06/25/2007

Island's Vintage Baseball Club to Host Rochester Grangers July 21

Mackinac Island, Mich. — The cranks will cry “Huzzah!” as the hurlers, behinds, and strikers of the Fort Mackinac Never Sweats and the Rochester (Michigan) Grangers square off for their fifth annual vintage baseball match on Saturday, July 21 on Mackinac Island.

The evening begins with a pre-game concert by Traverse City’s Northwind Brass quintet followed at 6:30 p.m. by the game to be played on the Scout Barracks ballfield behind Fort Mackinac. The Grangers lead the Never Sweats 3-1 after four meetings, but the Mackinac team hopes to reverse that trend in the series this year.

Vintage baseball is played by rules dating back as far as the 1840s. Players wear reproduction baseball uniforms and play ball without gloves and in a gentlemanly fashion, with no sliding, spitting, or swearing. Spectators (cranks) are coached on such matters as archaic position names (batters are “strikers,” catchers are “behinds,” and pitchers are “hurlers”) and old-fashioned rules (e.g., a ball caught on one bounce is an out, just like a caught fly ball).

U.S. Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) and John Hiller, a member of the 1968 World Champion Detroit Tigers and a standout reliever throughout the 1970s, will serve as co-captains of the Never Sweats, with Hiller acting as the primary hurler.

An official with top hat and megaphone will enforce the rules, and the crowd will be encouraged to use 19^th-century cheers (e.g., “huzzah”) to voice their approval or disapproval of player behavior. Additionally, food carts will be on hand to sell traditional foods such as hot dogs and other refreshments.

Prices for the game are $15 for families, $5 for adults, $3 for youth (6-17), and free for children 5 and under or for Mackinac Associates (Friend level and above). Tickets may be purchased at the game or in advance by calling 906-847-3328.

Mackinac State Historic Parks is a family of living history museums and nature parks in northern Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac and is an agency within the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Its sites—which are accredited by the American Association of Museums—include Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island State Park, and Historic Downtown on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek, and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City. Visitor information is available at 231-436-4100 or on the web at www.MackinacParks.com.