Vintage Base Ball back in full swing

“The whole league is about promoting the history of base ball. It’s a gentleman’s game. That’s how it was designed back in the day. The slogan for the league is ‘no swearing, no spitting and no gloves’.”

Vintage Base Ball season is in full swing for the third year in a row in the North Georgia/Chattanooga area.

The league, which began with just two Nashville-area teams five years ago, now is comprised of 12 teams overall. Eight are based in the greater Nashville, two are located in Knoxville and two play out of the North Georgia/Chattanooga area.

Both Chattanooga-area clubs will play 12 regular season games - known as matches in league terminology - this season, three in Nashville and/ or Knoxville and nine locally. Five matches will be played on the polo fields at the Sixth Calvary Museum in Fort Oglethorpe and four matches will be played at the Tennessee River Park of Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga.

The clubs are a part of the Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball and the matches will run through the end of August. The season-ending Sulphur Dell Cup tournament will be played in September at the historic Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tenn.

David Hollis, better known as “Buster”, captain of the Lightfoot Club of Chattanooga, said the league represents a historical context of America’s pastime.

“The whole league is about promoting the history of base ball,” Hollis said. “It’s a gentleman’s game. That’s how it was designed back in the day. The slogan for the league is ‘no swearing, no spitting and no gloves’.”

While baseball of today is played on a dirt/grass mixture of grass in the infield and grass in the outfield, vintage base ball (two words back then) is set up on regular all-grass fields.

Players use wooden bats, many of which are custom-made by Smacker Bats out of Murfreesboro, Tenn., and try to hit an 1860’s-style baseball (also known as a “lemon-peel” or an “onion”) by a hurler (pitcher) tossing a pitch underhanded to the striker (batter) from 45 feet away. Hurlers are instructed to throw hittable pitches, but the only way a striker is called out is by swinging and missing three times.

Fully decked out in 1860’s-styled base ball uniforms, players try their best to make plays without gloves, which were not used back then. Gloves weren’t introduced until in the mid-1870’s and didn’t become the norm for players until around 1890.

An out (one hand dead) is recorded either from catching the ball in midair, or by catching the ball on a single bounce. Players can’t overrun first base either. If they do, they can be tagged out.

When a player, or a ballist, makes a play, other players tip their hats in a gesture of respect to the player who made the exceptional play in the field, usually followed by a chant of “Huzzah!”.

First-year Lightfoot Club ballist and Bradley County, Tenn. resident Chris West said he joined the Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball because of his infatuation of the vintage theme.

“The first time I watched a vintage game was last year for a Father’s Day gift,” West said. “After that I was hooked. I’m a big history buff, especially 1860’s/19th century. It was just one of those things my wife was like ‘you want to do this, don’t you?’ When they were looking for players, my wife immediately realized that this is fine.

“Also sort of being a graphic artist and stuff, I started my own graphic arts as a kid, designing my own baseball cards. So when this first started I was thinking ‘man this would be cool if I could design 19th century baseball cards. It was one of those things I was interested in. It was many little things that I was interested in. That and it’s just a whole heck of a lot of fun.”

So far this season, Mountain City of Chattanooga is 2-0, including a 42-7 thrashing over the Nashvillebased Cumberlanders April 2 at the Carnton Plantation. One week later, Mountain City defeated the Phoenix of East Nashville, 17-5, in Fort Oglethorpe.

Meanwhile, the Lightfoot Club lost their opener, 18-9, to the Stewart’s Creek Scouts on an April 2 game at Ravenswood Mansion in Brentwood, Tenn., but bounced back with an 8-5 victory over the Quicksteps of Spring Hill, Tenn. at the Sixth Calvary Museum the following week.

The Lightfoot will take on the Knoxville Holstons on April 22 at 2:30 p.m. at the Ramsey House in Knoxville, while Mountain City will play the Travellers of Brentwood at 12 noon on April 23 at Mansker’s Station in Goodlettsville, Tenn.

The public is invited to the matches. Admission to the matches are free, but fans are asked to bring lawn chairs.

Folks who want more information can call 706-861-2860, or visit tennesseevintagebaseball.com.