Vintage baseball
The Lightfoot and Mountain City Clubs of the Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball will take to the former Army Post at Fort Oglethorpe’s polo field next Saturday in their second home match of the season. The Mountain City Club will battle the Nashville Maroons at noon with the Lightfoot Club taking on the Emmett Machinists of Knoxville at 2:30 p.m.
In conjunction with the Vintage Base Ball matches, the Smithsonian Institute’s “Hometown Teams” national exhibition is on display at the 6th Cavalry Museum through June 18. For more than 100 years, sports have reflected the trials and triumphs of the American experience and helped shape the national character.
Whether it is professional sports or those played on the collegiate or scholastic level, amateur sports or sports played by kids on the local playground, sports are everywhere in America.
“Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America” is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host institutions.
In the spirit of part living history, part sporting event; Vintage Base Ball’s mission is to entertain and educate by recreating the civility of 19th century barehanded base ball, played on an open field. The league observes the rules and customs of the 1860’s with ballists playing in period-appropriate uniforms, using period-appropriate equipment and customs. Baseball was a gentleman's game back then. There was no spittin', no swearin' and no gloves, it was noted.
Vintage Base Ball and admission to the 6th Cavalry Museum is free to attend. Spectators are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets as there is no bleacher seating. Period dress is encouraged but not required. Contact Chris McKeever at 706-861-2860 or 6thcavalrymuseum.org for more information.