(Editor's Note: Longtime baseball uniform expert and author Morris Levin writes weekly for Authentically Speaking.)
By Morris Levin
Pictured above is an official Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia logo t-shirt which you can purchase here at PLA.
Athletic is an active amateur base ball team, and a member of the Mid-Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League. The club competes in the Federal Conference with clubs in Maryland and Delaware. Most home games are played in Philadelphia’s West Parkside neighborhood, in the grove adjoining Memorial Hall (1876) such that left-center field is bounded by the Smith Memorial Arch (1912).
Athletic plays base ball according to the 1864 National Association rules. The ball is a bit softer than the baseball we use today. The pitcher tosses the ball underhand; fielders play without gloves; and there are slight differences in aspects of base running and fielding.
Scott Alberts founded the club in 2009 and Athletic played its first game in April 2010. As is common to current vintage base ball teams, Scott based the club name and uniform on Philadelphia original Athletic Base Ball Club.
In 1859, several members of Philadelphia’s Handel & Haydn Society singing club gathered recreationally to play base ball, and called themselves Athletic. The team came to dominate amateur play in Philadelphia through the mid-1860s. The club went professional in the late 1860s, supporting the organization of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. Athletic was a charter member of the National League, before folding in 1877.The current Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia uniforms are based directly on those worn by the team in the early 1860s. Descriptions of Athletic’s 1860s uniforms can be found in The Book of American Pastimes, by Charles Peverelly , as well as from images found in contemporary issues of Harper’s Weekly.
PLA is the sole online distributor of Athletic t-shirts, and a percentage of all sales supports the not for profit educational and community efforts of the Athletic base ball club.
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Ladies and Gentlemen...your Phil-a-del-phia Sev-en-ty Sixerrrrrs! Wow. What a game Wednesday night in the NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals. An evening highlighted off-the-court by the return of A.I., the upstart Sixers, spurred on the court by veterans Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand, and the scoring of Lou Williams, forced a game seven in Boston Saturday beating the Celtics 82-75.
There was plenty of Sixers buzz before last night, so you can imagine the talk around the city today. We're sure to see fans come into the store eyeing a couple of Sixers items, caps and a nice-looking adidas jacket.
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