Vintage baseball proves a hit with modern players

In this Sept. 6, 2014, photo, vintage baseball player Matt Fischetti with the Resolute Base Ball Club of Elizabeth, N.J., waits for his turn to bat during the 2014 Base-Ball Exhibition & Fair at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. The clubs play baseball according to rules of the game as it was played in 1864. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) In this Sept. 6, 2014, photo, vintage baseball player Matt Fischetti with the Resolute Base Ball Club of Elizabeth, N.J., waits for his turn to bat during the 2014 Base-Ball Exhibition & Fair at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. The clubs play baseball according to rules of the game as it was played in 1864. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

By Associated Press September 12, 2014 1 min read

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – No batting helmets, no fielding gloves and no pitching overhand.

This isn’t your grandfather’s baseball. It’s your great-great-grandfather’s game.

Vintage baseball teams throughout the U.S. play America’s favorite pastime the old-fashioned way. That means wearing historically accurate 19th century uniforms and using rules from 1864.

And the sport is growing. Players say it brings them back to a simpler time and preserves a slice of the past.

Modern-day fans watching these games might notice home plate is round, and the bases are canvas bags filled with sand. Team members even drink beverages from metal cups or canteens.