By Rit Carter

On any given day, you never know what may come through the doors at the Bristol Historical Society. And that is precisely what happened in December when a Bristol sports treasure appeared suddenly: a scorebook for a Bristol baseball team from 1866-1876.

The donor, however, remains a mystery.

Inspecting the 11″ x 9″ scorebook is like looking back through time to baseball’s formative years using a telescope.

The first game recorded in the book is dated Aug. 11, 1866, between Bristol and Terryville, only 489 days after the Civil War ended. Played in Terryville, the game went nine innings and was played in two hours and 24 minutes, with the Bristol squad winning 40-9.

The lineup for the Bristol team that day was as follows:

• Gus Smith
• M. Seymour
• Geo Mitchell
• Miles Peck
• Jack Ward
• James Matthews
• Sam Bartow
• A Sigourney
• John Moran

Considering the rough road this rare piece of Bristol’s sports history in all likelihood traveled, it is in good shape. The spine is delicate, and despite what appears to be water damage along the edges, the paper, which is of a thick bond, is durable and intact. And nearly everything detailed in the book is legible.

The handwriting for the early games has a flare and grace, with attention to detail. In addition to the scoring, the length, umpires and scorers are notated. It is worth noting that the scorekeeper changed in the later years because the flare and grace are missing and gone are the game details.

Bristol played teams from Forestville, Plainville, Terryville, Hartford, Mystic, Norwich, Newington and others. The Bristol 9 home games were played on the green at Federal Hill.

Decoding the scorebook may require the Enigma machine because scoring baseball in the 1800s is vastly different from today. Unlike the modern era, where every pitch is tabulated, this was not the case in the 1860s and 70s. The Bristol team plated 40 runs, and it is not apparent how they did so.

As for playing the game in 1866, there were no gloves or mitts, so players caught the ball with their hands.

If the ball bounced once in the outfield and was caught, it was recorded as an out.

Pitchers threw underhand, and batters determined the pitch location.

Not only that but it was considered a gentleman’s game, unlike today.

The Bristol Sports Hall of Fame is now rightfully in possession of the scorebook, where it will be studied and analyzed. Through the Bristol Historical Society, I had the privilege to inspect the book for a few days and I am reminded that we must preserve our history to strengthen our connections to the past and enhance our knowledge of the past and the present.

Interestingly enough, based on some other information developed, a possibility exists where there is another Bristol baseball scorebook from this period out there in the ether. Alas, if the generous donor of the current scorebook comes forth, there is “much to tell,” as Lewis Carroll once wrote.

Rit Carter can be contacted about this story at rcarter@bristoledition.org