Vintage Base Ball

[Ivan Sputnik]

I'm not much of a sports fan, but I enjoyed taking my baseball-obsessed Little Leaguer to observe a vintage ball game played by 1860s rules today. The game seemed a lot more like softball than modern baseball, and there were no gloves used. The players wore antique (reproduction) uniforms and said things like "well done!" when someone got a base hit, which made us laugh. The program listed some of the 1860s game lingo, which we also found amusing:

striker (means batter)
mascot (batboy)
the garden (the outfield)
muff (error)
muckle (power)
kicking (complaining to the umpire)
ballist (player)
muffin (unskilled player)
crank (fan)
hand down (out)
ace (run)
timber (bat)
jimjam (wild pitch)
sockdolager (a long hit)
outshoot (curveball)
cake (player of little skill)

[pinto]

1. Assume a lot of these have British Cricket roots. Striker's current there,

I think. (for the batter)