Vintage Base Ball
As appeared in GRIT magazine

A traditional ending to every Rock Springs (Ill.) Ground Squirrels base ball game is a team photo with the opposing team. The Ground Squirrels, in blue uniforms, pose with the Columbus (Ohio) Muffins.

Story and photographs by Vicki Cox

“Vintage base ball is the way the game was meant to be played,” says Harold “Harmless” Longbons of the Rock Springs (Ill.) Ground Squirrels.

He’s got a point. For 12 years, Illinois’ first vintage base ball team (in the 1800s, base ball was spelled as two words) has played by 150-year-old rules. Wearing long-sleeve shirts with blue and white newsboy caps, the team members would no more spit, scratch or swear during a ball game than their 1858 counterparts.

Through six innings, they joke with opponents, razz teammates, tease the umpire, and visit with spectators who fan out behind them in lawn chairs.

Base ball was once a gentlemanly affair. The hurler (pitcher) lobbed a soft, leather ball underhand where the striker (batter) wanted it. He threw it until the striker hit the ball, as there were no balls called. Once the striker either hit the ball fair or foul, or swung the bat three times, he was out. The behind (catcher), basemen and fielders played without gloves. Until the ball was struck, only the rover (short stop) could move, and basemen stood within two steps of their bases.

In 1858, the runner didn’t do anything so impolite as steal, lead off or slide into base. An umpire tallied the number of swings, as well as the number of hands outs—an early term for so many men out. In close calls, he consulted players, team captains and spectators. After three outs either at bat, foul ticks—fouls caught by the behind—field outs or put out at base, the opposite team then came to bat. The umpire also levied a 25-cent fine, a week’s wages, if players or spectators momentarily lost their good manners. Players and spectators applauded their opponents’ outstanding play, yelling “Fine ginger, Sir!” or “Well struck, Sir!” At the end of the game, teams lined up, complimented each other, and saluted each other with three “Huzzahs!” Then they walked off the field together, headed to a potluck dinner or for a drink at the local pub.

The Ground Squirrels repeat these traditions and add their own good times to the sport. Of 120 vintage base ball teams, only the Ground Squirrels beat a base drum or sputter into a bugle when a player scores.

During home games, they interrupt the action with living-history skits. Women, in long skirts, hats and blouses worn by early suffragettes, march on the field demonstrating for the right to vote. Sometimes a teetotaler causes a commotion after catching a ballist (ball player) swigging from a silver flask.

Having the rover (short stop) edge toward the cranks (fans) and steal a picnic basket from a costumed spectator has an educational purpose.

“We want spectators to learn that only the rover can move around the field,” says Lee Slider, the team’s owner.

The Ground Squirrels are a motley crew. They are tall and short, lean and thick-waisted. Some move with the grace of an athlete. Others lumber on to the field, held together more by Ace bandages than athletic ability. They come from every walk of life. When they step into the past, the politician becomes “Droopy Drawers”; the pizza delivery man becomes “Gentle Ben.” The accountant answers to “Numbers”; the teacher to “Hay Lady.” The journalist is “Cajun.” Their ages range from 25 to 58; the average age is 15 years older than members on most of the teams they play. In the early days, base ball was considered more of an exercise game than a competitive game. The status of women in the 1860s was as spectators. Finding women members on a men’s team is highly unlikely. However, since the Ground Squirrels are a government-sponsored team, they do have three female players. There are, however, women’s clubs such as Ohio Village’s Lady Diamonds in Columbus, Ohio, and the Carriage Hill Lady Clodbusters in Dayton, Ohio.

The game draws history buffs, athletes hoping to extend their playing days, and those weary of high-pressure antics of major league play.

“I got tired of being mad after games if I lost and not having fun,” says Longbons.

The Ground Squirrels played their first game in Ohio. The Columbus (Ohio) Muffins asked Slider to find players to participate in the 1992 Ohio Cup, the local Labor Day festival.

The Illinois pickup squad learned the rules and slipped into borrowed uniforms. By the tournament’s end, the pickup squad was hooked. They found their name in a local Conservation Department mascot. Their white shirts and blue bibs replicated 1860 uniforms. The Ground Squirrels’ home field, a grassy field surrounded on two sides by prairie grass, is part of the Macon County Conservation District.

Today, they play 30 matches a season with teams in Indiana, Missouri, Illinois and Ohio. They hold the annual Stephen A. Douglas Invitational Cup at the Macon County Conservation District, hosting Ohio’s Carriage Hill Clodbusters, Illinois’ Macville Mudcats, the St. Louis (Mo.) Perfectos, and Indiana’s Deep River Grinders. They were awarded the 2003 Henry Chadwick Award for helping start a second Illinois team and three in Missouri.

Members of the Rock Springs (Ill.) Ground Squirrels base ball team salute opposing teams by tipping their hats and shouting “Huzzah!” three times.

Maintaining a just-for-fun attitude has never been easy. Within five years of base ball’s first official game, pitchers were throwing overhand and hard. Runners could slide, steal and lead off base. From there, the game transformed into today’s version of America’s favorite pastime.

It’s not any easier to keep the competition in check when 18 men face off in the 21st century. The games end with a final score, and teams keep track of their wins and losses. Still, those who play with a go-for-the throat attitude don’t last long on vintage base ball’s kinder, gentler field.

“Of course, I never like to lose,” says Longbons. “But in vintage base ball, we have a good time even when we’re losing.”

Doug Dowell, a longtime Ground Squirrel, still participates in church and softball league play, yet he relishes the vintage base ball spirit.

“I’m big into the role model thing,” he says. “I couldn’t imagine throwing a temper tantrum in front of the kids watching the game.”

Jan “Hay Lady” Loftus appreciates the way she is treated during the game.

“I love playing vintage base ball,” she says. “When I go to bat, the behind tells me, ‘Strike well, Ma’am.” How often do players get that kind of encouragement from opponents?”

It’s that overall slow pace and friendly atmosphere that draws both players and fans to vintage base ball.

“The reduced competitiveness, the universal cheering of good plays by members of the opposing teams and genuine old-fashioned sportsmanship is attractive and enjoyed by both players and fans alike,” says Slider. “It is a slower defensive game and it takes a bit of time to come to appreciate. As we are prone to say: Base ball as it was meant to be played. No gloves, no fear.”

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For more information, visit the Vintage Base Ball Association’s Web site at www.vbba.org.

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