New Jersey Baseball   

News Flash!

The first modern Base Ball game was played on October 6, 1845 at Elysian Fields in Hoboken NJ (not Cooperstown NY). The modern rules were not written by Abner Doubleday, but by Alexander Cartwright Jr.

For a good simple account of that first game, go to Hangout NJ. The site, also,  includes some great current NJ baseball information.

 

 

Stephen Speiser a NJ attorney and the city of Hoboken are working on creating a more recognizable Historical presence in Hoboken.  Alexander Cartwright, jr. and the baseball's early days, can be found on the Mr. Baseball site, created by the great, great Grandson of Alexander Cartwright, jr. The goal of the Mr. Baseball site is to be the prime source of baseball history on the internet. I have not found a site that so completely lives up to its goal.  

An interesting story, but believable??

1853 Soil from Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey

1875 - New York Times Reports on Base-Ball games 

The Curley Brothers Baseball Team! These pictures are of the Curley Brothers Baseball Team who played "sand lot ball" mostly in Southern New Jersey's Cumberland and adjoining Counties during the 1930's. Missing from the picture are (3) sisters who helped the team in many ways, including cheering them on.
 

Picture on the Left: Front row (from left): Jim, Art; Michael and Harriet (Warren) Curley, father and mother of the players; Sam and Carl. Back row (from left): Tom, Bill, Joe, Warren, Bob. Kew-Bee was a brand name of LeSturgeon's Bread, a team for which several of the brothers played. Sisters not pictured were Helen (Curley) Lamb, Agnes (Curley) Hughes, and Mary (Curley) Ayars. According to an article in the Bridgeton Evening News on March 30,1993, this picture was taken August 14, 1931.

As it is a rare family that can field a full team of (9) brothers, the National Baseball Hall of Fame (Cooperstown, NY)  as displayed pictures of such teams.

Picture on the Right:  Curley Brothers Baseball Team who played "sand lot ball" mostly in Southern New Jersey's Cumberland and adjoining Counties during the 1930's  Standing from left: Joe, Warren, Tom, Bill, Bob. Sitting from left: Jim, Art, Sam, Carl 
 

An excellent resource, although many links require membership, you can find some good articles for free.

See the link to the .pdf article about the 1914 Atlantic League.

The Rise and Fall of the 1914 Atlantic League by George Pawlush

The league included teams from Newark/Long Branch, Perth Amboy, Paterson and Asbury Park.

Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum

Vintage Base ball lives in New Jersey!

"Bare hands, wood bats, grass fields and bloody knees. Baseball's rules have changed over the years, but the player's love of the game has not." (As you can see from the team picture below, they look like they have a lot of fun)

See the NJ Calendar for some of their NJ games or go to their websites for the complete schedules.

The Elizabeth Resolutes Vintage Baseball Club

other NJ Vintage teams are:

The Flemington Neshanock

The Rahway Unions

National Baseball Hall of FameNational Baseball Hall of Fame