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Sunday, April 30, 2006
Vintage Ballgame
Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||
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Staff Writer What do Pickett's Charge and baseball have in common? You have probably never asked that question, but Mark Rohman has. So have Craig Young and Matt Bragg. The three are part of the Company B, 3rd Maine Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, a Civil War reenactment group that includes 40 to 50 active members. Baseball, or base ball as it was known in the 1860s, was a popular pastime, played it turns out, even as soldiers waited to go into battle. Young, who lives in Turner, estimates Civil War soldiers devoted 10 percent of their time to fighting. The rest was spent drilling, sleeping and in leisure activities, including base ball. The three were asked to play a game last year at Norlands Living History Center in Livermore in conjunction with a Civil War reenactment and from that was borne the Dirigo Base Ball team. "It's not that much different from regular baseball," said Rohman, 38, of Augusta. "I love baseball and I love history. This just seemed to be the marriage of the two." There are some differences though. For one, no gloves. Batted balls are caught barehanded and outs may be recorded by catching the ball on the first bounce. Balls are also pitched underhand from a distance of 45 feet and batters have the luxury of waiting for their pitch since balls and strikes are not called. Young, 54, is past his playing prime and plans to act as umpire during vintage games. He'll get no argument from players, since that is not permitted in the rules. Umpires can ask "cranks" (spectators) for their opinions, however, before making a call. The Dirigo name for the team was taken directly from a team that played in Augusta in the 1860s. There were actually two teams in town as well as teams from Hallowell and Lewiston, among other central Maine cities. Rohman has researched the Dirigo team through the Kennebec Historical Society and found they were a powerhouse. "They were undefeated," Rohman said. "They were beating these teams by 50 or 60 runs. At one point they went to Massachusetts, beat a couple of teams down there and were crowned champions." Games in those days were limited to nine innings or 100 runs which ever came first. A winning vintage team these days will usually score 25 or 30 runs. There are leagues throughout the country, many of the them in the Midwest, and even a national tournament. Winning games is important but not as important as sticking to the historical script. Bray, 21, from Brunswick, played baseball at the University of Maine at Farmington but is now hooked on the vintage game "I found out how much I enjoyed that style of baseball, getting back to the pure state of the game," he said. "People forget how much fun it was." Equipment, including the softer baseballs used, as well as vintage uniforms, can be purchased through various Web sites. Four of the Dirigo players have uniforms, which cost about $180 apiece, while others will piece together parts of Civil War garb. A complete Civil War uniform runs around $500. The team held a practice Saturday at Mill Park in Augusta. "We're trying to figure out what positions people will be playing and the batting order," Bray said. Authenticity counts, though, even in practice. Just as Civil War reenactors adhere to things like chain of command when they're on the battlefield or in camp, vintage base ballers use the terms of the day. Pitchers are called hurlers, and outfielders "left, mid and right scouts." Fly balls are known as cloud hunters and the bull pen is where the fans or cranks sit. The team is scheduled to play a tournament in Massachusetts in May and another game in Freeport on June 17. There is also a Civil War muster June 3-4 at Capitol Park in Augusta and the reenactors plan to play a pickup game, then invite members of the public to play a second game. During the Civil War, much of the baseball played occurred during prison camps. Bray said that's where many the rules evolved. It was an offshoot of town ball, which was played on a square rather than a diamond and was big in New England in the 1850s. "After the Civil War (base ball) kind of won out over town ball," Young said The game had certain drawbacks that aren't encountered today. Young read of one account of a base ball game played on the battlefield as Rebels advanced on a Union encampment and shot one of the outfielders. Most of the players have attended Civil War battle reenactments at Gettysburg, Antietam, and Bull Run among other sites, and all are fascinated with that period of American history. Base ball fits in well. "What we're looking for are activities that connect people to history generationally," Young said. "We don't pretend to be experts, we're in this for fun. We like to share ideas." More infomation about the team and vintage base ball can be found on its Web site www.dirigobaseball.org. Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638 ghawkins@centralmaine.com |
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