1880s Vintage Base Ball Opening Day | Golden Gate Park

Come on out to Big Rec in Golden Gate Park (7th Ave and Irving) and see base ball played by 1880s rules, using vintage style uniforms and equipment.

The vintage base ball team, San Francisco Pelicans host their first game of the 2013 season against the San Francisco Pacifics on Sunday, March 10 at noon.

Bay Area Vintage Base Ball is the first and longest running vintage base ball league in the Bay Area. They play by the rules of 1886 with small gloves, large wooden bats, old style uniforms and umpires in top hats and strive for historical accuracy.

1880s Vintage Base Ball Opening Day
Sunday, March 10, 2013 – Noon
Big Rec Field, Golden Gate Park (7th & Irving)
FREE

Hurlers (don’t call them pitchers) work not from a mound but from a box 50 feet from the plate. They cannot employ knuckleballs or split-fingered fastballs or any other delivery that was developed post-1886. Spitballs? Why not? They were legal back then. Read more at sfgate.com

VINTAGE BASE BALL TERMINOLOGY

Aces = Runs
Baller, Ballist = Player
Behind = Catcher
Blind, Blinder = No score
Bound = Bounce
Bounder = A bouncing ball that doesn’t go out of the infield
Capital = The best, first rate. (ie.”capital play!”)
Captain = Manager
Cranks = Base ball fans
Daisy Cutter = A sharply hit ground ball
Garden = Outfield
Ginger = Determination, quick fierce play
Hand = An out. “Three hands down” ends an inning.
Hurler = Pitcher
Match, match game = A game between two clubs, as opposed to intra-club games.
Muff = A muffed ball is a missed catch or grounder.
Muffin = A less talented player on a club. Also called a “scrub.”
Picked Nine = An early type of all star team. The best local players picked to play a specific club passing through the area.
Safety = A safe hit.
Sky ball = Pop-up
Short Field = An early name for a shortstop.
Striker = Batter
“Striker to the line” = Batter Up
Tally = To score a run; score.

You may hear phrases during the game such as:

“Nice ginger!”
“Let’s get a daisy cutter.”
“We’ve got two hands down.”
“Sounds like the cranks are restless.”
“Ducks on the pond for ya.

 

Links: Event details

Cost: FREE
Categories: **Annual Event**, *Top Pick*, KFOG, San Francisco, Sports & Fitness Submitted by Rena Ragimova