Baseball, by and large, has had the same characteristics - with someone throwing the ball, a person attempting to bat it, then running while opponents field the ball - since its early days, dating all the way back to the 1800s. But there were some differences back when America's pastime was ... well, a present time activity. Members of the Newtown Sandy Hooks vintage base ball (that's two words, like how they spelled it back when base ball came to be more than a century ago) honor the roots of the sport, playing by rules of the late-1800s game as they were set, and began evolving back in the day.

Runs were referred to as aces, outs were called hands, the pitcher was not a pitcher but a hurler, the batter or hitter labeled a striker, the catcher was called a behind, the shortstop a scout. Oh and the fans? Yes, they had a different collective name too. They were called cranks and, as Sandy Hooks team member Jason "J"

Edwards notes, cranks were "encouraged to be feisty and vocal but respectful."

The Sandy Hooks used to play home contests at McLaughlin Vineyards but team members said they no longer have access to the field there, so they've found space locally at sites including St Rose School and Joel Barlow High School in Redding.

"It's a lot of fun. It's fun talking about the game to people who just really don't know the history of baseball," team member Zac "Dirt" Smith said. "It's kind of cool being ambassadors for the history."

The Sandy Hooks play teams from other parts of the state, as well as out of state, during the summer. They play the rules of the 1864 game, as well as those from the years that soon followed, as subtle changes were made.

Fielders didn't wear gloves, balls caught on one bounce were an out (make that a hand), and a ball that went foul before reaching the base was considered fair and in play as long as it hit at least once in fair territory. Another rule the players have to adjust to is that they must stop at first base, unlike in today's game in which hitters may over run the base and still be safe. Hurlers threw from 45 feet away (not 60 like in the game as we know it today), and could move three feet in either direction to pitch (hurl) from an angle toward home plate (which, by the way, got its name because a dinner plate was used back in the early days of the game, the Sandy Hook players note).

"It's a great way to spend a Saturday," said Bryan "Devil Dog" Donnelly. "It's just good to be outside, good group of guys - everyone has a passion for it."

So much so that the vintage base ball players wear retro uniforms, and use replicas of the longer, heavier bats of the game's past. Michael "Bulldog" Paes makes the team's bats at his home since he runs The Bulldog Bat Company.

Paes notes that there was more base running in the earlier days of the game, although base runners were not permitted to take leads as they do now, and adds that the infield fly rule wasn't in place in the 1800s, meaning fielders used more strategy than they do today.

"The best part," Edwards, who also has the nickname "Mister," said of playing with the Sandy Hooks "is it's a way to still play and honor the game we love."

Other members of the team are Brian "Barkeep" Donnelly, Peter "Bison" Friedman, Dennis "Dough" Norwich, Tristan "Thunder" Toomey, Emmet "ET" Cole, Phil "90" Keane, Jamie "Specs" Leath, Tyler "Slider" Brusch, Scott "Shiny" McKay, and Jay "Papi" Ortiz.