Vintage Base Ball Returns To Fort Vancouver

Friday, July 24, 2015

Robby Davis, GolocalPDX Contributor

The National Park Service at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site will be hosting an exciting evening of 1860s vintage "base ball" (formerly two words) onJuly 25th at 6 p.m. The event will be taking place at the national park’s historic Parade Ground.

This living history demonstration will feature base ball being played according to the rules that were established back in 1867. There will be costumed players, supporters, a brass concert band and a mountain howitzer firing to start the game. The staff and volunteers' mission is to help visitors step back in time and witness base ball at its infancy. The two teams that will be portrayed are the Sherman Base Ball Club, consisting of soldiers from the Army’s Fort Vancouver, and the Occidental Base Ball Club of Vancouver.

"Base ball in 1867 was a very different game than what we play in 2015," said Greg Shine, the park’s chief ranger and historian. "The hurler--the predecessor of today's pitcher--threw to the striker's liking. Players wore no gloves, and could catch the ball on one bounce for an out--though such a practice was not considered gentlemanly. In a time of growing community rivalries, there was an extensive code of conduct to ensure all would play in a gentlemanly manner. Sliding into a base, while now a standard practice, was not considered a gentlemanly activity in base ball the 1860s."

The 1860s Vintage Base Ball event is free.

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