Vintage baseball fans 'juggle the spheroid' at Cantigny

The game of baseball has changed a lot during the past 150 years, and so has the slang surrounding it.

Try to picture Ozzie Guillen or Lou Piniella motivating his team with the following speech:

"Listen up, hands! If you show a little ginger out there and field all those daisy cutters and bloopers, we'll be able to drop a duck egg on 'em. You got that? Huzzah!"

Fans of old-school baseball, or "base ball," threw around just that kind of slang during a vintage baseball tournament in Wheaton's Cantigny Park on Saturday.

The teams played baseball according to rules from the year 1858. The players wore replicas of 1858 uniforms.

"I like it because it's historical and educational, but also fun," said Mark Herman, captain of the Oregon Ganymedes from Oregon, Ill., a town roughly 25 miles south of Rockford. "The game's rules allow people to compete longer than they'd be able to otherwise. We have players that range in age from 20 to 65."

In Civil War-era baseball, players do not wear gloves. Pitchers throw the ball (also known as the "apple" or "pill" or "horsehide" or "onion") underhand, like in 16-inch softball. Fielders can record an out by catching a fly ball in the air or after one bounce. There is no stealing, and players can't overrun the bases.

"I got involved originally because of the history part of it," said Dennis Duncan, a member of the Iron Diamonds of Porter County, Indiana. "I used to be a Revolutionary War re-enactor. This seemed like another way to present history in a living manner."

Vintage baseball isn't just a history lesson, though. It's also a fast-moving game, requiring virtually the same skills used in contemporary baseball or softball.

After Saturday's game between the Ganymedes and the Lockport Sleepers - it was shortened by two innings because of the morning rain - players from both sides looked sweaty and muddy.

"It gets pretty intense out there, even though there's also a gentlemanly aspect to the game," said Herman, whose baseball nickname is "Iron Chest." (Another 1858 rule: All players must have nicknames.) "The only downside is these wool uniforms - not the greatest for hot summer days."