Vintage Base Ball in Topeka

[Ez Street]

I didn't take these pictures, but thought I'd share. I know some of you are interested in this kind of stuff.

Gallery:

http://spotted.cjonline.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=379592

The game was between the "Wichita Bull Dozers" and the "Topeka Westerns".

It took nearly 128 years to do it, but Wichita got its baseball revenge over Topeka on Saturday.

The Wichita Bull Dozers beat the Topeka Westerns 9-4 in a game played in a native grass field just south of the Kansas Museum of History.

Staged in conjunction with "Game Faces: Kansans in Sports," the museum's special exhibit on the history of sports in Kansas, the competition was played according to the rules in effect in 1860.

"The Topeka Westerns were the elite in Kansas" in those days before "base ball" became "baseball," said Vance "Bull" Davis, a co-founder of the Old Cowtown Museum Vintage Base Ball Club of Wichita.

So the outcome wasn't surprising in August 1879 when the Westerns took the train to Wichita for a game at the fairgrounds, where, the Wichita City Eagle newspaper reported, "there were about three hundred ladies and gentlemen in waiting to see the game."

"The Westerns proved too much for (the Bull Dozers), and at the end of the seventh inning they were compelled to stop the game on account of the lateness of the hour, the Westerns having beaten the Bull Dozers nearly four to one," the Eagle said.

It was a different story Saturday before about 100 spectators on the Kansas History Museum grounds.

The Wichita players had the advantage of being used to the obsolete rules as the Bull Dozers and another club team, the Red Stockings, routinely play one another at the Old Cowtown Museum and combine efforts in road games against other vintage baseball teams.

The Topeka Westerns, which were organized just for Saturday's game, had a learning curve with which to contend.

"Probably the hardest thing is remembering not to overrun first base," said Russell Burton, who pitched the first few innings for the Westerns.

The 1860 rules call for a runner to stick to the base upon reaching it or be called out.

There were other differences with which to contend.

If the ball, whether hit fair or foul, is caught in the air or after one bounce, it is an out.

Pitching must be underhand like in modern softball, and you couldn't advance to a base on balls. A batter could stand at home base and let pitches ? good and bad ? go by until he took a swing at one to his liking.

"It's much more of a gentlemanly game," Burton said. "The batter can actually call where he wants the pitch, whether he wants its high or low, and your job as a pitcher is to put it there for him."

"In modern baseball, your job is to keep it away from where they want it," Burton continued. "That's quite a difference. It makes it more of a friendly kind of game in ways."

There was a least one old rule players on both sides were probably pleased was eliminated in 1845. That was when "plugging the runner," which was done by throwing the ball at the runner to put him out, was banned.

There was talk after the game about Topeka trying to organize a Vintage Base Ball Association-sanctioned team so the competition with Wichita could become an annual event.

I'm all for Topeka getting a team. I wasn't able to attend due to a graduation party. But I was planning on going.

Wichita's team site can be found at www.cowtownbaseball.org

[NJTank]

Ive heard about leagues like this I think its very cool.

[Herk]

Pretty Neat, however I don't know about the highway in the background. Looks kind of out of place.

[Ez Street]

Yeah the is the I-470 interchange with I-70. It's to the south of the Kansas Museum of History.

[KevinMcD]

They had one of these in Mumford, NY. It was pretty neat, but some of their rules were odd, catch on 1 bounce was an out, I believe there were no walks, the pitcher was expected to throw good pitches, and others I can't remember.

[no97]

Pretty Neat, however I don't know about the highway in the background. Looks kind of out of place.

Yeah, I suppose some of these folks are lucky to take a field where they can get it...

I was lucky enough to see a Vintage Base Ball game once in Cooperstown right next to the Baseball HOF in a small clearing amongst a grove of trees. Kind of sureal in that setting, only two blocks from Doubbleday Field...

For what it's worth, for those interested, the Vintage Base Ball Association has a site - check it out...

Moose

[NJTank]

They had one of these in Mumford, NY. It was pretty neat, but some of their rules were odd, catch on 1 bounce was an out, I believe there were no walks, the pitcher was expected to throw good pitches, and others I can't remember.

I remember that on ESPN Classic. That is actually the rules they used around 1880, walks came around in 1890, and IM not sure when the catch rule changed.

[bterreson]

imagine the home run totals if these rules were still around...

[NJTank]

imagine the home run totals if these rules were still around...

They played with a different ball one that was not wound as tight and didn't go far when hit. In fact the vintage league has even recreated that type of ball from what I undertsand.

[leopard88]

Yeah the is the I-470 interchange with I-70. It's to the south of the Kansas Museum of History.

If memory serves me, the interchange was constructed in 1853, so it would have been in place at the time of the original meeting between the teams.

On a more serious note, I know BallWonk plays for a vintage base ball team. I'm sure he can fill us in with more details regarding rules, etc.

[See Red]

In the article it says that one team beat the other by a score of nearly 4-1. How does that happen? How would you go about scoring nearly 4 -- or nearly any number, by that matter -- under those old rules?

[bterreson]

imagine the home run totals if these rules were still around...

They played with a different ball one that was not wound as tight and didn't go far when hit. In fact the vintage league has even recreated that type of ball from what I undertsand.

ah, that is true.. I was more thinking about the rules about the pitchers throwing good strikes and no walks..

[whitedawg22]

I played in one of these vintage base ball games about 5 years ago in Connecticut. Tons of fun, with authentic uniforms and all. It's true, the squishy ball makes home runs all but impossible - we played with some pretty good players (including one A-level minor leaguer), and there were only a couple shots that were anywhere close. The squishy ball also lends itself to a different type of glove - smaller, with less padding - or no glove at all.

The two rule changes from modern baseball that made the most difference, in my opinion, were, of course, a ball caught off one bounce being an out, and the different fair/foul rules. In 1860s base ball, a ball that bounced anwhere in fair territory before going foul was considered a fair ball (instead of having to go inside the first/third base bag). Therefore, considering the limited power you could get on the ball, one of the strategies used by some wily veterans was to hack sideways at the ball, sending it bouncing just in front of the plate and then ricocheting far foul.

Anyway, if anyone knows of any more of these games in the Boston area over the next couple months, post something and I'll show up!

[goalieboy82]

sound fun to watch.

[McCall]

I love seeing these old-tyme games and the tradition being preserved with them. That's what baseball is all about. Upholding the tradition and love of the game. Not contracts and steroids. If the actual game could get to a level of respect as one of these games, it'd be much better off. If I thought I could find one of those games being played around here, I'd probably try and get in it if I could.