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Media contacts: Kim Schuette: 614.297.2314 or kschuette@ohiohistory.org
Media contacts: Nancy Kleinhenz: 800.998.7737 or nkleinhenz@rbhayes.org
For Immediate Release
Woodville festival features 1860s base ball match
(FREMONT) – The Hayes Presidential Center’s vintage base ball club – the Spiegel Grove Squires – completes its 2008 season with a 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28 appearance at the Woodville Lime Fest. The Squires take on the Great Black Swamp Frogs for an hour-long demonstration of how base ball (two words in 1860) was played during its early years. The match takes place in the field behind Woodmore Elementary School and is free and open to all.
Members of the Spiegel Grove Squires are volunteers who share a love of history and base ball. They wear reproduction 19th century uniforms consisting of long pants, billowy shirts with button-on chest shields, and simple caps. The only equipment used is a slender wooden bat and softball-size leather ball. In keeping with 1860s regulations there are no gloves, masks, or padding. Players (called ballists in the 19th century) catch and throw the ball bare handed and play on a grass field.
Those attending the 1860s base ball match are encouraged to become part of the action by encouraging their favorite players or team using the 1860s-appropriate cheer “Huzzah!”
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is located at the corner of Hayes and Buckland avenues, Fremont, Ohio. The facility is affiliated with the Ohio Historical Society. Check the Hayes Presidential Center website www.rbhayes.org for updates on the team’s record and for a complete list of year-round special events.
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