Tell them thank you. This young lady was competing in a baseball tournament where the teams follow the rules of baseball that were in place in 1876. She is one heck of a ball player. BTW, no gloves for catching the ball either. 12 teams from as far away as 500 miles or so. One tam came form Canada. Since the pitcher has to throw the ball so the batter can hit it these are very fun games to watch. A lot of action. I like this shot because it is the classic cliche baseball shot. Sadly she popped out during this at bat. She did get several other hits and her team won 29-6.

[normhead]

When I lived in Orillia my cleaning lady, a farm girl, was playing in the ladies league, I was playing in the mens league. She hit more balls over the 300 foot fence than I did. I only wish I could swing like that girl.

[boriscleto]

Are they using authentic bats though? They were mostly very large and made of hickory. Only a few hitters used anything other than a cross handed grip, they were slapping at the ball to put it in play, not swing for the fences. They could also ask for the pitch to be high or low...

[normhead]

Are they using authentic bats though? They were mostly very large and made of hickory. Only a few hitters used anything other than a cross handed grip, they were slapping at the ball to put it in play, not swing for the fences. They could also ask for the pitch to be high or low...

And where would you get one of those?

[reh321]

When I lived in Orillia my cleaning lady, a farm girl, was playing in the ladies league, I was playing in the mens league. She hit more balls over the 300 foot fence than I did. I only wish I could swing like that girl.

When I was in 8th grade, my homeroom teacher was a gym teacher named Betsy Jochum. When she was younger, she had been one of the stars of the South Bend Blue Sox, one of the teams in the AAGPBL, the league which inspired the film "A League of Their Own".

[reh321]

Are they using authentic bats though? They were mostly very large and made of hickory. Only a few hitters used anything other than a cross handed grip, they were slapping at the ball to put it in play, not swing for the fences. They could also ask for the pitch to be high or low...

And where would you get one of those?

I'm guessing someone would have to hand-turn them on a lathe.

[boriscleto]

And where would you get one of those?

You can find just about anything on the Internet...

I've seen a number of hand turned bats for sale, but they are usually ash...

[gaweidert]

Are they using authentic bats though? They were mostly very large and made of hickory. Only a few hitters used anything other than a cross handed grip, they were slapping at the ball to put it in play, not swing for the fences. They could also ask for the pitch to be high or low...

Since they did not look like the bats used today, I think so. Several players did slap at the ball. but when a fat one come across they would take a swing at it. Also. balls and strikes were not called by the umpire unless the hurler (pitcher) could not get the ball across the plate or the batter would not swing at what the ump considered good enough pitches. Three balls constitute a walk and all players on base advance one base. For instance if a person was on third and first and second were open, a walk would advance the person on third home scoring the run.


As this was the "dead ball" era, swinging for the fence did not necessarily get you a home run. If you hit a foul fly ball and it is caught on the fly or after only once bounce it is an out. With only one umpire, close calls on the bases were settled by the honor system.


The tournament was a lot of fun to watch with as many as three games going on at any one time. We only went one day. I do not know which team won.

[normhead]

Since they did not look like the bats used today, I think so. Several players did slap at the ball. but when a fat one come across they would take a swing at it. Also. balls and strikes were not called by the umpire unless the hurler (pitcher) could not get the ball across the plate or the batter would not swing at what the ump considered good enough pitches. Three balls constitute a walk and all players on base advance one base. For instance if a person was on third and first and second were open, a walk would advance the person on third home scoring the run.


As this was the "dead ball" era, swinging for the fence did not necessarily get you a home run. If you hit a foul fly ball and it is caught on the fly or after only once bounce it is an out. With only one umpire, close calls on the bases were settled by the honor system.


The tournament was a lot of fun to watch with as many as three games going on at any one time. We only went one day. I do not know which team won.

It looks like a blast, but then I think any form of baseball is a blast. As for the ash vs, hickory, Ash probably makes a bat that makes the ball go further. Hickory is also probably a little harder to find. When I was a wood working teacher I had a couple of kids make their own bats on the school lathes. I couldn't even get hickory up here, they were made of ash.

[boriscleto]

Since they did not look like the bats used today, I think so. Several players did slap at the ball. but when a fat one come across they would take a swing at it. Also. balls and strikes were not called by the umpire unless the hurler (pitcher) could not get the ball across the plate or the batter would not swing at what the ump considered good enough pitches. Three balls constitute a walk and all players on base advance one base. For instance if a person was on third and first and second were open, a walk would advance the person on third home scoring the run.


As this was the "dead ball" era, swinging for the fence did not necessarily get you a home run. If you hit a foul fly ball and it is caught on the fly or after only once bounce it is an out. With only one umpire, close calls on the bases were settled by the honor system.


The tournament was a lot of fun to watch with as many as three games going on at any one time. We only went one day. I do not know which team won.

The foul bound catch wasn't eliminated until 1883.

In 1879 the number of "called balls" became 9 and all pitches were either strikes, balls, or fouls. Base on balls was reduced to 8 "called balls" in 1880. Also in 1880 a catcher had to catch the pitch on the fly to record an out on the third strike. Base on balls was reduced to 6 "called balls" in 1884, 5 in 1887 (4 "called strikes" that year only) and calls for high or low pitch was abolished, and the current 4 in 1889.

Baseball wasn't really fully modern until the turn of the century...They added a cork to the ball in 1910, and the current live ball appeared in 1920.

Baseball Rule Change Timeline

The first real home run hitter was Dan Brouthers. He hit 107 in his career. He also had 205 triples and a .519 slugging average. Only a few 19th century players had more (Roger Connor, Sam Thompson, Harry Stovey, Jimmy Ryan)



Dan Brouthers - Wikipedia