~ WHO WE ARE ~

Welcome, friend, to the home page of the Mill Creek Base Ball Club. We are sixteen grown men, one umpire and a very patient tally keeper who play the game of base ball the way it was played in 1860: two words, no gloves, the ball pitched underhand, and a gentleman's manners expected on both sides. We wear the uniform of the period, we play other clubs who do the same, and when the ninth inning is over we line up and give three cheers for the other nine, win or lose.

My name is Brad Artman. I am the club's founder, its captain, its catcher, and the fellow who keeps this page. On weekdays I teach American history at a high school here in southwest Ohio. In the summer of 1994 my family and I happened onto a vintage match at a living history village, two clubs in bib-front shirts playing bare-handed on a field of clover while a hundred people sat on blankets and clapped politely, and I talked about it the whole way home. My wife says I haven't stopped since.

The next spring I put a notice in the paper and another on the board at the hardware store, and eleven men turned up at the park on a cold Saturday in April. Four of them are still with us. We played our first match that August and lost by 31 aces to 9. We gave the other nine three cheers anyway, and they gave us three back, and I knew we'd be all right.

Why 1860? Because it's a good year for the game. The National Association of Base Ball Players had been meeting for a few seasons, and the rules had settled into a shape you'd recognize: nine men a side, nine innings, bases ninety feet apart. But a great deal was still different, and the differences are the fun of it. And 1860 is the last summer before the war. A good many of the young men who played that season were wearing another kind of uniform a year later, and some of them never came home. We think about that sometimes, standing out in the field.

A word on accuracy. I am a history teacher and I can't help it. We play from the rules as they were printed for the season of 1860, and where the old books leave a question open, we say so instead of making something up. Our own summary of the rules, and a list of the old words, is on the 1860 Rules and Terms page.

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~ THE RULES OF 1860, IN BRIEF ~

That last one isn't worded quite that way in the book, but it's the spirit of the thing. For the rules in full, see 1860 Rules and Terms.

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~ THE WORDS ~

Half the fun of a match is the talk. Here are the words you'll hear most at our grounds. There are more on the rules page.

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~ THE SEASON OF 1999 ~

Best day of the year: Memorial Day, before a crowd of three hundred at the county historical society's picnic, when everything we struck seemed to find a hole. Worst day: June 12, when we lost to Haverly's Mill in the tenth inning. Uncle Morrell struck a hard liner with the tying ace on third, and their short stop took it cleanly on the first bound. Fair catch, fair out, and three cheers for Haverly's Mill. We had our revenge in August by a single ace.

Our record this year is the best in the club's history. I'll mention that only once. Maybe twice.

THE MATCH AT FENNERTON
Sunday, September 5, 1999, printed in the manner of the day

How the Fennerton hands were lost: on the fly, 9; on the bound, 7; on the bases, 10; on three strikes, 1. How ours were lost: on the fly, 8; on the bound, 9; on the bases, 9; on three strikes, 1. Umpire, Mr. K. Alfred of the Fennerton club, who was fair to a fault. Tally for Mill Creek kept by Mrs. J. Osuna. Time of game, two hours and twenty-five minutes. H.L. is hands lost (outs made) and R. is runs, the way the papers printed it.

Quick Ho scored four aces from the top of the order, and Spectacles Goodwin pitched all nine innings in a wool cap in the afternoon sun. Fennerton put four across in the fifth and made a race of it, but Old Reliable Patterson took two foul balls on the bound in the eighth and that was that. A fine match and a fine supper afterward on the Fennerton grounds. Three cheers for Fennerton!

Matches Still to Come

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~ THE CLUB ~

Every ballist gets a nickname. Nobody picks his own, and nobody gets to refuse the one he's given.

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~ HOW TO JOIN THE NINE ~

No experience is needed, only a willingness to learn and the good humor to be a muffin for a while. Every one of us was. If you played softball, the hardest thing to unlearn is reaching for a glove that isn't there. We practice Wednesday evenings at 6:00 and Saturday mornings at 9:00, April through September, on our grounds at the county park, in the hayfield past the old farmhouse. Come watch a practice first. Wear old clothes and bring water.

We are a men's club, as the clubs of 1860 were. Ladies are welcome to practice with us, to keep tally and to umpire, and if enough of you want to form a nine of your own, we will lend you the grounds and the bats and come cheer. E-mail me.

What it costs your first year:

After the first year it's only the dues. The club owns the bats and balls. You bring plain black leather shoes, and no modern spikes, please. Pay Sawbuck.

Our club rules, in addition to the rules of 1860: No swearing. No spitting. No disputing the umpire. No modern gear on the field, and that includes sunglasses and wristwatches. Any of the above costs a dime, paid into the club box. The box bought the club a new ball in July, so draw your own conclusions.