About 130 miles east of Ithaca, time stands still. It’s frozen in the late 1800s, and voices from the time of the Civil War echo throughout the open farmland — at least on the baseball field.

Roxbury, N.Y., is a small town in Delaware County that has a passion for baseball the way it was meant to be played. The town’s team, the Roxbury Nine, plays a version of baseball from centuries past, dressed in gear and playing by the rules of the 1800s.

This means no mitts, no aluminum bats and no batting gloves, and the catcher pads his hand with a pillow. Sophomore Steven M. Hubbard, a chemistry major, plays for the Nine and said he’s been a fan of the team since his childhood.

“I’ve been watching them since I was 10,” Hubbard said. “I loved watching the old-timers go out and play with no gloves.” 

The squad plays all of its games in baggy cotton uniforms that can cause some severe discomfort in the summer heat. The Nine’s bats are custom made to fit 1800s standards with no knob on the handle. Some of the equipment is a bit harder to obtain, though, and because of this, many of the Nine players paint their modern baseball cleats all black to give it that vintage feel.

Hubbard made his first trip back in time when he was 16 years old while playing for his high school team. A few players from the Nine came by to watch the modern game and were impressed with Hubbard’s play. They asked him to join the old-time squad, and he became the youngest player to sport the Nine’s gear. He said the transition presented some challenges.

“There was an era where the pitcher pitched underhand,” Hubbard said. “Also, they could catch the ball off one bounce, and it would be an out. It was a hitter’s game, though, and foul balls weren’t a strike. It was weird if someone struck out.”

Some other difficulties from the 1800s game include something the baseball creators must have stolen from golf — the old adage of playing the ball where it lies.

“You had to play everything,” Hubbard said. “There was no dead ball. If it goes in the river, you had to go in the river and grab it.”

Roxbury is not the only place where baseball enthusiasts ditch the Under Armour clothing and Rawlings mitts for the gear of yesteryear, though. Hubbard said he has traveled to New Jersey and Boston and has played teams from Canada in the vintage game.   

So while today’s major leaguers sign multimillion dollar contracts, the true spirit of baseball is not dead. It’s merely tucked away in small towns across America where a true Field of Dreams is a reality.

Cory Francer is a senior sport studies major. Contact him at cfrance1@ithaca.edu.