Vintage rules in an old-time game Elms strike down the Beaneaters By Derek Gentile, Berkshire Eagle5/28/2007
PITTSFIELD — It may technically be called "vintage base ball," with tiny gloves and floating strike zones, but the Pittsfield Elms and the Boston Beaneaters played a heck of a baseball game at Wahconah Park yesterday afternoon. The Elms, one of the more accomplished "vintage nines" in the area, beat a strong Boston Beaneaters squad 7-6 in the championship game of the Second Annual Pittsfield Elms Vintage Base Ball Tournament, played over the weekend. "That," said the Elms' Darren Jefferson, who stroked the game-winning hit, "was a great baseball game." The Elms, made up of a host of Berkshire County athletes, play vintage base ball, a baseball contest played by the rules taken from the 1886 rule book. One of the differences in that game and the modern game is that the term "baseball" was two words in 1886. Other changes, according to umpire James Farry, one of the best vintage baseball umpires in the business, are seven balls to make a walk instead of four; a pitchers' box that is only 50 feet from home plate instead of 60 feet, six inches; foul balls not counted as strikes; and a hit batsman that has nothing but a bruise to show for his pain — he is not awarded a free base. With seven balls for a walk, Farry used the inning indicator in his umpires counter to keep track. All umpires keep a small "counter" in their pockets that register balls, strikes and innings. "It's the only thing I could think of," he said.
Strike-zone, glove changes
In addition, the strike zone is dictated by the batter. He signals the umpire whether or not he wants a high strike zone, in which pitches around the chest are deemed strikes, or a low strike zone, in which throws around the waist are strikes. And there are the tiny gloves, which are little more than golf gloves: Thin leather coverings with the fingers cut off. Catchers' mitts are a little more substantial, but not by much. In fact, several players, such as the Beaneaters' John Moynihan, eschew gloves altogether. Moynihan, who also plays in a vintage league with 1861 rules, which ban gloves altogether, was an odd sight in the infield, playing barehanded. But glove or no glove, he was the best fielder on either team, making a number of difficult catches to blunt Pittsfield rallies. "The toughest thing is that your target at first base is much smaller," he said, referring to the instances when he had to throw to that base to register an out. "You have to get the ball over to a smaller space." In addition, infielders had to beware of gunning the balls across the diamond with too much "mustard" on them. A hard throw in this game is much tougher to field, and can often result in an error. Moynihan, for example, put a slight arc on his tosses, making them easier to handle.
Three-day tournament
The tournament was a three-day, single-elimination format. Farry actually umpired all three games scheduled yesterday. Between games, he drank lots of water and ate ice cream bars. The game, as sports scribes used to say in those days, was a corker. Boston scored two runs in the first, two in the third and one in the fifth, and staked pitcher Chris "Monkey" Sheehy to a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning. The games were seven innings. But then it all unraveled. Keyed by a Pat Ryan triple, the Elms scratched together a couple of hits to go with a few Beaneater errors, and tacked on five runs in the bottom of the inning.
'This game is so bizarre'
"This game is so bizarre sometimes," admitted Paul Procopio, the Pittsfield manager. "Their guy was cruising and we put together a few hits and got back in the game." In the top of the seventh, Pittsfield pitcher Terry 'Lefty' Bishop gave up two hits, got two outs and then balked in the tying run. "My fault," he said after the game. "I was trying to quick pitch, and Jeff wasn't ready." Oh yes, there are no time-outs in this game. So Bishop, in a close game, has been known to quick pitch a batter who dallies in the box too long. But this time, seeing that catcher Jeff Reynolds wasn't ready held, Bishop held onto the ball instead of throwing it, causing a balk, according to Umpire Farry. It was a gutsy call in front of the home crowd.
But in the bottom of the inning, two of Pittsfield's first three batters reached base, bringing up Jefferson, who also plays for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. "In that situation, I was just trying to bloop a single into the outfield," he said. Instead, Jefferson blasted a shot into center field, to drive in the winning run for a 7-6 win. "I love this game," said Jefferson. "It's more fun that any other baseball I've played." "That was by far the best team we've played," said Procopio. "We've had some battles with the Hartford team, but this team was tremendous. The shortstop, Moynihan, made some amazing plays."
Ryan, who had two triples in the championship game, was MVP.
 Photos by: Darren Vanden Berge
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