Haverhill Gazette 8-17-07
No gloves, no strikes, no problems
Cara Spilsbury
— On a sunny August Sunday it’s not unusual to see people playing baseball, but when Haverhill’s Pat Foley, Methuen’s Brian Sheehy and about 30 others in the Merrimack Valley are in area fields playing catch it’s a bit different as they play base ball exclusively by 1861 rules — no gloves, no strikes, heavy wooden bats and thick, long-sleeved canvas uniforms.
They are members of the Essex Base Ball Organization, a group of history buffs and sports fans who want to preserve the vintage take on America’s Pastime. On August 19, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the team, in conjunction with the Haverhill Historical Society, will host the New England Vintage Base Ball League Tournament at Riverside Park. The event is free, but donations to the nonprofit group are welcome.
“Some people think we have a few screws loose,” joked Sheehy, the team’s captain, examining a few of his previously broken fingers from catching many a pitch and foul ball bare-handed.
The Essex Base Ball Organization plays hard, but also aims to entertain spectators so they get a taste of the good ol’ days. “A lot of what we do is a mix of civil war re-enacting and sport,” Sheehy said. “There’s a lot of theater to it.”
Five teams will take part in the tournament: Two fields will be used for tournament games and the third will be for kids to run bases and learn some of the old time rules.
“It’s important to make people aware of the history,” said Sheehy, 25. “A lot of people think baseball started with Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb, but there was so much before then.”
There are 20 teams in New England and about 200 throughout the country. Within the Essex Base Ball Organization, there are three teams: The Essex Base Ball Club, founded in 2002, is based out of Danvers and named for a team active in that city in 1859; The Lynn Live Oaks, founded three years later, is modeled after a team from 1877 and both teams play by 1861 rules, meaning that there are no gloves, balls can be caught after one bounce and still count for an out, the pitcher throws underhand from 45 feet away and there is no strike zone; And the newest addition, the Boston Beaneaters, formed this year, plays by 1886 rules.
Playing 19th century base ball has taken teams all over New England. “We play every weekend and travel all around. It’s a lot of fun,” said Sheehy, better known as “Cappy” on the field.
Foley, Sheehy’s close friend from high school, was nicknamed “Stonehands” for his first few season because of his difficulty catching fly balls (known in the 19th century as cloud hunters) in the outfield (known as the garden).
Before joining the club about five years ago, Foley had never played organized baseball. He watched many games on television and knew the modern day rules, but adjusting to the rules of 1861 was a challenge.
“I stick to the outfield because I’m not so accurate with my throws,” Foley said with a laugh.
Players in the club range in age from 18 to well into their 50s.
“With the 1861 rules, no matter what your age, you can do well,” said Sheehy.
Some rules are tough to remember: Runners had to stop directly on first base when hitting a single, compared to the modern game, where players are allowed to run through the bag as long as they remain in foul territory.
“It’s tough to stop,” Sheehy admitted. “I have a better appreciation of the game. I see why they play it the way they do now.”
Foley now watches today’s game with a more critical eye. Some players, like Eric Byrnes, a left-fielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks, plays with the energy and intensity that players in the 19th century possessed. But others, wouldn’t have lasted very long in the base ball’s early years.
“I love Manny Ramirez, but he doesn’t play hard like we do,” said Foley.
Base ball in the late 19th century had big name players: The game’s first star, Mike “King” Kelly, played for the Boston Beaneaters and Sheehy said the first pop song ever written was about him and called “Slide Kelly, Slide.”
Vintage baseball players know how difficult it is to play without the advantage of Under Armor, Nike and Louisville Slugger. “It’s a good workout when it’s hot,” Sheehy said. “The heavy canvas and long sleeves aren’t really good for 95 degree heat.”
They are members of the Essex Base Ball Organization, a group of history buffs and sports fans who want to preserve the vintage take on America’s Pastime. On August 19, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the team, in conjunction with the Haverhill Historical Society, will host the New England Vintage Base Ball League Tournament at Riverside Park. The event is free, but donations to the nonprofit group are welcome.
“Some people think we have a few screws loose,” joked Sheehy, the team’s captain, examining a few of his previously broken fingers from catching many a pitch and foul ball bare-handed.
The Essex Base Ball Organization plays hard, but also aims to entertain spectators so they get a taste of the good ol’ days. “A lot of what we do is a mix of civil war re-enacting and sport,” Sheehy said. “There’s a lot of theater to it.”
Five teams will take part in the tournament: Two fields will be used for tournament games and the third will be for kids to run bases and learn some of the old time rules.
“It’s important to make people aware of the history,” said Sheehy, 25. “A lot of people think baseball started with Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb, but there was so much before then.”
There are 20 teams in New England and about 200 throughout the country. Within the Essex Base Ball Organization, there are three teams: The Essex Base Ball Club, founded in 2002, is based out of Danvers and named for a team active in that city in 1859; The Lynn Live Oaks, founded three years later, is modeled after a team from 1877 and both teams play by 1861 rules, meaning that there are no gloves, balls can be caught after one bounce and still count for an out, the pitcher throws underhand from 45 feet away and there is no strike zone; And the newest addition, the Boston Beaneaters, formed this year, plays by 1886 rules.
Playing 19th century base ball has taken teams all over New England. “We play every weekend and travel all around. It’s a lot of fun,” said Sheehy, better known as “Cappy” on the field.
Foley, Sheehy’s close friend from high school, was nicknamed “Stonehands” for his first few season because of his difficulty catching fly balls (known in the 19th century as cloud hunters) in the outfield (known as the garden).
Before joining the club about five years ago, Foley had never played organized baseball. He watched many games on television and knew the modern day rules, but adjusting to the rules of 1861 was a challenge.
“I stick to the outfield because I’m not so accurate with my throws,” Foley said with a laugh.
Players in the club range in age from 18 to well into their 50s.
“With the 1861 rules, no matter what your age, you can do well,” said Sheehy.
Some rules are tough to remember: Runners had to stop directly on first base when hitting a single, compared to the modern game, where players are allowed to run through the bag as long as they remain in foul territory.
“It’s tough to stop,” Sheehy admitted. “I have a better appreciation of the game. I see why they play it the way they do now.”
Foley now watches today’s game with a more critical eye. Some players, like Eric Byrnes, a left-fielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks, plays with the energy and intensity that players in the 19th century possessed. But others, wouldn’t have lasted very long in the base ball’s early years.
“I love Manny Ramirez, but he doesn’t play hard like we do,” said Foley.
Base ball in the late 19th century had big name players: The game’s first star, Mike “King” Kelly, played for the Boston Beaneaters and Sheehy said the first pop song ever written was about him and called “Slide Kelly, Slide.”
Vintage baseball players know how difficult it is to play without the advantage of Under Armor, Nike and Louisville Slugger. “It’s a good workout when it’s hot,” Sheehy said. “The heavy canvas and long sleeves aren’t really good for 95 degree heat.”
At the OLD ball game: Players bring 19th century baseball to Andover
Andover Townsman July 11th 2007
Steve Games, What’s Up contributor
— For the members of the Essex Base Ball Club, baseball isn’t just a game, but a piece of history they can relive one pitch at a time.
Club members play the game under baseball rules from 1861, and they dress the part. Teams are outfitted with simple vintage-style uniforms with the team logo or town across their chest. The rims of the hats are small and look as though they would not protect players’ eyes from the sun.
In 1861, only catchers played with gloves. The ball they used wasn’t the same. It was a so-called lemon peel ball that is bigger than today’s baseball.
“It’s a single piece of leather that is wrapped together,” Captain Brian Sheehy of the Essex Base Ball Club said. “It’s a little softer than a modern day baseball, but it still hurts a little bit to catch it.”
Andover residents will have the chance to watch the game — actually a doubleheader between the Essex Base Ball Club and Waterbury Connors — on Saturday, July 21 at noon at the Greater Lawrence Technical School on River Road
Fans watching the game for the first time will notice right away that the rules are different. Fielders are not allowed to wear gloves, however an out can be recorded if a fielder catches a hit ball on one bounce. The pitchers throw the ball underhand from 45 feet away. There is only one umpire and he stands behind home plate. Sometimes the umpire will ask the crowd for help if he missed a call or needs a second judgment. The players are not permitted to argue or even approach an umpire or scorekeeper.
The team travels around the North Shore and the Merrimack Valley and most of the players are residents from the Merrimack Valley area. Players include Andover resident Mark Scapicchio and Rob Michaud, who teaches history at Andover High School.
“It’s a lot of fun to recreate baseball history and as corny and lame as it sounds, it’s really a living history lesson,” said Sheehy, a Methuen resident, who will be teaching history next year at North Andover High School.
To help give the crowd a better understanding of the game, teams will pass out pamphlets on the rules and how it is played.
“We try to work the crowd a little bit and talk to them, because if fans are just sitting there and watching, they might not know what’s going on,” Sheehy said.
After the first game of the doubleheader the teams will allow the fans to interact by letting the kids play on the field.
“We usually let the kids run around the bases and take a few swings at our games.” Sheehy said. “We try to be as fan-friendly as we can.”
The Andover Historical Society is sponsoring the free event.
1861 base ball rules
Pitchers mound is 45 feet away.
Players not allowed to argue calls or approach an umpire.
Ball can be recorded as an out if the fielder catches it on one bounce.
No strikes called unless batter takes too long.
Now
Pitchers mound 60.6 feet away.
Allowed to contest calls but can still be ejected. Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox holds the record for most ejections (131).
Ball is recorded as an out if fielder catches it in air.
Called strikes; three strikes and you’re out.
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Club members play the game under baseball rules from 1861, and they dress the part. Teams are outfitted with simple vintage-style uniforms with the team logo or town across their chest. The rims of the hats are small and look as though they would not protect players’ eyes from the sun.
In 1861, only catchers played with gloves. The ball they used wasn’t the same. It was a so-called lemon peel ball that is bigger than today’s baseball.
“It’s a single piece of leather that is wrapped together,” Captain Brian Sheehy of the Essex Base Ball Club said. “It’s a little softer than a modern day baseball, but it still hurts a little bit to catch it.”
Andover residents will have the chance to watch the game — actually a doubleheader between the Essex Base Ball Club and Waterbury Connors — on Saturday, July 21 at noon at the Greater Lawrence Technical School on River Road
Fans watching the game for the first time will notice right away that the rules are different. Fielders are not allowed to wear gloves, however an out can be recorded if a fielder catches a hit ball on one bounce. The pitchers throw the ball underhand from 45 feet away. There is only one umpire and he stands behind home plate. Sometimes the umpire will ask the crowd for help if he missed a call or needs a second judgment. The players are not permitted to argue or even approach an umpire or scorekeeper.
The team travels around the North Shore and the Merrimack Valley and most of the players are residents from the Merrimack Valley area. Players include Andover resident Mark Scapicchio and Rob Michaud, who teaches history at Andover High School.
“It’s a lot of fun to recreate baseball history and as corny and lame as it sounds, it’s really a living history lesson,” said Sheehy, a Methuen resident, who will be teaching history next year at North Andover High School.
To help give the crowd a better understanding of the game, teams will pass out pamphlets on the rules and how it is played.
“We try to work the crowd a little bit and talk to them, because if fans are just sitting there and watching, they might not know what’s going on,” Sheehy said.
After the first game of the doubleheader the teams will allow the fans to interact by letting the kids play on the field.
“We usually let the kids run around the bases and take a few swings at our games.” Sheehy said. “We try to be as fan-friendly as we can.”
The Andover Historical Society is sponsoring the free event.
1861 base ball rules
Pitchers mound is 45 feet away.
Players not allowed to argue calls or approach an umpire.
Ball can be recorded as an out if the fielder catches it on one bounce.
No strikes called unless batter takes too long.
Now
Pitchers mound 60.6 feet away.
Allowed to contest calls but can still be ejected. Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox holds the record for most ejections (131).
Ball is recorded as an out if fielder catches it in air.
Called strikes; three strikes and you’re out.
Old ball game? Very
By Julian Benbow, Globe Staff | July 1, 2007 Boston Globe If the Melrose Pondfeilders and the Essex Base Ball Club were going to play this game of base ball like teams played it in the 1860s, they’d have to do it right.So everyone has to have a nickname, explains Jeff Peart, Essex’s part-time player, part-time mascot and part-time curator.The young kid in center field with the mop of hair curling out the side of his cap? That’s Rob Michaud. It’s his first year playing, and already he’s a crowd favorite. The guys call him “Stumbles.”He has great speed, Peart explains, but sometimes he’s too fast for his own good.The guy in left field with the salt-and-pepper goatee? That’s Aaron Horowtiz. He actually just picked up his nickname, “Crash,” for obvious reasons. He’s a wrecking ball of a man.The guy at first with the soldier-boy smile? That’s Brian Sheehy. They call him “Cappy.” He runs things for the Essex Base Ball Club, the vintage baseball team that started up five years ago, taking its name from a team that played in Danvers in 1959.As for Peart himself?“They call me Graybeard,” he said. “For obvious reasons.”Coke-bottle glasses and a long gray beard down to his shirt, he looks like Santa Claus on summer vacation.They’ve all got on the same baggy pants and jerseys, looking like they just hop p ed out of a black-and-white highlight reel.The Essex Ball Club was founded in 2002 by the Danvers Historical Society, and played its first game that July against the Pondfeilders, one of the original teams in the New England Vintage Base Ball League, founded in 2001.The two teams have played every year since. On Monday night, the players threw three sacks down on the grass field at Glen Magna Farms in Danvers and went nine innings in front of dozens of kids lined up along the first-base line and more families in the outfield as a part of the Historical Society’s “Harmony, Hits and Hot Dogs” event. Essex won, 8-2.Playing the vintage game, Sheehy said, gives players an appreciation for the game played today.“I think it’s fascinating,” he said. “When I first started playing this, I thought I was a baseball fan and I knew a lot about the history of it. Then I started reading more and more about it, and you see how the rules changed and how the evolution of the game changed and it’s kind of interesting to see some of the quirks of it. You can see why things changed and that’s kind of the beauty of it.”An admitted Civil War buff, Peart lives for this: vintage base ball (yes, two words), the game the way it was played more than 140 years ago.No frills. No hot dogging. No gloves, even. It was a gentlemen’s game. And teams like the Essex Base Ball Club and the Melrose Pondfeilders try to re-create the vintage game.Everything’s accurate down to the drawstring jerseys uniforms and stripe -topped caps. There are only two modern-day allowances: cleats and protective cups.“We’re not reenactors like the Civil War guys because when they do a battle they already know who’s won,” Peart said. “No matter how many times you do Gettysburg, the North’s going to win. We are playing by the 1861 rules, but we’re playing a real baseball game. So we don’t know what’s going to happen.“A lot of people are like ‘Oh, you’re playing old games.’ I say, ‘No, we’re playing by the old rules.’ ” They play twice per week from May through August.Those rules, dating to the 1860s, are quirky.Underhand pitches. No called strikes. No walks, just warnings. If you catch a fly ball in the air, it’s an out. If you catch it on one bounce, it’s an out. Don’t overrun first base unless you plan on running back to the bag. Foul territory isn’t a safe haven. Other teams in the area play 1880s rules (a harder ball, overhand pitches, something resembling a glove).“A lot of our players do historical research and contact historians to find out the rules,” said Paul Cunningham, the third baseman for the Pondfeilders. They call him “Tator.”For the most part, these men are part players, part history buffs. “Stumbles” is a history teacher. “Tator” was a history major in college.They were fans from the start, but taking up vintage base ball suddenly made them practicing historians.“I’ve always been a huge baseball fan,” Cunningham said. “I was always interested in 20th century baseball and just like a lot of people I didn’t know anything about the 19th-century game. Now that I know about it, since I’ve played in it and everything, it’s by far my favorite period. To see how the game, the roots of how it came out of nothing and became this huge, gigantic national pastime it’s just fascinating.”History is only half the draw for a lot of the players, though. There are a handful of older guys who come out for the camaraderie and the exercise, and end up swinging the lumber and playing the field just as effectively as the younger players.At 48, Brian Besse is the slick-fielding second baseman who gobbles up grounders for Essex.They call him “the Wiz.” “Nobody beats the Wiz,” he says, with the smile of a big-band singer.He found out about the team through a newspaper article, then decided to come by to help coach and assist. One day Essex was shorthanded, and he stepped in. The rest, pun intended, is history.A mound menace, Rob Harlow has a gap-toothed smile that is unmistakable when you’re staring him down from the batters box. They call him “Gaps.”He learned of the Pondfeilders through a friend in 2001, and decided to catch a game.“I wasn’t there 15 minutes,” he said, “and I said this was the most fun I’ve had in 15 minutes than I’ve had in 26 years.”He traveled all over the place with the team, from Rhode Island to Rochester, enjoying the game and the guys. He even dragged his son, Pat, along with him.Pat Harlow is now the Pondfeilders shortstop. They call him “Sinbad,” like the pirate.“I thank the good Lord I can still participate and play with my son,” said Rob Harlow, who turned 55 in February.A lefty, he’s still very much a threat at the plate, pulling balls down the first-base line so much that Essex put on a David Ortiz-like defensive shift in each of his plate appearances.His son Pat isn’t too shabby at short. At one point he made a leaping one-handed, bare-handed snag of a line drive that otherwise seemed destined to drop in left field.His father dragged him out to the games a few years ago, but Pat Harlow admits that in his five years on the team, he’s hooked, traveling all over the place — just like Dad.“It’s a great family atmosphere between teams no matter what state you go to,” he said. “It’s the whole spirit of the game.”
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Georgetown RecordJune 27th 2007 Essex Base Ball Club recreates 1800s game for Georgetown
By Sally Applegate/Correspondent
Georgetown - Admission is free, the weather is perfect, and out on the Perley playing field, the boys of summer are playing base ball. That’s correct — base ball, 19th century style, before they put the two words together. The bats, the balls, the uniforms and the rules recreate America’s favorite pastime the way it used to be, in the 1800s.
Saturday’s exhibition by the Essex Base Ball Club, the Lynn Live Oaks of Danvers and the Boston Beaneaters has drawn an audience of 100 to enjoy an afternoon in the sun. It is soon evident that these guys from the New England Vintage Base Ball League can really play ball — no matter what century it is.
There are really long hits, expert base stealing in clouds of dust, and some fine fielding. What a different game they are playing as they recreate the 1860s. A batter takes as many swings as he wants to, and there is no strike zone. The only umpire stands at the plate and his decision is final — no arguing allowed, and he is usually the catcher, due to his bird’s-eye view of the game from home plate.
Besides the vintage uniforms, there are large cloth base bags, hand-sewn baseballs and large custom-made wooden bats. The players are not wearing gloves, and can catch a ball on the first bounce and still have an out declared, although “it is considered more manly” to catch these fly balls in mid-air before they bounce.
Oh boy, here’s a near-collision in the outfield as three fielders converge on an airborne fly ball. Fortunately, one player manages to field it. There is a collective humorous groan from the audience whenever a foul ball ends up over the fence and in the underbrush. Players hang out on the field as an extended search is held for the missing ball, and there is applause when it is finally found and returned to the playing field.
There is a comedy run-down as three base runners find themselves surrounded by the catcher and an infielder. When the frantic confusion lifts, somehow none of the runners are out.
First baseman Brian Sheehy of Methuen is playing with a broken index finger on his left hand and a dented ring finger on his right hand. Injuries sometimes go with this kind of play, and catching baseballs without a glove can be painful, says Sheehy. One player hurt his face running into a wall two weeks ago and another player is lying down between innings, recovering from a recent injury.
“Ask him how he’s feeling today,” suggests Sheehy.
Each baseball is hand-sewn by Sheehy, who starts his teaching career at North Andover High School in September. “I’ve got it down from four hours to two hours.”
Lee Smith of Lexington is an impressive left fielder for the Lynn Live Oaks, catching many long, hard-hit balls, and sometimes shaking his catching hand vigorously to fend off the pain. Smith notes what a nice afternoon it is, unlike the weather during some of their games.
“We play in the rain. We play in the heat,” says Smith.
As the game winds down, the Lynn Live Oaks are leading the Essex Base Ball Club 10 to 5. After the last out, the teams line up to salute each other, doffing their hats and yelling, “Hip, hip, huzzah!” Both teams then turn and salute the audience with a hearty, “Hip, hip, huzzah!”
The teams invite the audience to challenge them in a game, and a long row of youngsters lines up, making practice swings with the antique-style bats made by Pat Cook of Lynn.
Cook becomes the pitcher, as each youngster gets a turn at the plate. The adult players have a blast bobbling throws and catches so the youngsters won’t get thrown out. There are lots of comedy baseball moves with a real out thrown in now and then. The guys are great with the kids, giving them high-fives on the field.
Happy kids dodge this way and that to avoid being tagged out, and excited children jump up into the air to land on the base bags with both feet. At one point five adult players converge on one kid as he gets trapped between bases. Somehow he gets away anyway.
Five-year-old Daniel Buckley of Georgetown hits a short ball, and starts off to run the bases. Egged on by the crowd, Daniel makes it to each base, and finally to home plate to thunderous applause from the audience, including his parents, Michael and Dianne.
There is another big cheer after WWII Iwo Jima vet and Georgetown businessman Arthur Rauseo is persuaded to take a turn at the plate.
The Essex Base Ball Club tours New England with a full schedule of exhibition games. There will be local vintage games coming up Aug. 19 in Haverhill and Sept. 9 in Newbury.
Learn more about vintage base ball by contacting Brian Sheehy at 978-790-5707, checking out www.essexbaseball.org or emailing historyball@yahoo.com.
Saturday’s charming afternoon of olde-time base ball was sponsored by the Georgetown Historical Society. For more about the historical society, visit www.georgetownhistoricalsociety.com. Hip, hip, huzzah!
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Base ball of 1861 coming to Georgetown
Will Broadhus June 12, 2007 Town Crossings of Georgetown
Base ball, which is baseball defined by the rules of 1861, is coming to Georgetown’s Perley School on North Street on Saturday, June 23.
For students of the game, team members will explain the rules before the 1 p.m. first pitch. But even casual fans can appreciate the uniforms, style of play and baseball lingo from a different era. “It’s like sitting through history class without the textbook” explains Brian Sheehy, an organizer of the Essex Base Ball Organization.
Two games will pit the Lynn Live Oaks against the Ironsides Baseball Team of New Bedford, two teams affiliated with the Essex Organization, which also includes the Boston Beaneaters, who play by 1886 rules. Admission is free, but the Georgetown Historical Society will pass a hat for donations during the game, according to board member Beverly Knapp.
That baseball rules were in flux all through the 19th century is part of what attracts vintage players to the old styles. In a vintage game, part of what you see, in addition to the action on the field, is history in motion. “I love playing the games,” Sheehy said, “but it’s also fun to see why things change.”
As an example, Sheehy explains that, under 1861 rules, “If someone hits the ball well, and it goes 400 feet,” that batter is out whether the fielder catches it on the fly or after one bounce. The rule eventually changed to today’s standard, which records an out only when a fielder catches the ball on the fly, because a good hit should only be erased by an equally good defensive play. Watching 1861 rules, you can see that the batter “deserves that hit,” Sheehy says, and that the rules were changed to honor that perception.
Some of the differences between the 1861 game and today’s are more obvious. The players wore no gloves. The pitcher threw underhand, from 45 feet away, instead of firing it overhand from 60 feet, 6 inches. Strikes were not called, unless the umpire felt the batter was taking too many hittable pitches | then he would start calling and recording them.
The balls were different. Though made with a leather cover, they could be stuffed with anything. It was therefore legal to “doctor” a ball to suit your style. Good defense? Make a soft, dead ball that would always be in play. Good offense? A hard ball flies farther. Sheehy, a teacher who studied history at Merrimack College, used to make balls for Essex Organization games. Now that they play every weekend all summer, he buys them from a vintage manufacturer. One of the Essex players makes bats, which are tapered less than the modern one.
The language of old games was different as well. A baseball player was a “ballist,” runs were “aces” and a pitcher was a “hurler,” which sportswriters sometimes still use for archaic effect. A catcher was a “behind.” Fans could be “bugs” or “cranks,” and a slow pitch was poetically called a “dew drop.” These terms, and other facts about vintage baseball, can be studied through Essex Base Ball’s Web site, www.essexbaseball.com.
Georgetown’s baseball pioneer remembered
Victor Tine June 12, 2007 Town Crossings of Georgetown
Although he played in a later era than the one that will be depicted in the June 23 early baseball game at the Perley School, Georgetown native Fred Tenney made some lasting contributions to the National Pastime during his 17-year Major League career, from 1894 to 1911.
Born in Georgetown in 1871, Tenney joined the Boston National League team | nicknamed the Beaneaters | right after his graduation from Brown University in 1894.
He was originally signed as a catcher, but converted to a first baseman in 1897, and it was at first base that he made his mark.
Tenney played a more athletic style than was common at the time. He didn’t invent the stretch for a putout that first basemen routinely use today, but he reached for incoming balls more than others who played his position.
Tenney was also the first player to turn what is now known as a 3-6-3 double play.
With a runner on first, he would field ground balls to the right side of the infield, rather than leaving them for the second baseman. Then he would fire the ball to the shortstop covering second and dash back to first to take a return throw before the batter reached the base.
Tenney is also credited with inventing the glove that evolved into the large, clawlike first baseman’s mitt of today.
Tenney spent his entire career in the National League, earning a lifetime batting average of .294, rapping out 2,231 hits and scoring 1,278 runs. His teams won two pennants, 1897 and 1898, both in the era before the American League was founded in 1901 and before the advent of the World Series in 1903.
All but three years of his career were spent in Boston. He was traded in 1908 to the New York National League team, which eventually became the Giants. He returned to Boston as player-manager for one final season in 1911 before retiring.
After his retirement he went into the insurance business. Tenney died in 1952 and is buried in Georgetown.
