On Saturday the Providence Grays, played the Brooklyn Atlantics in a doubleheader. You can see one of the Atlantics among the Grays in the center of the photo below.

The players were happy to explain the rules and techniques of the historical game.

Each vintage baseball club models a specific year of play. The Grays emulate a championship 1884 team. The Atlantics emulate a championship 1864 team. This means different rules. In the doubleheader, the first game was played by 1864 rules, the second by 1884 rules. Most dramatically this meant one slow pitch game and one fast pitch game.

In 1864, pitching was underhand, the ball was quite soft, and an out was recorded if the ball was caught on the first bounce or on the fly.

In 1884, pitching was overhand, the ball was harder, though still softer than the current ball, and the one-bounce out rule was no longer in effect.

Catchers had masks, pads, and very small gloves.