Play Ball! Free Vintage Baseball is Happening Now

You’ve seen baseball, but have you seen Vintage baseball, and have you seen it played barehanded?!

If you and the little baserunners are looking for some unique and free entertainment this summer, The Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball (or TAOVBB) play games in different locations in Middle Tennessee from May through September — with many games played at historical locations in the area (such as The Hermitage, Oaklands Mansion and Bicentennial Capitol Mall).

The league, founded in 2013,  “promotes living history by bringing the 19th Century to life through America’s past time sport of base ball utilizing the rules, equipment (or lack thereof), attire and culture of the Civil War era,” according to their website.

A large number of differences exist from the rules baseball is played under today to the Vintage baseball rules of olden times. One detail you’ll find is immediately noticeable: no gloves allowed. The first officially confirmed use of a glove during a baseball game came in 1875, years after the era the league portrays.

Among the other differences between today’s and yesteryear’s game, a modern baseball has 108 stitches in a horseshoe pattern and weighs about five ounces. TAOVBB baseballs weigh almost an ounce more and its seams are stitched in a cross pattern.

The season lasts five months, April through August. For more information the Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball, visit tennesseevintagebaseball.com.

2022 Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball Schedule

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