See 1860’s Base Ball At Its Best!!!

Sponsored by:
Historical Association of South Haven and Albemarle Corporation

2015 Bark Peeler Schedule

• Saturday, June 13th – 12:00 pm vs Paw Paw Corkers and House of David Echoes at Kids Corner Field, South Haven
• Saturday, June 20th – 2:00 pm vs Paw Paw Corkers at Paw Paw City Park, Paw Paw
• Saturday, July 4th – 12:00 pm vs House of David Echoes, Eastman Field, Benton Harbor
• Saturday, July 18th – 2:00 pm vs Douglas Dutchers at Beery Field, Douglas
• Saturday, August 1st – 1:00 pm vs Livery Brewers, South Haven Peaches vs. Lil Fillies at South Haven
• Saturday, August 8th – 2:00 pm vs Kalamazoo Continentals, Kalamazoo
• Saturday, Sept 12th, -1:30 pm vs Livery Brewers and South Haven Peaches vs. Lil Fillies at Hop Yard, Benton Harbor
• Saturday, October 3rd – Hop Yard Classic at Hop Yard, Benton Harbor

Vintage Baseball is the game of baseball as it was played prior to the start of the professional game in 1876. Some of the major differences between vintage baseball and today’s game include:

• No gloves are worn by the fielders.
• A batted ball caught on one bounce is an out. This sounds pansy until you factor in that the fielders play barehanded
• There are no balls and strikes called by the umpire. A batter bats until he hits a ball into play, or until he strikes out by swinging and missing three times.
• Fielders have to stay in a specified area until the pitch is thrown. There is no moving around prior to the pitch.

The most significant difference though is the philosophy of the game. It was considered the duty of the hosting team and fans to treat the visitors with friendship and respect. This expected mode of behavior extended to the field of competition also. Examples of ungentlemanly behavior included:

• Cursing, fighting, name calling
• Calling a close play untruthfully (players made the calls back then, the umpire was there to ensure the players acted as gentlemen)
• Sliding, diving, leaving your feet

Vocabulary
Crank – A fan
Hurler – Pitcher
Behind – Catcher
One man dead – One out
Huzzah – A cheer
Well Struck – Good hit
Well played – nice catch
Ace – a run scored
Tally my ace – Count my run scored
Tallyman – Scorekeeper

A big thank you to the Historical Association of South Haven (HASH) for their sponsorship.

Also a big thank you to Albemarle Corp. for their sponsorship.