The Coltsville Vintage Base Ball League is now forming. We're recruiting players, managers and umpires to participate in 1860s-era games starting in May 2010 at the Hartford Base Ball Grounds at Colt Meadows in Hartford, Connecticut.

The area of Coltsville is in the process of becoming a National Park. Our base ball league will play a prominent role in turning the area into a visitor destination. With four teams initially set to play ball during the summer of 2010, the league will play all its games at Colt Meadows on Saturday mornings.

The teams that are being formed are all well documented teams that actually played in Hartford in the 19th century:

The Charter Oaks Of Hartford
The Charter Oaks are a gentlemanly, intelligent body of men, true lovers of the national game, who make our indulgence a matter of amusement instead of a gambling profit. We once maintained the championship of Connecticut and ought to do so still. Our club is considered Hartford's original base ball team. We are a formidable amalgamation of honorable men.

The Alerts of Hartford
During the 1860's we were a private fire department serving Hartford. Our camaraderie is as strong off the field as on it. We played games in the park for amusement and we played the game "as played by the New York clubs." The Alerts are lovers of the manly game who know how to win a match game. There are no muffins in our ranks!

The Nutmegs
We pride ourselves in both our athletic talent and our spirit in promoting the national game as we have been doing for over 150 years. Noted for accepting challenges from any team without exception, we are gentlemen rich in character, determination and grit. As ambassadors of the sport and of the city of Hartford, our boys carry on a long tradition of playing fairly and squarely.

Billy Barnie's Blue Boys
Hartford's true sons of the national game, we were named for the color of the Connecticut flag and by our illustrious leader, Mr. Billy Barnie, former member of Hartford's Dark Blues and manager of many major league base ball teams. Our heritage includes Billy Nash, Chief Sockalexis, Phenomenal Smith and Connie Mack. Rumor has it that we were secretly backed by Mark Twain!

For more information on the League, visit our website.