See Baseball Played 1860s Style at This Ohio Festival

 When America’s favorite pastime got its start in the 1860s, it looked a bit different than it does today. Originally known as “base ball,” the game was a means of having fun and getting exercise.  The Ohio Cup Vintage Base Ball Festival hosted by the Ohio History Center each Labor Day weekend (Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 this year) celebrates baseball’s early days by welcoming around 30 teams from across Ohio and beyond, including Columbus’ own Ohio Village Muffins and Ohio Village Diamonds. It offers spectators the chance to see baseball played the old-fashioned way, from the uniforms worn to the rules governing the game.

The Uniforms

Long-sleeve shirts with button-on shields, short-billed caps and long pants make up the vintage base ball uniform.

“Guys that worked in like a shipyard would get together and form a team and they would often repurpose their work uniform parts into their base ball uniform,” says Aaron Seddon, manager and player for the Ohio Village Muffins.

Some early baseball players were volunteer firemen, who wore shields pinned to the front of their work clothes to keep cinders from burning through to their skin. These shields were oftentimes embroidered with their brigade or unit symbol and were then transformed into base ball uniforms after the day’s work was done.

“We also wear our belts backwards, which is another representation of the era where players would take their work belts, flip them around and write the team’s name on the belt,” Seddon says.

The Rules

The 1860s rules are similar to today’s game, but there are differences. For one, pitches must be delivered underhand, and they are not usually judged as balls or strikes (although an umpire may call a strike if the batter persists in not swinging at good pitches). The batter, or “striker,” must straddle a line that intersects home plate rather than stand within a batter’s box. The biggest difference, though, is the fact that baseball gloves were not used until the 1870s, meaning the 1860s game is played bare handed.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges for people when starting out,” Seddon says.

The pace of the game was also different then, as a matchup was more about community, wellness and fun, rather than stats, scores and records. In the 1860s game, the point of the pitcher is to help the batter put the ball in play, allowing participants to run around and get exercise. Instead of trying to get the competitive advantage, the batter and pitcher communicate to figure out where they want the ball to be hit to create the most exciting game.  

“There’s certainly a level of competitiveness, but it’s not the same hyper competitiveness that you get when baseball is a profession,” Seddon says. “The point is to put the ball in play so people can catch the ball, throw the ball, and it’s for recreation and enjoyment.”

The Teams

About 30 teams will play during the two-day festival, including teams from throughout Ohio as well as out-of-state participants such as the Whytheville Statesmen from Virginia and the Deep River Grinders from Indiana. Columbus’ Ohio Village Muffins will play, as will their counterpart female team, the Ohio Village Diamonds.

The Ohio Village Muffins began playing in 1981, while the Diamonds came along in 1996 to represent women of the 1800s who started to play base ball on college campuses while earning their degrees. By 1866, teams formed, and women would play in plainclothes, which is reflected by the Diamonds, who wear work dresses of the time period during matches.

After the game, history and baseball enthusiasts alike can ask questions of the Muffins and Diamonds players to learn more about this bygone sports era from some of the people who know it best.

“I’ve been doing this for 14 years now, and we’ve had people on our team who started in 1981,” Seddon says. “It becomes a real community, and we consider ourselves a family.”

The Festival

Because base ball was all about building community, the Ohio Cup Vintage Base Ball Festival invites the public to attend the event, which routinely attracts over 300 players for one of the largest gatherings of vintage base ball teams in the United States.

More than 60 games will be played over the course of one weekend (Aug. 31 and Sept. 1), at Columbus’ 17th Avenue Fields (a temporary relocation of the festival while Ohio Village is closed for renovations). The festival is free, and on-site food trucks will serve food to enjoy during the games. Spectators can bring a lawn chair or a blanket and take in as many vintage base ball games as they’d like over the course of the festival.  

“Come out and enjoy seeing the change from what modern base ball looks like to what we’re representing,” Seddon said. “Come out and see the evolution of base ball and of America.”

For more information, visit ohiohistory.org/events/ohio-cup.

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