Editor’s note: This game has been cancelled due to rain.
Play ball! Very, very old ball, that is.
The New York Mutuals will match talent with the Brooklyn Atlantics in Fort Totten Park on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 11 am.
No big contracts. No steroids. No lights for a night game. And no gloves, as they hadn’t been invented yet.
Oh and the umpire will enforce 1864 rules. That means pitching is underhanded from 45 feet, home plate is round, no overrunning first base, and catching the ball on a bounce is an out.
Sponsored by the Bayside Historical Society, this re-enactment of an 1880s baseball game will feature players in replica uniforms using replica balls and bats. Afterward, they’ll discuss the sport’s history, answer questions, and invite youngsters to field grounders.
The diamond will be in the Fort Totten Park Soccer Fields. Enter the campus at Totten Avenue and 15th Road. Parking will be available in Little Bay Park.
All are welcome, and admission is free. BHS will gladly accept donations, of course, and members are happy to leads tours of their headquarters at the Castle.
Tom “Big Bat” Fesolowich, Jerry “High Noon” Kijko, and Mike “The Kid” Francomano are among members of the modern day New York Mutuals, a company that provides teams that play nine innings in authentic replica uniforms.
The last game was at the historic Sherwood-Jayne Farm in Long Island’s Setauket on Sept. 16. The Atlantics squeezed past the Mutuals 12-11 in 10 innings.
The original Mutuals were founded in 1857, the same year organized baseball held its first convention. After playing home games in Hoboken for 11 years, they moved to Union Grounds in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg. The squad is famous for turning the first triple play in organized league history against the Hartford Dark Blues on May 13, 1876.
Unbeatable for a few years, the original Atlantics were arguably baseball’s first dynasty, although they began in amateur leagues in 1855. The squad was the first to visit the White House in 1865 just after Andrew Johnson had replaced the assassinated Abraham Lincoln as president.
Fort Totten was built during the Civil War. The site was an active Army base from 1857 until 1995. The Officers’ Club, also known as “The Castle,” is on site. Completed in 1887, the Gothic Revival style building served as a mess hall and club for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. It’s now BHS’s headquarters.
Bonus
Return to Fort Totten for a Civil War experience on Oct. 14 at 10 am. Also organized by BHS, this event will feature re-enactors from Company K of the 67th New York Infantry, First Long Island Volunteers.
Top three images: New York Mutuals;
bottom image: Bayside Historical Society