A great day for Vintage ballists to play 4

America's past time went retro again on Sunday at Garfield Park, where seven 1880s-rules Vintage Base Ball League teams converged to play in the Indianapolis Hoosiers Cup tournament.

Although the "look" of the team uniforms, the style of play and even the vernacular -- hitters were called "strikers" and players were called "ballists" -- might have been old-school, the enjoyable atmosphere of America's game was every bit contemporary Sunday. Weather cooperated fully, so much so that Ernie Banks, the Major League Baseball Hall of Famer whose love of the game is remembered by his catch phrase: "It's a beautiful day for a ballgame; let's play two!", might even have quipped Sunday: "Let's play four!"

That's because there were four rounds of games, beginning at 11 a.m. and running through about 5 p.m. Actually, only three teams played four games -- the Hoosiers, Indianapolis Blues and a team that combined players of two clubs from St. Louis. Each round, one of the four other teams had a bye. They played on three makeshift diamonds in the expansive green between the park's aquatic center and landmark pagoda.

A fourth diamond was going to be included, as eight teams initially committed to participate. But the Unions and Perfectos of St. Louis ended up combining to form one team due to personal reasons that heavily depleted the Unions' squad.

I caught and photographed parts of games in the first two of four rounds before calling it a day. It was my third shoot of Vintage Base Ball at the park, home field for the Hoosiers. I was on hand for the Cup in June 2010, and stopped in briefly -- not more than 15 minutes -- earlier this summer to test a specific lens for shooting baseball.

Sunday was my first look at the Unions and Perfectos, as well as the Vermilion (Ill.) Voles and West Lafayette Couriers, the former Mulberry Manglers, which had participated in the 2010 Cup.
Also participating Sunday were three local teams -- the host Hoosiers, the White River Base Ball Club and the Indianapolis Blues -- and the Batesville Lumbermen. Several of the teams are members of the umbrella Vintage Base Ball Association.

A full gallery of photos from the Hoosiers Cup is at my site at SmugMug.

Above: It was common to see teammates in the background when a fellow ballist was in the batter's box. 

Above: One of the interesting styles of underhand pitching seen Sunday. This hurler was a member of the Vermilion Voles.

Above: Outfielders, or "scouts," for the combined Perfectos and Unions of St. Louis converged to catch this fly ball in their Round 2 game against the Hoosiers. The Old English lettering on the jersies combined with the "vintage" nature of the sport prompted the idea to use a monochrome version of this image filtered in an "Antique" tint. 

Above: The front sides of the St. Louis Perfecto jersies stood out and were easily the most colorful outfits on the field.

Above: A delivery by a hurler for the Cup host team, the Indianapolis Hoosiers. I chatted with this ballist briefly during the team's opening game against the Voles, and he told me a hurler often incurs hand injuries for instinctively trying to "glove" liners off the bats of hitters going back up the middle. There is little time to think -- and to remember -- that these teams play 19th-century rules, when ballists did not wear mitts or gloves. He has two permanent injuries to his hands, including a finger that won't straighten. 

Above and below: A pitcher for the Batesville Lumbermen saw this shot off the bat of a striker for the White River Base Ball Club come right back at him. He did not try to "glove" the ball; he did well to dodge the liner altogether.

The Vintage style rules allow for a putout if an outfielder gathers a fly ball on the first bounce, as this Vermilion Voles outfieler, or "scout," is doing. Baserunners are not required to tag up on a one-bounce flyout; they must tag up, however, if an outfielder catches a fly in the traditional no-bounce form. 

Above: A Voles batter, or "striker" as the league calls the hitter, takes a cut at this pitch.

Above: There weren't enough umpires to work all the games as this period-dressed umpire did for a game between the Hoosiers and Perfectos-Unions. In games without umpires, teams dutifully abide an honor system in which the batting team designates one of its ballists to call fair or foul balls and any plays at the plate. 

Above: Ballists for the Indianapolis Blues stood behind home plate during their Round 2 game against the Voles. 

Above: Another pitching style, this by a hurler for the White River Base Ball Club.

Above: A fielder prepares to attempt a putout on batted ball. 

Above: A left-handed Batesville Lumberman striker makes contact with the pitch in a game against White River.

Above: A wide-angle overview shot of the open area where three games were played at a time. Closest to the camera was a game between Batesville and White River.

Above: A Hoosiers striker prepares to take a cut at a pitch.

Above and next six below: Fans -- known as "cranks" in Vintage Base Ball jargon -- dotted the grounds during the tournament, as these images document.

Above and next two below: At the conclusion of the West Lafayette Couriers' first-round game against the Indianapolis Blues, leaders of both teams salute the competition and "cranks," then teams conclude the match with well wishes to each other.

America's pastime, vintage-style

The Indianapolis Blues, Indianapolis Hoosiers, Mulberry Manglers, White River Base Ball Club and Batesville Lumbermen were among Indiana teams that participated Saturday in a Vintage Base Ball Association Regional Tournament at Garfield Park in Indianapolis. (Mulberry, by the way, is a town southeast of Lafayette, Ind. )

The six teams -- the St. Louis Unions and Lockport (Ill.) Sleepers also participated, although the Sleepers and White River ended up pairing up to form one team -- played for the Hoosier Cup, which goes to the team with the best record in the day's competition. Each team plays three games.

Vintage teams play in 19th-century garb and use rules from the late 1880s as well. On Saturday, they played on three all-grass diamonds at the park, which I've since learned is typical for Vintage Base Ball; they rarely use the traditional dirt infields. It really was interesting to behold; some scenes reminded me a bit of the "Field of Dreams" motion picture.

Most of these images were taken from the game between the Lumbermen and the Manglers, which the Lumbermen won, 13-8; I was taken by the Lumbermen's uniforms, so I hung around their game bit longer. However, a few images also were taken from the Blues-Sleepers/White River game.

According to a story on the Cup at the Batesville Tribune website, the Lumbermen claimed the Hoosier Cup that day. They and the Hoosiers both won all three of their games, but the Lumbermen got the nod on the tiebreaker, which is a team's total runs scored in the tournament. The Lumbermen scored 43 to the Hoosiers' 38.

This is a scene where I was half-expecting to see "Shoeless" Joe Jackson walk out from the wooded area in the background, a la "Field of Dreams." And no, your eyes aren't deceiving you; there really is a discernible knoll in the area between where the outfielder in the foreground, the center-fielder, stands (on higher ground) and where his teammate in the background, the left-fielder, is situated.

A photographer loves those "point of contact" shots.

A Manglers pitcher -- er, hurler, as they refer to it in Vintage Base Ball -- is ready to toss another to a member of the Lumbermen. A few of the hurlers I saw Saturday made a point to hold the ball up like this before beginning their underhand motion.

Because the VBBA defenses don't use mitts, the chances of cleanly snagging ground balls or catching fly balls or throws from teammates are greatly reduced. Here, a Manglers defender can't come up with a throw from an infielder on a grounder to retire a sliding Lumberman at first base (or, the first sack). On close plays at first sack, sliding is virtually a necessity -- and not nearly as hurtful on grass as it would be on dirt -- because overruning first base is not protected, or "safe" territory, in Vintage Base Ball as it is in today's game. In the background, near the pagoda, the game involving the Indianapolis Blues unfolds.

Another point-of-contact photo.

An Indianapolis Blues outfielder attempts to catch a fly ball cleanly without the aid of a fielding mitt. He did not succeed.


This Lumbermen shortstop came up with a ground ball cleanly and was preparing to throw to first base -- guarded by the first sacker -- to retire the hitter.


With the well-known Garfield Park pagoda as a backdrop, this scene frames the last pitch of the Blues' game against the Sleepers. The Lockport hitter swung and missed.

Note the hitter's textbook plate form: Keeping his eyes on the ball and using a stride that smoothly shifts his weight from the back foot to the front foot. In an umpired game today, however, this hitter might have been called out because his front foot is well beyond where the batter's box lines would be drawn.

A Lumberman base-runner (right) heads home to score on a hit by a teammate while the Manglers' pitcher prepares to back up the catcher -- called "the behind" in Vintage ball -- if a fielder makes a play on the runner. There was no play, however; this runner scored.


After the Blues' game, Sleepers players went through a hat salute of some sort. I didn't catch the audio, but it could very well have been to fellows players and those who came to watch.

Afterward, players exchanged handshakes.