- Details
- Category: Current Issue
captions, page 1:
Old style-ish base, socks and footwear
Sean "Nails" Connor waits for the throw while a Boston Union player hustles around third.
Jennifer Owen plays the fiddle in between at-bats. Linda Lemmon photos.
captions, page 4:
The Woodstock Hilltoppers (Courtesy photo)
Bats behind the backstop.
Blank chalkboard (scoreboard).
Jesse "Pillbox" Owen pitches, underhanded. The burlap backstop is held up by sticks.
Kinder,
gentler
'base ball'
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
WOODSTOCK — “It’s a purer version of base ball,” was how Sean “Nails” Connor described vintage base ball.
The Woodstock Hilltoppers are a vintage base ball team. Vintage base ball follows kinder, gentler rules from the 1860s.
Despite the heat the Woodstock Hilltoppers took on the Boston Union base ball team. No one was keeping score on the chalkboard on the table this time. Kinder, gentler indeed — there’s no arguing. Players have nicknames because in the 1860s it was rude to call someone by his first name. And your teammates pick your nickname — you don’t. Competition is way down the list. Joking around and fun are high on the list.
The boundaries were marked by old time American flags. One player was barefoot. The ball is softer than a modern ball. The bats are skinnier. And you can catch the ball on one bounce. There are no gloves.
Two hands means two outs. Spectators are “cranks.” The “backstop” is a piece of burlap held up by sticks. The pitching is underhanded.
And yes, English majors, base ball as two words was correct in the 1860s.
For Connor it all started in the early 2000s when he attended a vintage base ball game in Hartford on the 4th of July. “I saw that and said to myself ‘that’s really cool’.” Later he attended an open house and joined a team that played on Saturdays. That team dissolved in 2010. He founded the Woodstock Hilltoppers in 2014. He had played Little League when he was young. No high school or college base ball.
His son, Seamus “Spider” Connor and his daughter Claribel “Scribbles” Connor, are members of the team.
Why does he like it? “It’s unusual. People who like history.” He added, “You do your best and people don’t get into arguments.”
The season runs from early April through September, sometimes into October.
Jennifer “Cleanup” Owen and her husband Jesse “Pillbox” Owen were playing Aug. 6 on their 23rd anniversary. Between innings Jennifer played the fiddle. She made parts of the uniforms and some of the hats, including the pillbox style had her husband wears.
The team’s next home game is at 11 a.m. Sept. 24 in the Woodstock Common across from Roseland Cottage.
Connor said they are always interested in players and in spectators. He can be reached by cell phone: 617-943-2717, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on Facebook: facebook.com/WoodstockVintageBaseBall
Team members include: Sean “Nails” Connor, Seamus “Spider” Connor, Claribel “Scribbles” Connor, Steve “Soles” Bernard, Mike “Anvil” Johnson, Tom “Tomcat” Morris, Jennifer “Cleanup” Owen, Jesse “Pillbox” Owen, Sam “Flame” Hanson, Dave “Goose” Macuga, James “Sweet Baby” Flynn, Oliver “Chit Chat” MacFadden, Adrienne “Meatball” Owen, Jared “Diamond” Palumbo, Mike “Mozart” Palumbo, Scott “Spaghetti” Ciprari and Josh Rilla (no nickname, hasn’t played this year.)
..