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Slow Down Sunday (Marshmallow style)

99007

El Dookey loves to ride.
After the nitro burning excitement of Saturday at the drags, I needed to mellow out. Once again combining my cub reporter part-time job with my desire to ride my marshmallow ass around West Michigan I headed west to see a game of vintage baseball played in the village of Douglas on the shore of the big lake.

Traveling in true MB style, I didn't have no stinking map nor GPS so I got a little lost. kept heading in the general direction. Rode on a couple of arrow straight state roads I will avoid in the future and found myself at the park in time for the national anthem and the game.

Vintage baseball. This dude is the umpire. He watches from a stool just a bit towards first by the plate. There are no strikeouts, no tagging up and a ball caught on the first bounce is an out just like a fly ball. (Hey, they are playing with no gloves on - give 'em a break.)
 

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Vintage Baseball

The ball is the same size as a modern baseball, but it gets softer the more often it is hit.
They pitch underhand with all kinds of english/spin. Here is Richard "Bubba" Olsen getting ready to hum that pea to the plate.
 

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Lots of different rules

These players cannot spit nor swear. If they do, then they pay a fine to the "tally man" who also keeps track of "aces" (runs) and "dead men" (outs).
When one completes a circuit of the bases, he goes to the tally man's table and asks, "Please record my ace (run), Mr. Tally Man."

The rules circa 1865 were all about politeness. The umpire will allow the "gentlemen" in the game to call their own plays.

Here is the tally man Samuel "Music Man" Phillipe
 

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It ain't easy on third base

This is Robert "Animal" Chalice. (All the vintage guys have nicknames and they address each other by them. Mmmm, kinda like the beemer forum, eh?)
Animal played 3rd for most of the double header, but he caught a line drive in the middle of the second game and left the field to keep his hand on ice for the remainder.
 

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sometimes you need a ump

Here is Animal with one of the Luddington Mariners players and they are awaiting the call from "Hawkeye" the ump.
The ability of Hawkeye to see straight came into play, good naturedly of course, near the end of the second game when he called a foul ball fair. Even the team it benefited was laughing about the deal.
Bottom line: Vintage baseball is fun to watch. The rules are a bit different, but you get used to them PDQ. It is a neat mixture of sport and historical reinactment.
On the way home, I realized I had missed another big bike event while I was marshmallowing. As I headed north for awhile I kept seeing Southband groups of bikes. I missed the blessing of the bikes up north a piece.
Oh well, I like baseball......
The double header ended in one game each for the Douglas Dutchers and the Luddington Mariners.
 

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Did they have beer and hot dogs Cliffy? Great report, I will have to go see one of those games. Probably won't get to play since they want gentlemen on the field.
 
No on the beer

They had lemonade, very good hot dogs and peanuts in the shell. I was hoping the lemonade would be the kind you get at the fair - where they squeeze the lemons in front of you, add some sugar and shake it all about. But I think it came from a can. Dogs were top shelf however.
 
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