The Gotham Cup: Baseball Like It Oughta Be PDF Print E-mail
Written by Mark Healey   
Monday, 12 May 2008
No, it's not the 1986 New York Mets.  Rather, it's the 1864 New York Gothams, who will live once more this weekend to battle for the Third Annual Gotham Cup Vintage Base Ball Tournament at Central Park.  Sponsored by Gotham Baseball Magazine, The Dive Bar, Budweiser and Dewars, The Gotham Cup is played by old time "Base Ball" rules, with teams and officials wearing uniforms from the 19th Century.  This year, 10 teams from all over the Northeast, including Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey will meet in Central Park's North Meadow to compete in the Tournament. Art Shamsky of the 1969 World Champion New York Mets & Senior Editor of Gotham Baseball Magazine will be on hand to award the Gotham Cup to the winning teams on Sunday, May 18th between 2 PM & 4 PM.

Preliminary games begin 10:00am ET Saturday; Championship games begin 12:00am ET Sunday

This unique contest will certainly entertain and educate the general public about the historical roots of the country's national past time. Teams will use authentic replicas of 19th century equipment and wear 19th century-style uniforms. Even the umpires will wear era-appropriate attire - and the rules are unique to say the least (like underhand pitching, no gloves allowed, and catching a ball on one bound is an out).

After the games, the scene shifts to The Dive Bar, located at 732 Amsterdam Avenue for "Ye Olde Base Ball Bash" - a post-game party hosted by the Dive Bar and sponsored by Budweiser and Dewars. Saturday night's events include drink specials for all, live music, and a scheduled live broadcast of Gotham Sports Radio.

THE SCHEDULE:

Sat 5/17:

All day - Food, Drink and Festivities at the Dive Bar: http://www.divebarnyc.com/
10 AM - Field 4 - Gothams vs. Talbot (1860 Rules) - Umpire Eric Miklich
10 AM - Field 5 - Flemington vs. Waterbury (1873) - Umpire Sam Bernstein
11:45 AM - Field 5 - Glen Head vs. Elizabeth (1891) - Umpire Dean Emma
11:45 AM - Field 4 - Flemington vs. Talbot (1864) - Umpire Ed Elmore
1:30 PM - Field 5 - Providence vs. Mutuals (1884) - Umpire Paul Salamone
1:30 PM - Field 4 - Atlantics vs. Waterbury (1864) - Umpire Sam Bernstein
3:15 PM - Field 5 - Glen Head vs. Providence (1886) - Umpire Jim Wigren

3:15 PM - Field 4 - Gothams vs. Elkton (1864) - Umpire Sam Bernstein
5 PM - Field 5 - Elizabeth vs. Mutuals (1886) - Umpire Harry Bailey
5 PM - Field 4 - Atlantics vs. Elkton (1864) - Umpire Ken Schlapp
The goal is to play 9 innings, but no inning will start later than 15 minutes prior to the start of the following game

Standings for playoffs/Championship round will be determined as follows:

Best Record
Head to Head
Least runs allowed
Coin flip

Sun 5/18:

All day - Food, Drink and Festivities at the Dive Bar: http://www.divebarnyc.com/
10 AM - Field 5 -Underhand 4th Place vs. Underhand 1st Place (1st Place rules) - Umpire TBD
10 AM - Field 4 - Underhand 3rd Place vs. Underhand 2nd Place (2nd Place Rules) - Umpire Sam Bernstein
Noon - Field 4 - Underhand 5th Place vs. Overhand 3rd Place (coin flip or mutual choice for rules) - Umpire TBD
Noon - Field 5 - Overhand Championship Game (coin flip for rules) - Umpire Dean Emma or Ken Schlapp
2 PM - Field 4 - Underhand Championship Game (coin flip for rules) - Umpire Sam Bernstein
 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]
© 2009 Online Home of Gotham Baseball Magazine
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.