Victorian Baseball in Boston recap – 4/5/2012

The SABR Boston Chapter joined with the Gibson House Museum, 137 Beacon Street, in the heart of Back Bay Boston, for a program on April 5, that brought a wealth of Boston baseball history to an audience in dire need of a dose of baseball lore as the 2012 season begins.

The first Thursday in April was the traditional beginning of the baseball season in Boston until Patriots’ Day inherited the honor in 1894. Three members of the Boston Chapter entertained the audience with tales of early games and legendary players. Larry McCray explained the early game as it was played in the nineteenth century, an era when the Back Bay was just beginning to be laid out, with 137 Beacon Street located in the first block beyond the Public Gardens and the Common, where early games in Boston were played. Joanne Hulbert reminded the audience that if the program had been held 150 years ago, church services would been competing with the ball park for attendees, and Bill Nowlin impressed the audience with tales of Boston’s early baseball dynasties.

Partnering with a venerable Boston organization was a unique and rewarding experience, for the presenters as well as the attendees and it is hoped there will be future opportunities to bring baseball history to other venues in the Boston area.

— Joanne Hulbert
Boston Chapter