That was a nice read, he seems to be a good writer. I wish him well and hope his decision pans out. I have been trying to round up enough guys to go out and play home-run derby where I live. Nobody is game though. I want to smell the burnt wood of the bat as I crush one deep to center. I used to love to hit. Guess I'll have to settle for the batting cages.
There's a historic park around where I live called Greenfield Village. It's a piece of property that Henry Ford bought and then imported a bunch of historic stuff to be preserved. Among the things they have there are Edison's workshop, the Wright brothers' workshop, Merriam Webster's house, and a bunch of other interesting things; Ford was a big time history buff. Also, in the summer time they play old time baseball on a field in exactly the style you're referring to, dead balls, no gloves, replica bats and uniforms from real teams who played 19th century ball. It's really pretty cool.