Old Time Baseball in Allenstown
Dateline: Oct. 21, 2021
Photo courtesy of Trish Caruso
This month, local interest in baseball was suddenly supercharged when the Boston Red Sox hit three grand slams in a two-game span. Closer to home, Allenstown aroused interest in old time baseball, 19th century style, on October 17th, when the Allenstown Historical Society sponsored a vintage baseball game at Volunteers Park on River Road.
The event was the brainchild of retired Town and School Moderator, Dennis Fowler, and his son, Kris, who works for the NH Department of Revenue. Both are volunteers for the Historical Society and were looking for an event to foster community spirit.
They invited the Massachusetts Beaneaters and the Maine Dirigos to play some vintage baseball at the field where the Suncook Little League and the Suncook Soccer League play their games. The teams harkened back to the 1860s when uniforms were made of wool. They are part of the Vintage Base Ball Association, an informal national network of teams.
There was no charge for attendees but donations were accepted to help cover the $125 fee for the teams' travel expenses. After the Suncook Little League was not able to open its snack bar, Dennis Fowler said, "We started scrambling to find someone else. We had stumbled on the owner of the food truck [The Food Abides Truck] purely by chance, and he agreed to come to the game for us." After all, food and fun go together.
The Fowlers initially posted an announcement on the community Facebook site and soon had numerous comments about what a great idea it was. An estimated 150 attendees made for an exciting event. The teams enjoyed themselves so much that they played a second game.
Anyone watching the game could see that they adhered to rules no one had ever seen before. They played without baseball gloves, not even the small Stan the Man Musial gloves from the 1950s. A ball caught on a bounce was considered an out. Bases looked like pillows, and the catcher behind home plate was called -- what else? -- "the behind."
What You Can Do
Thank the Historical Society for organizing this fun event. If there is enough support, there may be a Second Annual Old Time Baseball Game next year.