Catching Up On a Pastime

Article tools

E-mail

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Facebook
- Fark
- Google
- Newsvine
- Reddit
- Yahoo

THE LATTER YEARS of the 19th Century, most towns on Long Island had their own amateur baseball team.

The Westburys were formed in May, 1889, and played until the Great Depression at a field located near where the Westbury Post Office is now. A recreated Westburys team now plays in the vintage baseball program at Old Bethpage Village restoration. The six-team league plays by 1887 rules.

Players back then didn't use baseball gloves, notes Gary Monti, an umpire in the league. Those didn't come into use until 1894. Although some players used gloves similar to modern work gloves, but with the fingers cut off, most players played barehanded. The ball, while similar in size to today's baseball, was not wrapped as tightly as today's, and was heavier, Monti adds.

The vintage baseball season runs from the second week of April through October, when the championships are played during the Long Island Fair.