When Base Ball was first called "The National Pastime" ...

William Ryczek of Wallingford will be our Second Sunday speaker on the 13th of March. Bill is a historian of sports, a member of SABR (http://www.sabr.org/), the Society of American Baseball Researchers, and a published author with two books on the topic: When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 (1998), and Blackguards and Red Stockings: A History of Baseball's National Association, 1871-1875 (1992). In his talk he will be sharing with us some of his research on the early history of organized baseball and its close connection to the Civil War.

When Johnny Came Sliding Home has been described as "a 'must read' for everyone who hopes to understand the transformation of top-rank baseball from amateur obsession to professional sport." The work goes into considerable detail to describe the game of the late 1860s - the fields, the crowds, the strategy, the rules, and the style of play. It provides context for understanding the transformation of a game designed for gentlemen's "healthful exercise," to one played by professionals - paid to win.

Blackguards and Red Stockings is a history of the National Association of Base-Ball Players, the first professional baseball league, which existed from 1871 through 1875 when it was disbanded upon the formation of the National League. The transition of "highest authority" from an association of players, to a league of teams under the control of their owners in 1876 is clearly a watershed event in the sport.

Mr. Ryczek has a more physical connection to the sport as a member of the Middletown Mansfields Base Ball Club. The club, one of the seven organizing teams of the New England Vintage Base Ball League, plays by the rules approved in 1861. With two clubs in Connecticut, three in Rhode Island and two in Massachusetts, vintage-style baseball is alive and well in 2005. The largest vintage baseball tournament in the country takes place in Hartford over the Independence Day weekend, and the league held its own tournament at Dodd Stadium in Norwich in 2004.

The original Mansfields were organized in Middletown, Connecticut, following the Civil War and the club took its name from a local hero of the War. For a short period of time, this was Connecticut's own top-level professional baseball team. Surely we'll hear more about this from Mr. Ryczek. Spring training is here; it's time to get into the swing of things.

The presentation will begin at 2:00PM and will be followed by light refreshments. Members of the Historical Society are admitted for free; there is a $5 fee for non-members. Copies of Mr. Ryczek's books, including his most recent: Crash of the Titans: The Team that Became the New York Jets (even good writers can be drawn to that other game) will be available.