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Chester County Press

Vintage Base Ball Offers Old-Time Feel to Big League Sport

01/16/2015 09:47AM ● By Kevin

Photo courtesy of Matt Bartnicki.

Before mega contracts, state-of-the-art ballparks and mass media, baseball was a far simpler game played in a simpler time. Now players around the country are recapturing the essence of our national pastime and reconnecting to its pastoral roots through Vintage Base Ball. This is "Base Ball" (yes, it was spelled two words prior to the 1880s) played by the rules and customs of the 19th century.

The sport is usually played at open-airfields, museums or municipal parks. Vintage base ball feels like something out of a time machine, with players wearing period reproduction uniforms and playing by the rules of the late 1800s.

The Mohican Base Ball Club of Kennett Square plays in a competitive vintage base ball league that uses 1860s uniforms, equipment and rules to replicate how the game was played in it's early days; without gloves and with wooden bats.

The name of the league is the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League. The Mohicans will play their 2015 home matches at the
The Walker Reservation located on the corner of Newark and Upland Road. Matches are played on weekends only, April through September.    

The Mohican Base Ball Club is based upon a club of the same name, one of the first known amateur baseball teams in Southeastern Pennsylvania. First organized on July 24, 1875, the Mohicans officially became an amateur ball club 11 years later in Kennett Square (1886-1920s) and was one of the pre-eminent amateur clubs in the state.

The modern day Mohicans wear uniforms replicating those worn by the original ball club. Matches are a unique blend of athletic competition and living history exhibition.   

The club is recruiting players of all ages and skill sets along with umpires, historians and volunteers for the 2015 season. If interested, email [email protected], or like the squad on Facebook

The club is a member of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League, an affiliation of 20 vintage base ball clubs from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

Information and photos submitted by 
Matt Bartnicki

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