The Cadets play by the rules of 1886, which is the primary rule set used by New England Vintage Base Ball. We also play some games by the rules of 1884, 1876 and 1861 depending on our opponent.

Click here to download a copy of the NL rules from 1886.

Baseball in 1886 was very different than the modern game played in the Major Leagues today. Though there are numerous rule differences, we have listed the major differences below to give you an idea how the game is played.

• Pitchers pitch within a 4x6 foot box, on flat ground. There is no rubber. the front of the box is 50 feet away from the plate.
• Batters must request high or low pitches before each at-bat. A pitcher can only earn a strike if he pitches within the requested zone. High zone is from the shoulders to the belt, low zone is from the belt to the knees.
• Seven balls for a walk, three strikes for an out.
• Foul balls are not strikes.
• Getting hit by a pitch is just a ball, no base awarded.
• Pitchers can pitch whenever they have the ball in the pitcher's box, even if the batter is out of the box or not paying attention. Batters cannot call for time except in the case of an injury.
• There is no infield fly rule.
• Fielder's gloves are basically reinforced winter gloves. They are very small, not well padded and many players prefer to play barehanded alltogether.

Patrick Reilly (photo by Curt Allen).



Illustration by Ray Shaw.