Vintage 'base ball' tournament transports players, spectators back to the 19th century

As players took to the field on a hot July morning, you might have thought you fell through a wrinkle in time and landed in the 1800s.

Your eyes don't deceive you: this isn't your grandfather's baseball, but it may have been his grandfather's.

That's because on Saturday and Sunday, July 20 and 21, the National 19th Century Base Ball Festival once again took over the fields of Schroeder Farm in Gettysburg to celebrate the history of America's pastime.

It's a picture-perfect setting to transport viewers back in time: wide open fields with 1800s barns and few markings of today's future beyond the tents, cameras and automobiles of spectators.

Between two days and dozens of games, 30 teams from across the country competed in a festival of baseball that follows the rules set for the game as it was played in 1864.

One of the most striking differences, there were no gloves on the field for the festival, as ballists (players) catch with their bare hands. Wooden bats strike baseballs made of one piece of leather with rubber cores, and players are clad in bulky, vintage wool uniforms that provide little relief in the sweltering July sun.

The rules also allow one bounce of a ball to be caught to put the striker (batter) out, one of the more tangible differences in the sport, along with pitching underhanded from a distance of 45 feet.

It even includes the name, as baseball was once two words, not one.

What started as a small tournament of six teams in 2009 has now grown to 30 teams in a festival format over the course of 15 years, and draws hundreds, if not thousands, of "rooters," or, as they're called today, fans.

Tradition runs deep in the sport, with team captains giving a speech at the conclusion of each game, and both teams tipping their caps to the other team.

The teams that play have found themselves developing their own traditions over the years that they have come to Gettysburg.

As the festival began, the Eclipse Base Ball Club of Elkton started their first inning with one such tradition, with players huddling together to take a shot of whiskey prior to the game.

The tradition stems from a streak of bad first inning for Elkton at the Gettysburg festival, where one year, a player suggested they take a shot prior to the game.

After the shot, the team went on to score 11 runs, said Tom "Schoolboy" Duffy, who has been with the club since 2006.

For Duffy, who turns 71 next week, it's the love of the game that has brought him out to play with the club for the past 18 years.

"Even though I can't run the bases, I can still play," Duffy said.

Among the longer distance attendees for this year's festivities were Klent "Biscuit" Pope and his son, Zye Pope, who made the long drive from Knoxville, Tennessee.

While Pope has been playing vintage baseball for nine years, one of the large draws for him and his family was the ability to visit historic Gettysburg while participating in the two-day tournament.

"We check off a lot of boxes at once," Pope said.

Part of what keeps Pope and his family engaged in the unique and historic sport is the camaraderie and good sportsmanship that the game supports.

"Nobody cares what the score is," Pope said. "You don't have to be good to have a ball."