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If you build it, we'll play!
In Roxbury, the ghosts of "town
ball" had been waiting and wandering
in the brambles and overgrown wilderness of Kirkside Park for decades. Kirkside
was created as a resplendent and rustic idyll in the late 19th century by
Helen Gould Shepard, daughter of railroad tycoon and Roxbury native Jay Gould.
Helen loved her father’s Catskills hometown and most especially the
game of base ball. She envisioned her park as a community treasure, and sure
enough, throughout the early decades of the 20th century, farmers, blacksmiths,
and shopkeepers would gather on summer Saturdays to play “town ball” with
teams from the neighboring hamlets. Mrs. Shepard would “pass the hat” for
the team between the sixth and seventh innings, but admission was always
free.
By the 1990s Helen had been dead for almost 60 years and Kirkside was a shabby remnant of its former glory — its 14-acre landscape going to seed and its gravel paths a distant memory. A group of community-minded citizens foraged for funds, put in the sweat equity and slowly revived Kirkside Park to its former simple elegance. Almost as soon as they were done, someone said, "What a magnificent place to play base ball!" And so the Roxbury Nine was re-born.
The Roxbury Nine today is still composed of local tradesmen, professionals,
farmers, and teachers who share a love of the game and miss the full throttled
play of boyhood. The Nine also relish the purity and all-out action that
the elemental 19th century style game brings to life. Most of all, The Roxbury
Nine is a large extended family of its own — the team roster has boasted
four sets of brothers, 16 graduates of the local 
Roxbury Central School and
three of the school’s coaches. At almost every game, you're guaranteed
to see Shortstop Matthew Walker batting in his little brother, Andrew. Mike
and Chris “Beaver” Hynes, will play while mom and dad (Roxbury
Supervisor Tom Hynes and wife Mary) shepherd the grandkids. The team’s
emotional bedrock is supplied by veteran catcher Rich Ellsworth, whose famed
stoicism while playing injured is the benchmark by which Roxbury Nine measure
their mettle. His wife Peg helped found the team and manages their schedule
each year. Many Saturdays, she can be found manning the book and explaining
1890s rules to the crowd.
Played with almost no protective gear and absolutely no backtalk to the ump, vintage base ball offers die-hard fans and baseball novices alike an experience of the sport that is pure, simple, and sometimes rough. One hundred years ago, the game used little official equipment and rural players cared little for such gear anyway. Even today, only the catcher uses a 19th-century style mitt; the rest of the defense goes after pop flies and bruising line drives with their bare hands or an unpadded “work” glove.
Even the Nine’s authentic wooden bats are turned lovingly by hand by Roxbury Nine teammates John Fairbairn and Archie Biruk, a precision-tuned process that can take as long as eight hours for each bat.
For families or sports fans seeking the perfect summer experience, you can’t beat a vintage base ball game, played with the all-out heart and soul. For kids especially, it is an experience in pure sportsmanship, with all its redemptive values, suspenseful play, and unsullied competitive spirit.
Now looking forward to their ninth season, the Nine have captured the coveted Harry M. Keator Vintage Base Ball Cup every season the tournament has been played. They’re rightly famous for their post-game “Roast the Ump and Dogs” get-togethers, where winners and losers trade play-by-play banter, this time with umpire backtalk and second guessing very much part of the fun.
To learn more about the Roxbury Nine, contact the Roxbury Parks and Recreation department at 607-326-3722. Learn more about the original Roxbury Nine here, or meet the current players here. You can also check out team stats and the 19th century rules of the game.
The Team
