1864 Base Ball Classic Sunday in Oneida

1864 Base Ball Classic game on Sunday

The ‘bare-handed gentleman’s game’ will follow the same rules as from the 1800s.

History and baseball enthusiasts alike have a unique opportunity in the City of Oneida on Sunday.

Beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 21, the Oneida Atlantics will take on the Bouckville Summits in an 1864 Base Ball Classic at the Oneida Commons Field.

The two base ball - yes, it was two words in 1865 - teams are partnering with the improvement group Oneida City Center Committee to put on a “BareHanded Gentleman’s Game.”

In a “Your Neighbor” special, Dispatch correspondent Mike Jaquays took the opportunity to learn more about this gentleman’s game.

The rules will be the same as the mid-1800s -- which back then meant catching and throwing barehanded -- and so will the equipment. Pitchers, or “hurlers” as they were called circa the 1860s, throw underhand, with the balls coming in a little slower than today’s ball fans are used to, and the bats also are a bit longer and a bit heavier than the bats of today.

Instead of balls and strikes, the umpire calls “penalties” on the batters -- known as “strikers“in this old-time sport. Wherever the ball first bounces indicates whether it is fair or foul. The balls are all custom made and handstitched to the original 19th century specifications.

Mike Velapoldi, one of the prominent organizers of base ball competitions in the area, is a Long Island native who recalled he saw an article in a Smithsonian magazine back in 1999 about the retro base ball, recalling the thrills of the 19th century. He was intrigued by a sport that was a combination of history and athletics, and went to a game on a Sunday shortly thereafter.

He’s been playing ever since, and since moving to Sherrill three years ago he decided he wanted to create a team here as well. His research, including local historian JimFord’s book “The Pride of Cidertown,” found the famed Bouckville Summits team … the perfect team to emulate.

The sport is a true “gentleman’s game,” just like it was back then, Velapoldi said. There is no cussing on the field, or players must pay a 25-cent fine and apologize to the spectators. Players will need to ask the audience for permission to roll up their sleeves, as bare skin wasn’t proper to be shown back in the mid1800s. The rulings of the umpires are never questioned, since the umpires of the time were the reverends in town.