< Throwback Baseball Leagues Catch On

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Heard on Morning Edition

April 23, 2008 - STEVE INSKEEP, host:

Baseball would hardly be baseball without baseball history. And as the season gets underway, some players are reaching back to an earlier era. Craig Lemoult reports from member station WSHU in Fairfield, Connecticut.

(Soundbite of baseball being hit)

Unidentified Man #1: That's a boy.

Unidentified Man #2: Cut two, cut two, cut two.

CRAIG LEMOULT: From a slight distance you wouldn't notice anything unusual about this baseball game at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Players are swinging a bat and rounding the bases just like they would at any other park. But if you looked a little closer you'd see something different about these players. Their hats have short brims. Their team initials are stitched on a rectangle of fabric buttoned to their long-sleeved collared shirts. And the strangest thing: No one in the field is wearing a glove.

Mr. MICKEY TANGEL (Brooklyn Atlantics): Vintage is without a glove. Only sissies wear a mitt.

(Soundbite of cheering)

This is pure baseball.

LEMOULT: That's Mickey Tangel, a retired teacher and member of the vintage baseball team the Brooklyn Atlantics. The team is in Connecticut to play the Bridgeport Orators in a game of baseball the way it was played in 1864. It's like a cross between sports and historical re-enactment.

Glenn Drinkwater is the president of the national Vintage Baseball Association.

Mr. GLENN DRINKWATER (President, Vintage Baseball Association): The difference between doing this and re-enacting is you're actually playing a game. You know, if you're re-enacting the Battle of Gettysburg, you already know ahead of time who wins and who loses, playing a vintage baseball game, you can actually win this thing.

LEMOULT: Drinkwater's been studying old newspaper clippings and historical records for years to understand exactly how the early versions of the game were played. He says there are about 250 vintage baseball teams around the country and the number grows every year. There are generally two different sets of rules, and there's a hot debate within the vintage world over which is better. In 1860s games, pitching is underhand and there were no gloves. In 1880s games, pitchers threw overhand and players wear small mitts the size of gardening gloves.

The 1880s game has its own World Series, which is organized by Jim Bouton, who played for the New York Yankees in the 1960s. Bouton says modern day baseball is like professional wrestling: all about show, which is why he loves the vintage game.

Mr. JIM BOUTON (Organizer, vintage baseball World Series): No chest bumping, high fiving, trash talking, hot dogging, pointing to the sky or kissing jewelry. Just baseball. And that's why I love the game better than what you're seeing on television.

(Soundbite of baseball game)

Unidentified Man #3: Come on. Run! Run!

LEMOULT: Everybody in vintage ball has a nickname. Pete Shanazu of the Orators goes by Junior.

Mr. PETE SHANAZU (Second baseman, Orators): Joe is Vintage Joe. Our catcher, Josh, he's The Judge. Our first baseman is Irish, second baseman is Ginger.

LEMOULT: In the 1860s, if a fielder caught a ball after one bounce it was an out. But the weirdest thing is the lack of gloves. Both teams have a few guys who've broken fingers in the past, but Josh - The Judge - Giroux says it doesn't usually hurt too badly.

Mr. JOSH GIROUX (Catcher, Orators): I mean not as bad as you would think, you know. it's a quick sting. It depends. But some guys really huff(ph) the ball at you. Like our shortstop over there. He hurts.

LEMOULT: The players range in age from their 20s to their 60s. Many of them say they joined vintage teams because they were sick of overly competitive baseball and softball leagues.

(Soundbite of cheering)

James Caparosa, who goes by Cap, is a pitcher for the Orators.

Mr. JAMES CAPAROSA (Pitcher, Orators): I've been playing hardball my whole life. I've played college ball, semi-pro ball, and this is the most fun I've had playing baseball since I was seven years old.

(Soundbite of baseball being hit)

Unidentified Man #4: Head's up.

(Soundbite of cheering)

LEMOULT: The teams split the double-header. Orators' team founder, Vintage Joe Vigorito, led the post-game cheer.

Mr. JOE VIGORITO (Orators founder): Fine day today. Three cheers for the Brooklyn Atlantics. Hip, hip…

Team: Hooray!

Mr. VIGORITO: Hip, hip…

Team: Hooray!

Mr. VIGORITO: Hip, hip…

Team: Hooray!

LEMOULT: For NPR News, I'm Craig Lemoult.

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