Oregon’s Ganymedes start slow, fall in second game at vintage ‘base ball’ tournament

DEARBORN, Michigan – After a bright start Saturday morning, the Ganymedes – Oregon’s vintage “base ball” team – had a bit too much brightness in their afternoon game at the 21st annual World Tournament of Historic Base Ball.

Vintage rules base ball (spelled as two words in the 1800s) is played with authentic-looking uniforms, no gloves, with “gentlemanly” conduct strongly encouraged. 1860s’ game demeanor includes no arguing of calls and no profanity and no sunglasses.

The Ganymedes opened the tournament with a 15-8 win over the Regulars BBC of Mt. Clemens, Michigan at 9:30 a.m., scoring in each of the seven innings.

Four hours later, the Ganymedes squared off against the seasoned Canton Cornhuskers, of Canton, Michigan.

The Cornhuskers jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Eric “The Liberator” Berg, with his aggressive base running, sparked a 3-run effort in the fifth inning to put the Ganymedes on the scoreboard.

Oregon then scored four more runs in the sixth inning to make it one-run margin 8-7 headed into the seventh inning.

With two outs it looked like Oregon was in position to hold the Cornhuskers scoreless, but a long fly ball bounced off the hands of Ganymede’s centerfielder to extend the inning. And then the sun really came out causing sight issues for outfielders and infielders as the Cornhuskers went on to score five runs.

The Ganymedes got one run in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough and they ended the day with a 1-1 record.

“We started out slow and then in the fifth inning we came alive,” said Ganymede Captain Mark Herman. “We cut the lead to one run, 8-7, but then Canton broke it open after that.”

With the loss, the Ganymedes ended the day 1-1 and will play the Columbus Capitals in the Second Class division at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

The tournament is held inside Greenfield Village, an attraction next to the Henry Ford Museum that features historic 19th and early 20th century buildings items, and structures collected by Henry Ford.

Model A and Model T cars and horse drawn wagons buzz by on the village streets as visitors stroll past a steam railroad yard, farms and artisan shops.

For the afternoon sessions, a brass band performed near the Village’s two fields in Walnut Grove.

Some fans, including Mikki Heng of Oregon, came dressed for the occasion wearing her vintage long dress made with gray and red accents – official Ganymede colors.

The tournament honors the long legacy of base ball in the Midwest. In 1867, Detroit played host to the World’s Base Ball Tournament, and 24 clubs from the United States and Canada took the field to compete in the game that was fast becoming the national pastime.

Teams compete for the original rosewood trophy bat awarded to the Unknowns of Jackson, Michigan, for winning the first-class division in the 1867 World’s Tournament in Detroit.

A tent near field one offered visitors a look at vintage base ball lore including an original copy of Haney’s Base Ball Book of Reference for 1867, the rule book written by Henry Chadwick and used for the World’s Tournament and for the Greenfield Village historic base ball program, along with an array of period base ball artifacts from the mid-19th century on exhibit in the Walnut Grove field tent.

All in a Name

The Ganymedes: The club’s name comes from Ganymede Spring, a local mineral water spring named by the famous journalist Margaret Fuller when she visited Oregon in 1843. According to Greek mythology, Ganymede was the cupbearer to the gods on Mount Olympus. The team’s gray and red uniforms were designed from an 1871 hometown newspaper description of the Oregon base ball club. The Ganymedes have been playing vintage rules base ball as an educational outreach program for Oregon’s Chana School Museum since 2005.

The Cornhuskers: The Cornhuskers represent Canton’s early roots in agriculture. The township of Canton, Michigan, was organized in 1834 and later on became known as “The Sweet Corn Capital of Michigan”.

The Capitals: This team is based on the original Capital Club, one of three base ball clubs formed in the spring of 1866 in downtown Columbus, Ohio. The Capitals’ uniform — dark blue trousers and hat, blue and white checked shirt with white shield — is based on newspaper accounts of the uniforms worn by the original Capital Club.