Heirloom diamond; Clinton ball field crowned as world's oldest.

Byline: Karen Nugent

CLINTON - It's official. The town has made it into "Guinness World Records" - and it's not for that tired urban myth about having the most bars.

Fuller Field, at 450 High St., has been designated by London-based Guinness as the oldest baseball diamond to have continuously hosted baseball, which it has done since 1878.

The record was entered Aug. 29, after more than three years of tedious work by Anthony J. Bastarache, author of "An Extraordinary Town," a book about Clinton's history he published in 2005. He was notified Sept. 11, and the record was posted on the Guinness Web site yesterday.

"I'm elated, I'm vindicated, and I feel wonderful," he said yesterday. "But I'm most happy about not having to keep calling people."

Mr. Bastarache, who moved last year from Clinton to Andover, said he submitted the application to Guinness a year before he wrote the book. He said his main goal in writing the book was to find the field used by the 1878 Clinton Baseball Club, a professional team.

"It was a long, grueling process," he said of the Guinness validation. "I submitted a thick packet of proof - like a legal brief - with maps, letters from historians, signatures, old newspaper articles."

It is unknown how long the rather small and nondescript Fuller Field, now used mostly by the Irish Blizzard, a semi-pro football team, has existed.

Mr. Bastarache, while researching his book in 2003, came across old newspaper articles showing Clinton Baseball Club scores, but he couldn't find where the team played. It was mentioned simply as "the grounds" in an 1878 article, he said. He also found the names, and addresses, of some professional baseball players living in Clinton at the time, including Baseball Hall of Famers Tim Keefe and Slidin' Billy Hamilton, who, it turns out, lived just a few blocks from the field.

"I just thought it was odd that here was this professional team, and I couldn't find out where they played," Mr. Bastarache said. "For six months, I tried to find out where they played."

He had a map from the 1870s, but the section that would have had the field on it was missing.

Then, another old map was unearthed by a member of the Clinton Historical Society. It was dated 1878, and clearly shows "the Clinton baseball ground" on the north side of town, near the Nashua River, exactly where Fuller Field sits.

Mr. Bastarache was convinced it was Fuller Field - with the bases in the same spots, an important fact, he said, if it was to meet Guinness' standards.

And then began the quest to get it into the records.

There are several possible categories relating to old baseball venues, Mr. Bastarache said, but he decided to pursue the record for oldest baseball diamond, rather than stadium, park or grounds.

"It's almost impossible to prove where the oldest tract of land is where baseball was played. There could be a 100-acre park, and baseball was played a mile away from where it is played now," he said.

Mr. Bastarache said that besides the documents, he made nearly 20 overseas telephone calls to Guinness to discuss questions about his data.

"It was very frustrating. They don't take their records lightly. I had to prove it beyond all doubt. It was like a nasty teacher grilling me for a test," he said.

The claim's stiffest competition came from Labatt Memorial Park in London, Ontario. The 8.7-acre park, originally called Tecumseh Park, was built in 1877. But Mr. Bastarache said proponents of that claim cannot prove that the original baseball diamond has remained in the same spot.

"It's the only place in the world where you can run the same bases as they did back then," he said of Fuller Field.

The Fuller Field claim has also been acknowledged by the Texas-based Society for American Baseball Research.

"It is clear that baseball has been played in this location at Fuller Field since 1878 without fail. It is also clear that the core diamond itself has not substantially changed location within the playing area since that time. And it is clear that other fields across the nation and in Canada have later dates of origin, changes of the core diamond, or an unfortunate demise due to the natural march of time and development," said Robert F. Bluthart, of the society, in an Aug. 24 e-mail to Guinness.

Carol Ann Hamilton of Clinton, a second cousin twice-removed of Billy Hamilton, said her cousin came to Clinton from Newark, N.J., as a child, probably so his father could join her great-grandfather working as a weaver at Lancaster Mills, in Clinton.

Slidin' Billy, she said, lived in a three-tenement building at 512 High St., just up the street from Fuller Field.

"He must have just scooted down the road with his bat and ball," she said.

Billy Hamilton is buried in the Eastwood Cemetery in Lancaster. He held the National League record for 937 career stolen bases, and single-season total of 115 in 1891, which stood for almost 80 years.

Hamilton, who played for the Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Beaneaters, also set a National League record for most stolen bases in one game (7) in 1894.

Tim Keefe, a pitcher, played for the Troy Trojans, New York Mets, New York Giants , and the Phillies. Mr. Bastarache said he lived in an apartment at Church and High streets, above where The Paper Store is now situated. He said Keefe still holds several records.

Ms. Hamilton, who documented some of Mr. Bastarache's data, said she is "absolutely thrilled and excited" about Fuller Field's inclusion in Guinness.

"Tony (Bastarache) has been keeping me informed all along," she said. "This is going to put us in a positive light. Clinton is a special community, and we do stick together, and we're proud of our ancestors."

Mr. Bastarache, who said he wrote his book on Clinton because he couldn't believe how well-preserved its buildings and parks are, said he took on the Fuller Field task "as a gift."

He said he received no money or other benefits.

"I just wanted to give a gift to the wonderful town of Clinton," he said.

The oldest: Fuller Field has been designated by London-based Guinness as the oldest baseball diamond to have continuously hosted baseball, which it has done since 1878.

Second source: The Fuller Field claim has also been acknowledged by the Texas-based Society for American Baseball Research.

The quote: `It was like a nasty teacher grilling me for a test.' - Anthony J. Bastarache, speaking of the Guinness process

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Fuller Field in Clinton has been recognized as the world's oldest continuously used baseball diamond by "Guinness World Records." (2) Fuller Athletic Field, as seen in this 1950 file photo, had a seating capacity of 3,000, with 1,500 of those being take-down bleacher seats.

PHOTOG: (1) T&G Staff/RICK CINCLAIR (2) T&G File Photo