By Paul Leighton
Staff writer
—
BEVERLY — When people gather at Cooney Field on Saturday, they'll celebrate the day Babe Ruth once played there.
Then they'll sit back and watch a baseball game that would've seemed old even to the Babe.
The Lynn Live Oaks will play the Melrose Pondfielders in a game played by rules that existed in 1861. That means the fielders won't wear gloves, the pitchers will throw underhand, and any ball caught on one bounce is an out.
"One of the reasons I like playing this style is that people think baseball started with Babe Ruth," said Brian Sheehy, who plays for the Lynn Live Oaks. "This actually predates him by 50 years. Watching the 1861 game, people can see the evolution of the game and why things changed. It's a little bit of a history lesson."
The vintage game, as it is called, will be part of an afternoon that will include baseball of many eras. At 12:45 p.m., a ceremony will be held to dedicate a stone marker commemorating the 1919 appearance of Babe Ruth at Cooney Field.
The ceremony will also recognize Herb Schlegel, Jerry Guilebbe and Kelly Klisiewicz, who established the Beverly Babe Ruth Baseball League in 1982. A Babe Ruth impersonator will also be on hand.
The vintage game will start around 1 p.m., followed by an all-star game involving players from Beverly Secondary Youth Baseball.
There is no charge to attend the event, which is part of Beverly Homecoming.
The marker was funded through donations from Danversbank and the David S. Lynch Memorial Fund, and Danversbank will supply Cracker Jacks for fans.
Sheehy said vintage baseball has grown in popularity in recent years. There are about 20 vintage teams in New England and a "couple hundred" throughout the country, he said.
The Lynn Live Oaks are one of three teams in the Essex Base Ball Organization, which was started in 2002 by the Danvers Historical Society. The Live Oaks played at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in May and have traveled as far as San Francisco to play.
The players, who wear 19th-century-era uniforms, are not paid, although the teams do accept donations. Sheehy, who played high school baseball at Central Catholic and coaches at North Andover High School, said the vintage games can draw "wives and girlfriends" or crowds of more than 1,000.
Sheehy said fans will be amazed to watch players catch screaming line drives barehanded ("It takes a little while to get used to") and reach base on balls that start out fair and roll behind the plate. In 1861, such hits were fair balls. Outfielders will also back up to catch fly balls on a bounce, which is an out.
The baseballs are softer, and the wooden bats are heavier than their modern counterparts.
"There's still nine people on a side, three outs in an inning, and it's a nine-inning game," Sheehy said. "Overall, the structure of the game is the same, but fans will see some very interesting plays."
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salem news.com.
If you go
What: Babe Ruth dedication
When: Saturday, 12:45 p.m.
Where: Cooney Field, East Street, Beverly
Cost: Free
Schedule: Dedication of Babe Ruth marker at 12:45 p.m. Vintage baseball game at 1 p.m. Beverly vs. Maynard All-Stars, 3 p.m.
