The game of baseball has evolved over the hundred+ of years of its existence and it was on full display last Sunday as the Becker Buzzards played the St. Croix Baseball Club at the Becker Athletic Complex ala 1860’s style.
The game was played with no gloves for the fielders, a “softer” ball and tubular bats that looked more like bed posts than the more polished, tapered bats of today.
St. Croix looked the part too, as several players sported long beards and uniforms that had a street-look feel to them rather than the modern uniforms pro athletes wear.
Temperatures were in the 70s and the comfortable sun was shining as fans of both teams parked themselves in the bleachers or plopped themselves down on a lawn chair along the first and third base lines. Concessions were available and family and friends yelled “huzzah” several times at the urging of the amish-looking umpire, Mr. Ebnet.
The 1860’s rules require a wooden bat with a diameter of no more than two inches and a leather-covered rubber ball 10-inches in circumference or less. Both sides played the field bare-handed and the game was played in a gentlemanly kind of way, though no team wanted to lose.
A player could be called out if the ball is caught either on the fly or after one bounce. Also, first base cannot be overrun by a player trying to reach it.
Mike Brubaker, Sherburne County History Center Director, played for the St. Croix ball club in his street clothes and a hat that barely fit his recently-pruned scalp. Other “fans” joined in to fill out the depleted roster of the St. Croix Base Ball Club.
Though the game was played in far-less seriousness than regularly scheduled games, Becker and St. Croix players gave their all in spirited competition throughout the afternoon.
In the end, the Buzzards prevailed for the second year in a row, 6-2 in nine innings.
Mike Doetkott had four hits for the Buzzards.
