saturday at Allaire

There will be plenty of bare-handed catches when the 1864 version of America's pastime is played Saturday (June 25) in the Historic Village at Allaire. That's because the rules of "base ball" 152 years ago didn't allow fielding gloves.

The Monmouth Furnace Base Ball Club, wearing long-sleeve shirts with cravats, will take on another vintage team, the Gotham Base Ball Club of New York, at 11 a.m. here in Wall.

The annual "Pitching the Past" event will renew an ancient rivalry. The game will be played at the site of the 1898 spring training camp of Brooklyn's major league team, the Bridegrooms, which later became the Dodgers. The original Gotham team, which trained in Lakewood that spring, evolved into baseball's Giants. Both teams moved to California in 1958.

The Monmouth Furnace team has members ranging from their teens into their 70s. The ball club regularly faces other vintage teams throughout the Mid-Atlantic states. Players interested in joining the team for future games may call 732-859-7643 or email Furnace@Monmouth.com.

The Historic Village at Allaire, once an iron-producing "company town," is a non-profit living-history museum where costumed guides take visitors through preserved 19th-century buildings. It is at 4263 Atlantic Avenue in Wall's Farmingdale area, off Exit 98 of the Garden State Parkway and off Exit 31-B of Interstate 195.

Allaire State Park has a $5 per vehicle parking fee, which entitles visitors to tour the early-1800s buildings as well as watch the ball game. Spectators should bring lawn chairs.