COMMUNITY
PAGE A8 ■ THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2016
SEALY NEWS
WWW.SEALYNEWS.COM
Take me [back] to the ball game America’s favorite “vintage” game leisurely invades Sealy Picnic By JASON B. HOGAN reporter@sealynews.com
In vintage baseball – the time-travelling sport that features old uniforms, old equipment and even older rules - the game and customs were much different from America’s current craft. Baseball, or “base ball” as the game was commonly spelled before the 1880s, was a gentleman’s game. It was a game of respect. On Saturday, vintage baseball resurfaced at B&PW Park in conjunction with the 2016 Spring Picnic. Appropriately, it was the first time the Sealy Area Historical Society hosted the baseball event. Teams spanning from Sealy and eastward to Houston stirred their stumps (hustled) in the outfield for two brief sixinning games. Respect and bonding might be lost art forms in this media saturated period but, then, it was about camaraderie. And while on the field Saturday, players held to the age-old rules, many of which having less to do with game play and more with conduct. No foul or uncivil language. No spitting. No alcohol consumption. No chewing of tobacco. In the 1860s, pitches were also delivered underhand to allow for good striking. There were judges, not umpires. Players were ballists. The game was a match. This weekend, in the second game – er, match - of the afternoon, the Houston Babies faced the Barker Cypress Red Sox in the presence of about 30 cranks, or fans as they are now called.
Photos by Jason B. Hogan
Some teams keep it truly traditional to the era and use made up handles on the field of play rather than their actual moniker, like Pops, Swaggy P, Bam Bam, Chowda and Flash of the Red Sox, as it helped fans to identify with players. The obvious difference in the game of yesteryear and today is the equipment. Bats were more slender and solid, closer in resemblance to bats used in stickball. And the ball itself is more rubberized, called a horsehide or onion, and
harder to get a full swing on. Some players said it feels like you are going to break your wrists when you try to get full contact on the ball. Well, that did not stop Bam Bam from lacing one into an outfield, straight-to-center gap and legging it to second base on an eventual ground rule double over the fence. On that sun-stricken diamond, players reminded those in attendance why baseball – or even base ball - remains America’s favorite pastime.
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