After a baseball field was installed at White Park about 1900, Concord’s baseball enthusiasts formed neighborhood teams and played one another informally. Players and fans had so much fun that they created an organized adult amateur league.
The first game was played on June 22, 1909, when the White Parks trounced the Old Timers,
14-0.
So-called because games began at 6:15 p.m. and lasted until sunset, the Sunset League was a fertile training ground for players who went on to college and minor league careers, not to mention future Yankee and Penacook native Robert “Red” Rolfe.
In the early years, home plate was so close to neighboring houses that windows had to be covered to guard against foul balls, and hundreds of fans cheered on friends, family and neighbors. Games continue today at White Park.
The Sunset League is the oldest after-supper amateur baseball club in the country.
N.H. Historical Society