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Sunday afternoon the Shumsky organization held their employee appreciation event at 5/3rd Field in Dayton and welcomed the vintage base ball clubs the Tippecanoe Canal Jumpers of Tipp City and the Clodbusters of Kettering.
The vinage ball clubs provided Shumsky employees and their families with a rare opportunity to see baseball played by its original rules. The National Association of Base Ball Players adopted its first uniform code of rules in 1860, and the rules have evolved a lot in the last 150 years.
About Vintage Base Ball
Vintage baseball was played without gloves or mitts (gloves weren’t introduced into the game until 1875), so players caught the ball with bare hands, which often led to painful results. The pitcher was expected to pitch the ball so the striker (batter) could hit it, and strikes were called only on a clean swing and miss. Even the home run was different; just because you hit it out of the park didn’t mean you automatically scored an ace (run). That’s because the ball remained in play anywhere, even over the fences!
Baseball was a gentleman’s game. Plays on the bases were on the honor system, so the base runner and baseman would agree on a call, and the umpire would only make a ruling if the two players couldn’t agree. The umpire also did not generally call balls and strikes, but left that to the honor system as well.
The lingo was different too. In addition to talking about club nines, matches, strikers, and aces, 1860 players knew the catcher as a “behind.” A foul ball was referred to as a “foul tick” and was not considered a strike.
Matchplay
As the result of the bat drop, the Canal Jumpers were up to bat first and drew first blood against the Clodbusters with Adam “Richochet” Blake’s rip to right field causing an RBI which forced Mikey “Care Package” McDermott across home plate.
The more experienced Clodbusters Ball Club exhibited their prowess in the seconding inning scoring three aces making the score 3-1.
Beneath the hot sun, both clubs exhibited strong defensive play with no aces being tallied during 6 consecutive innings.
The 8th Inning welcomed two more aces for the Canal Jumpers bringing the score to 3-3. The Canal Jumpers were swiftly denied any offensive rally in the 9th and final inning of match play and the seasoned Clodbusters turned up the heat to rally to a 5-3 win over the Canal Jumpers.
The Tippecanoe Canal Jumpers would like to thank their worthy adversaries the Clodbusters, the Dayton Dragons for their awesome hospitality, and Chad “Ace” Beam of Shumsky for his help in coordinating this great day of base ball.
