Part III
After The Flood
2017 - Present
Following a six-year hiatus due to the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Fleischmanns Park and the former home of the M.A.C. was partially restored to a grass field. However, any resemblance of the baseball diamond that once hosted major leaguers had vanished with the flood waters.
In the Winter of 2016, former M.A.C. third-baseman, Collin Miller began efforts to revive the Club. With community and financial support secured, nineteenth-century base ball returned to Fleischmanns Park in the Spring of 2017 with a few contests held throughout the season.
Federal disaster assistance funds enabled the Village to purchase a backstop, a pitcher's plate and home base. All were installed in the off-season of '17 by members of the community.
On June 8, 2018 at Headwaters History Days, the M.A.C. officially re-opened a full season of vintage base ball at the M.A.C. Grounds with a win over the Connecticut Bulldogs - a throwback to the Yale College team of the 1880's.
To pay respects to the Club's founders and the famous men of the original M.A.C., a Wall of Fame and manual scoreboard was hand-painted by second basewoman, Chrissy "Showtime" Skubish and unveiled at Opening Day 2019.
Two weeks later, on June 8, 2019, the Fleischmann's Yeast Company celebrated their 150th Anniversary with the Founders' Day celebration at Fleischmanns Park where the M.A.C. hosted the Bovina Dairymen. The festivities drew nearly 1,000 people to the ball park and shined a spotlight on all the hard work by the community to bring Fleischmanns' history to life.
Baseball Hall of Fame Resolution
honoring Fleischmanns Founders Day June 8, 2019, The document was read aloud by Official MLB Historian John Thorn at a pregame reception.
Later that Summer, the M.A.C. faced the Atlantic Base Ball Club in a double header at the Time & Valleys Museum in Grahamsville at the site of the Little World's Fair. The game was picked up by Northeast Public Radio and later ran as part of a New York State Museum podcast on the mythical origins of baseball.
In 2020, the M.A.C. celebrated their 125th Anniversary by gaining a listing for the M.A.C. Grounds on the New York State & National Register of Historic Places and issued a limited edition set of tobacco-style cards featuring current club members (in cooperation with the Fleischmanns Yeast Company). Despite a global pandemic, M.A.C. played an abbreviated schedule with the Bovina Dairymen. With their competitive play, the clubs brought joy and some sense of normalcy to the mountains at a time when other summer traditions had been cancelled.