William J. Ryczek is an author who has written many books about the early days of base ball. He founded the Middletown Mansfields in 1997 after helping to put together a team the previous year to face a traveling vintage team from Ohio.
- An Old Game Played the Very Old Way – Chris King/NY Times (8 Jul 2001)
- Baseball’s First Inning: A History of the National Pastime Through the Civil War — William J. Ryczek
- When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 — William J. Ryczek
- Blackguards and Red Stockings: A History of Baseball’s National Association, 1871-1875 – William J. Ryczek