Vintage “base ball” is returning to Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. After a one-year respite, the 1867 version of America’s pastime will be played at 6 p.m. Saturday on the Parade Ground opposite Officers Row just south of Evergreen Boulevard.
Costumed staff and volunteers will portray two of the Pacific Northwest’s first baseball teams, the Occidental Base Ball Club of Vancouver and the Pioneer Base Ball Club of Portland.
The free nine-inning game will include a brass band concert, and a howitzer firing to start the game.
“Base ball in 1867 was a very different game than the modern form played today,” Greg Shine, the park’s chief ranger and historian, said in a news release. “The hurler — the predecessor of today’s pitcher — threw to the striker’s liking. Players wore no gloves, and could catch the ball on one bounce for an out — though such a practice was not considered ‘gentlemanly.'”
