Bay Area Vintage Base Ball | Hacker News Reader

Bay Area Vintage Base Ball

bavbb.com

64 pointskaycebasques25 comments

I have heard of this. Never gone to a game, but it's now on my list.

At risk of derailing the conversation (feel free to downvote; I won't be offended): I saw a thread on Quora that made me think of vintage bike racing.

Same equipment and rules as the Tour de France of 1910 or so. What do you think?

Checked it out for the first time on Sunday. Granted it was a rare perfect San Francisco summer day but it was very pleasant! The cost was just right (free). Also my grandpa told me he has fond memories of playing at Big Rec so it's pretty trippy to watch games there with that family history in the back of my mind.

There's Eroica [0], which is vintage bike racing but which uses slightly more modern equipment. The aim is to recreate the atmosphere of the 1950s- officially the rules say bikes must be pre-1987, but a lot of riders use significantly older ones.

[0]https://eroica.cc/en/eroica-cc/ethos

Would there be safety concerns with using vintage bikes?

(Or, I guess, vintage-style bikes, as I doubt anyone would risk an antique.)

I don't expect those safety concerns to stop anyone, of course, I'm merely curious.

If the bike has been cared for, I don’t think age should be a problem. At the Eroica mentioned elsewhere in this thread, people have taken part with bikes a hundred years old[1].

[1] https://eroica.cc/en/eroica-cc/ethos

> vintage-style bikes, as I doubt anyone would risk an antique

right. Of course, there are antique car races (I think. Aren't there?). And building an antique-style bike according to strict rules is probably well within the budget of plenty of people.

[1] is what inspired this. No derailleur. You have to carry your own spare parts. No assistance from anyone.

Replicating the road conditions might be tough, but there are parts of back country US that might suffice.

[1] https://qr.ae/pv4Qo3

In a similar vein "real tennis, dating from the 1500s, is still played. The court is a model of a monastery's cloisters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_tennis

I wish there was more opportunity for adults to play amateur baseball. Lots of softball around, but the feel of catching and hitting and throwing a baseball is just so much more satisfying.

I'll try and catch a game of BAVBB some time, even if I probably can't commit enough time to actually play.

In Minnesota there is a vibrant history of adult baseball leagues, but the problem is that if you didn't play in college (or at least high school or American Legion ball) you will probably not be able to compete. Unlike softball leagues, they are generally meant for baseball players (with at least a modicum of talent) to continue playing into their 30's and 40's.

I didn’t have the hitting talent to play even at the high school level, but was able to join the 30+ division of the Boston adult baseball league. At least on our team, showing up and doing your job consistently was enough to make it fun and I never felt unwelcome.

The sound off the wood bat and feeling of joy after hitting a bomb is even better than off the Little League aluminum bats.

I don't live in MN but there are also adult baseball leagues here but teams tend to consist of former minor league players, college, or high school baseball players who couldn't or didn't want to make a career out of playing baseball.

I've played adult slow pitch softball at the C, D, & E levels. A-C levels are essentially former (usually older) minor leaguers. Even D league is quite competitive if you haven't played organized baseball or softball at some point.

EDIT: Showing up, which is how I got to play in a C league, is usually enough but it can get personally demoralizing if you're in the wrong league for your level.

I feel exactly the same way

Not trying to highjack this thread but maybe look into this?

http://bamsbl.com/

Cool the rules from 1886 allowed the batsman to ask the pitcher for a high or low ball! And the bat could be flat on one side like a cricket bat! And spitballs were still legal!

It’s a fun league to play in. There’s a range of age and talent, but still competitive. They have open play days in the late fall for people to try it and fill empty team slots.

The gloves (think gardening glove) take some getting use to, so be aware and prepare for some banged up fingers while getting used to catching :)

I’ll also add that the field location in GG Park is a great setting to enjoy a Sunday afternoon outside.

Great find. Just put my name in. If you’re also in Palo Alto, consider registering and maybe we can form a team.

This is apparently A Whole Thing http://tennesseevintagebaseball.com/f-a-q/

"1886 rules, equipment and etiquette."

I want to make some sort snarky comment about how slavery would have been legal and rampant in the era these people are choosing to glamorize.

But at the same time, I totally get it.. as an avid ice hockey fan, the game is now ruled by high-tech equipment and more importantly big-data analysis that has diminished personal creativity and the "art" of the game. Footage of historic games are also completely void of billboard advertisements everywhere and that strange artificially hyped environment with screens ordering fans to "CHEER LOUD NOW!".

Conan Plays Old Timey Baseball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS39vMhag-A

Slavery was not legal anywhere in the US in 1886.

*except prison.

You're right, my bad. Was super-fresh though, and I can't imagine everyone just magically got along by 1886.

Baseball was thoroughly segregated by skin color until 1944, when the first Major League Baseball commissioner (who was highly opposed to integration) died.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_league_baseball

You're largely right, but in 1886 there were several black players in the minor leagues, one of them having spent 1884 in the MLB. The total segregation didn't begin until 1888.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Fleetwood_Walker

Ah, thanks. My knowledge of baseball history mostly stops at “I read an article about the Negro League in Smithsonian Magazine once and it stuck in my head well enough to let me dig it out of Wikipedia for this conversation”. :)

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