By Joshua Robison / The Jambar
The Akron Black Stockings Base Ball Club played the Youngstown State University baseball team Sept. 19 at Volney Rogers Field in both a demonstration and exhibition game as part of the YSU America250 celebrations.
Amy Fluker, associate professor of history, said a pastime such as baseball allows people to better connect with history.
“It just always helps to think of the past as not dead or dusty or dry, just in a book, but that history was lived by people,” Fluker said. “People like to have fun and people like to play games, and so this is just one way of connecting with the humanity of history.”
The Black Stockings was established in 1995 and joined the Vintage Base Ball Association in 1996. According to the Black Stockings website, VBBA provides a way to recreate baseball games as played in earlier years.
The Black Stockings play baseball with rules and terminology from 1864, according to Ron Gay, Black Stockings arbiter — or umpire. In 1864, the pitcher was called the hurler, batters were called strikers, errors were called muffs and the shortstop was called the rover. Players, known as ballists, were not permitted to use fielding gloves.
Base running also differs from modern baseball as players could not slide while running bases. Base runners can only attempt to steal on a muff, and they are only granted a two-step lead from the bag or sack. Runners may not overrun any of the sacks except for home plate and do not need to tag the bag before advancing on a fly ball, or bound.
During an at bat, the striker receives no ball or strike calls from the arbiter. Only swing and misses are called strikes.
While teaching viewers about vintage baseball, the Black Stockings try to get young people interested in baseball. Gay said it is important that young people show interest in vintage baseball.
“We need to get young people more involved in vintage baseball,” Gay said. “It’s a big, big thing across the country, and we like to see younger people get involved.”
The modern sports world is highly competitive with few athletes playing at the professional level. Gay said he believes that teams such as the Black Stockings give athletes the chance to live out their passion for the game.
“You just don’t make it past a certain level playing baseball,” Gay said. “If you’re lucky enough to play in college, [a majority] of those college kids aren’t going to go pro. This gives them an alternative.”
Gay said baseball was meant to be a gentleman’s game, played with a level of sportsmanship and respect, and maintaining the values of these origins is the ultimate goal for the Black Stockings.
“[Baseball] was a gentleman’s game. You played with respect, you played with dignity, you played for the love of the game,” Gay said. “That’s what we want to bring back to baseball.”