Hmm... Yankees are on the road? Can’t get to Met’s Citi Field Saturday night? Not to worry, Hoboken has your cure for baseball fever! This coming weekend, a series of events will take place honoring America’s favorite pastime and the 165th Anniversary of the first official baseball game played right here in our Mile Square City!

Kicking off the weekend’s events is the Mile Square Theatre’s 9th annual festival, 7th Inning Stretch, a baseball-themed celebration of original playwriting, showcasing some of the most talented and up-and-coming playwrights in the country. The festival is comprised of seven 10-minute original plays, with both comedies and dramas being featured this year. Playwrights are invited to participate a year in advance, and rarely has anyone declined.  Past playwrights include Pulitzer Prize winners, Kennedy Center Award recipients, and Tony and Emmy nominees.  This year the playwrights include Jenny Lyn Bader, Brian Dykstra, Alex Gherardi, Matthew Lawler, Raymond McAnally, and Candido Tirado.

Since its inception in 2003, the festival has become a genuine success and something of a theatrical tradition in Hoboken. Chris Connor, Artistic Director of the Mile Square Theatre and creator of 7th Inning Stretch, says he’s often stopped on the street and asked for the dates for the next production. He’s added to the production throughout the years with small traditions, such as the throwing of the first pitch each night.  With ticket receipts ten times what they were in 2003, the production has garnered the attention and support of local businesses that are sponsoring this year’s event. The most significant testament to its growing success is the involvement of Major League Baseball, which will be filming Saturday night’s performance and after-party and will present a segment of the event on Fox’s national broadcast of This Week in Baseball.

The production runs Friday, June 17 through Sunday, June 19 at the Monroe theatrespace at 720 Monroe Street.  Tickets are $25 and $15 for students and seniors. On Saturday, June 18, there is a post-performance “Triple Play Party”, a fund-raising reception with food and drink from some of Hoboken's finest restaurants.  Tickets for this additional event are $50 and will benefit Mile Square Theatre’s 2011-12 season, as well as its education programs.

Along with many other “firsts” that enrich the history of this city, Hoboken is home of the first officially recorded, organized baseball game ever played. Before this time, the rules of baseball, also known as “Base Ball” or “Town Ball” were regionalized and depended upon where the game was played. Under the leadership of Manhattan native Alexander Cartwright, the “Father of Modern Baseball”, twenty rules were put into place, rules that most closely resemble the game as it is played today. This monumental game was played in 1846 at Hoboken’s Elysian Fields, not far from where the former Maxwell House Plant was located. It featured the “New York Nine” vs. the New York Knickerbockers in a four inning rout ending in a 23-1 victory for the “New York Nine.”

To commemorate this historic event, the Hoboken Historical Museum will host its 2nd Annual re-creation of mid-19^th-century baseball, played with 19^th-century rules and the authentic equipment and uniforms of the teams of that era.  While the re-creation of this game was done once or twice in the 1970’s, it did not become a regular tradition. It wasn’t until a few years ago that interest in honoring the event was reinvigorated, not only by passionate Hoboken residents, but by the Flemington N.J. Neshanocks, a vintage baseball club who play other vintage teams to re-create the feel of the game as it was played in the 19th century, similar to Civil War Battle reenactments. The Neshanocks contacted the museum and expressed their desire to play a game to honor Hoboken’s Elysian Fields and its contributions to the history of baseball; as a result, the reenactment of the first official Baseball game began again last year.

This year the game will be played by Hoboken’s first vintage team, the “Hoboken Nine”, a team comprised of 15 enthusiastic Hoboken residents ready to take on the Flemington Neshanocks. One significant difference this year is the presence of women. Not only is the team co-ed, but it’s coached by a woman as well – Laura Hanson. All 19^th-century rules will be followed, and the game will played as it was in 1846, with the umpire in a suit and top hat and, most significantly, all fielders will be barehanded – no gloves! (Handle-bar mustaches are not required.)

Brad “Brooklyn” Shaw, organizer of the Flemington Neshanocks, will be the announcer and narrator for the game.  Not only will Brad be giving a brief talk beforehand to explain the history and answer questions, but he will be on the sidelines during the game to announce the score, explain why certain calls are made, and point out any other interesting details. He will also entertain the crowd with his rendition of “Casey at the Bat.”

The game will be held Saturday, June 18, at 1pm at Steven’s Institute of Technology’s Dobbelaar Baseball Field.  There will be refreshments and commemorative t-shirts available for purchase. Admission is free, as the event is supported by a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

This coming Sunday is also Father’s Day, and what a better way to treat Dad than to take him to one or both of these great events!

For more information on 7th Inning Stretch visit: http://www.milesquaretheatre.org/.

To learn more about the re-creation of a mid-19^th-century baseball game, go to:  http://www.hobokenmuseum.org/.