Great Weekend of Base Ball

July 25th 2015 Georges Island. Essex, Mudville, Cleveland Blues

On Saturday the Essex Nine traveled out to Georges Island in Boston Harbor to match up against the Mudville Base Ball Club and Cleveland Blues. In game one the Essex strikers came out firing against Mudville scoring several runs in the first few innings and never looking back securing a 13-4 victory. In game two the middle of the Essex lineup continued their onslaught on the way to a 13-10 victory over a very strong Cleveland Blues lineup. The middle of the order of Chris “Monkey” Sheehy, Brian “Cappy” Sheehy, Payton Garbarino, and Jed “Honey” Millett combined for four triples, three homeruns, and a number of other base hits in the two games. The Cleveland strikers were formidable but the Essex defense was able to hold on for the victory. A great day was had all around and we would like to thank the Mudville Base Ball Club and Cleveland Blues for a fine day of gentlemanly base ball.

In Sunday’s triple header at the farm with our guests the Boston Beaneaters started with a bang as the Lynn Live Oaks plated 6 runs in the top of the first in Game 1 against the Beaneaters and never looked back. Solid bats and strong fielding for the Live Oaks was the key to their eventual 17-5 victory which included a remarkable streak of six consecutive foul-tip put-outs by Lynn’s veteran catcher Doug “Bullet” George thanks in part to some crafty pitching.

Game 2 had the Portsmouth Rockinghams doing a blue collar job against the Beaneaters by scratching out one or two runs in nearly every inning while holding Boston to just three runs on some solid pitching and strong defense while going on to an 11-3 victory.

Game 3 was the highlight event of the day for the numerous cranks as Lynn and Portsmouth continued their ongoing rivalry once again with a solid showing. Long balls, double plays, and great hustle on both sides kept fans entertained for all 9 innings. Lynn once again got off to a fast start with 6 runs after 2 innings but Portsmouth came back quickly and the game stayed close until the later innings when Lynn’s bashers came up and drove in 4. Portsmouth made a late surge but it wasn’t enough as Lynn took their second victory of the day by a score of 13-8

The Lowell Ladies Men

Thank you Jennie Lynch for the photos

The Lowell Ladies Men and the Lynn Live Oaks rekindled a rivalry that dates back to 1877 as they traveled to Concord, MA to play a doubleheader sponsored by the Concord Museum.  In the first game the Ladies Men were able to hold off the Live Oaks securing a 7-4 victory.  In the second game the Ladies Men’s bats came alive scoring 11 runs in the first two innings to run away with another victory.  We would like to thank the Concord Museum for hosting our games. If you havent checked out their exhibit on the “Art of Baseball” it is well worth the stop.

We have a busy weekend coming up as on Saturday the Essex Base Ball Club returns to Georges Island in Boston Harbor to take on the Mudville Base Ball Club and the Cleveland Blues.  On Sunday the Lynn Live Oaks, Boston Beaneaters, and Portsmouth Rockinghams will battle it out in a triple header at Spencer Peirce Little Farm in Newbury.  Games start at 11am.

Game in Concord, MA

Join Us Saturday, July 18, 2015, 12PM – 3PM and step back in time and watch the Lowell Ladies Men against the Lynn Live Oaks in doubleheader vintage baseball games played by 19th-century rules: Players don’t wear gloves, the pitcher throws underhand, and if a ball is caught after one bounce, it’s still an out! 12:00 – 3:00 p.m.; free. At Emerson Field (Stow Street, Concord, MA); bring a blanket or lawn chair for seating.

LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS – 1877. Portraits of the members of the New England League
Lowell Base Ball Club are constructed into a team collage cartoon in 1877. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images)

Lowell Loses for the first time since 2013 and Lynn and Portsmouth Split

Finally the EBBA returned to action this past Sunday and saw the Newburyport Clamdiggers defeat the Lowell Nine in both ends of a doubleheader.  These losses were the first losses for the Lowell Nine since losing to the Clamdiggers in the 2013 championship, a run of over twenty straight victories.  In game 3 and 4 the Lynn Live Oaks and Portsmouth Rockinghams split.

Fire Works

On an absolutely perfect day with no rain in sight on the July 4th weekend the Essex Base Ball Organization put on a spectacular exhibition for a larger than expected crowd at this impromptu event at beautiful Spencer Peirce Little Farm in Newbury. Two evenly matched teams comprised of several vintage veterans and a few rookies faced off in two extra-inning nail biters. Captain Scapicchio and his band  from Lynn, Essex and Dirigo edged captain Champey’s nine from Portsmouth and Melrose in each of their last at bats of the twin bill. After Scapicchio’s nine rallied to tie the first game in the bottom of the 9^th the game continued into the 11^th  where a possible inning ending double play turned into the game winning run by a Dirigo speedster. The second match was no less exciting as the teams battled close for 9 innings until another deadlock was broken by a single run by the Scapicchio led squad in the top of the 10^th.

The only dark spot on the day occurred during the middle of the first game when one of the ancient trees along Little’s Lane, which often provided us needed shade during the late season fall festival games, suddenly let out an enormous crack of a sound to rival any fireworks from the previous night. All players and cranks froze in amazement as we watched the tree continued to slowly shatter and collapse under its own weight taking out the power lines. It was simply it’s time to go and most fortunately no patrons, players, farm employees or animals were too close therefore nobody was harmed.

We return to league action Sunday July 12th for a quadruple header starting at 10am at Spencer Peirce Little Farm in Newbury, MA. Come check out the action.

July 5th Mixed Nine Game

Thanks to everyone for coming out today and filling the void we’ve had for the past few weeks.