Local Activities
Lewes Base Ball By Bridget Fitzpatrick
Playing by the Old School Rules
W
ith a passion for Vintage Base Ball (yes, it was spelled that way for many decades), the Lewes Base Ball club follows the rules from an era preCivil War, and for several years before the game rules morphed slowly into the rules we know today. Why the fuss? Nostalgia for the origins of baseball in America. Vintage Base Ball, like many sports, started with friendly competition between coworkers or neighborhoods, eventually developing into an organized association that regulated the game’s format. As the amateur leagues increased in popularity and became more competitive, professional base ball (it became baseball somewhere around 1897) saw the beginning of upper tier talent playing for wages – from the highest interested bidder. Lewes Base Ball club adheres to the authentic rules as they were in 1864, those that the Vintage Base Ball Association still enforce in competitive
20 Spring 2023 LOVE LIVING HERETM
play today. Period equipment and uniform designs including knickerbockers were required in the advanced leagues. Some of the rules seem common to today’s baseball. Nine players, three outs and nine innings. But no gloves. Gloves were prohibited with the exception of catchers, who began using gloves somewhere around the mid-1880s. You won’t find any on the Lewes players. There are plenty of other oddities and terminology. For example, there’s overrunning first base. Foul balls were allowed to bounce once before caught by the fielders, resulting an Out and a pitcher replacement. Batters had a chance to request the pitcher’s height of the pitch: knee high, waist high or shoulder high. That’s a far cry from pitching of today. Pitches were generally underhand until the late 1800s. The vintage base ball etiquette rules are expected to be followed, such as “gentlemanly behavior” and acceptable language. After all, the leagues of the time