Vintage Base Ball

It’s Base Ball, 1864 style at Spencer Peirce Little Farm! These fun, historically accurate games feature underhand pitching without gloves. A ball bounced once and caught is an out! Snacks, baseballs, and cards are available for purchase. Come and see for yourself how “America’s favorite pastime” was played in the 1860s. The teams competing are based on actual nineteenth-century baseball clubs from New England.

The Essex Base Ball Organization is a nonprofit “vintage base ball” group that plays the game as it was played in the 1860s. They are based out of Newbury, Massachusetts, and have four teams. They teach the history of baseball through games and demonstrations, offering youth clinics and lectures on baseball history at historical societies, libraries, and other civic organizations.

See HNE website for first pitch times; triple headers start at 11 AM, doubles at noon.