1867 ‘base ball’ game set for Fort on July 23

VANCOUVER – A 150-year-old version of the national pastime returns to Fort Vancouver on Saturday, July 23.

A vintage game of base ball — played by the rules of the 1860s — will take place at 6 p.m. at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, on the Parade Ground near the reconstructed bandstand. The event is free.

Costumed national park staff and volunteers will portray two of the Pacific Northwest’s earliest baseball teams: the Sherman Base Ball Club, consisting of soldiers from the Army’s Vancouver Barracks, and the Occidental Base Ball Club, representing the city of Vancouver.

The game will be played by the rules outlined in an 1867 book. The hurler threw to the batter’s liking, and there were no called strikes. Players wore no gloves, and could catch the ball on one bounce for an out, although it was considered unmanly.

Many historians credit the 19th century U.S. Army for the spread of base ball throughout the country during and after the Civil War.

On May 11, 1867, an organized team of Vancouver Barracks soldiers beat the Occidental Base Ball Club of Vancouver 45-5.

Between innings, the Vancouver Community Concert Band will play patriotic music from the 19th century.

To learn more about early base ball in Vancouver, go to http://go.usa.gov/5cmh.