Location Philadelphia, PA Nickname(s) Athletics, A's 2011 season 3-29 | Year founded 2009 Colors Navy and white Founded 2009 | |
League Mid-Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League (Eastern Division) Ballparks Avenue of the Republic, Philadelphia | ||
Members of the athletic base ball club of philadelphia don t play by modern day rules they prefer t
Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia is a vintage base ball team based in Philadelphia, which plays by 1864 National Association Rules. Athletic is a member of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League, competing in the Eastern Division. The club made its debut on the diamond in April 2010 and plays many of its home matches at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park, located in the West Philadelphia section of the city.
Contents
Inspiration
The original Athletic Base Ball Club was founded in 1859 when several members of the Handel & Haydn Society (a singing club) came together with the express purpose of playing “the New York game." They would go on to dominate amateur play in Philadelphia through the early and mid-1860s. The team went professional in the late 1860s and helped establish the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, winning the first pennant in 1871. Athletic went on to be a charter member in the National League until folding in 1877. The name Athletic was then adopted by three subsequent major league teams, including two American Association teams in Philadelphia, and the current Oakland Athletics of the American League.
Athletic’s uniforms are based on descriptions in The Book of American Pastimes by Charles Peverelly, and images in Harper’s Weekly.
The team was founded by Philadelphia native Scott Alberts. He came to learn about vintage base ball clubs playing on the East Coast from a magazine article and found that Philadelphia did not have its own club. Alberts founded the Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia in October 2009, with assistance from Ryan & Eric Berley, ice cream purveyors in Old City in Philadelphia, and members of the Society for American Baseball Research.
Philadelphia Base Ball Fair & Exhibition
Athletic hosts an annual Philadelphia Base Ball Fair & Exhibition at the Naval Yard Marine Parade Ground. The inaugural event in August 2011 drew twelve MAVBBL teams.
Seasons & Records
2014 Season: 6-12 (34 games pending)
Captain: T. James "Mouth" Ford Vice Captain: Tim "Ironsides" Sweeney
2013 Season: 6-32
Captain: T. James "Mouth" Ford Vice Captain: Steven "Love Seat" Couch
2012 Season: 4-24
Captain: T. James "Mouth" Ford
2011 Season: 3-29
Co-Captains: David "Sticky" Frank & Steven "Love Seat" Couch
2010 Season: 1-12
Captain President: Scott "Smooth Bore" Alberts
2009 Season: Founding. No matches played. One practice/scrimmage with the Diamond State BBC of Delaware.