The Thames Base Ball Club will again be playing their style of 1861 Rules Base Ball this season with home games taking place at Fort Trumbull. Everyone is invited to these free exhbitions of the National Pasttime in its infancy.

So, “What’s different about 1861 rules from today?” I hear you ask. Well: In 1861 gloves have yet to be invented; in 1861 you were not allowed to overrun first base; in 1861 you could catch a fly ball on its first bounce and it would be an out — but you might not want to since runners didn’t tag up on a “bounded ball;” and a method to punish the batter for not swinging at good pitches — the called strike — had just been invented and added to the rules; but there was still no way to punish the pitcher for throwing bad pitches since “the ball” wasn’t invented until three years later.