What is Vintage Base Ball?
Vintage base ball at Wade House is the re-creation of the styles, speech, rules and terminology of the 1860s game. It's not only a competitive game, but also a re-enactment of baseball life, similar to an American Civil War re-enactment.
Back then, the game's name was two words rather than one. Vintage base ball incorporates historical details enjoyed by both players ("ballists") and fans ("cranks"). Players wield fat-handled bats at lemon peel-stitched balls. No one wears gloves and there are no strike zones. Above all, it's a gentleman's game in which there is no showboating or taunting, and the umpire is always addressed as "Sir." Learn more vintage terminology.
Vintage base ball is a fast-growing sport in the United States. Until recently, the game had been mostly a local phenomenon, with clubs playing weekend games in open parks under a variety of rules. Now there are 225 clubs in 32 states.
Vintage Base Ball at Wade House
In 2006 a group of volunteers from Wade House, Marian University and the Fond du Lac and Sheboygan communities resurrected the Dead Citys Base Ball Club as a tribute to the original team formed in 1871.
The team completed its fourth season of play in 2009. With its unkempt field, underhand pitching and no gloves, the scores can be extremely high. The Greenbush Dead Citys are joined by the Eagle Diamonds, the Milwaukee Cream Citys and the Milwaukee Grays as charter members of the 19th-Century Base Ball Clubs of Wisconsin.