Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 24, 1993 TAG: 9307240132
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
After all, it's against the rules.
The teams will play ball Sunday the way it used to be - in the 1860s.
Equipment will include bats patterned after shovel and ax handles and balls made of rubber wrapped tightly in cloth. Gloves will be absent because they hadn't been invented yet.
"It's athletic and competitive but the primary purpose is to educate people about life in the 1860s," said Maggie Sanese of the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus.
In 1981, the Muffins were the first team in the nation to play 1860s-style baseball complete with period uniforms and rustic equipment.
The teams play by rules established in 1858 when the game was an amateur sport of well-to-do gentlemen. The rules include: Runners do not lead off bases; no sliding, bunting or base-stealing; and a ball caught on the first bounce can be called "out." And of course, no swearing.
\ Clint Black said he would donate money generated by his Aug. 27 concert in Des Moines, Iowa, to help Midwestern flood relief.
The country singer also announced Thursday, the launching of Operation Heartland. The relief effort is to be operated by the international disaster relief and development agency, Operation USA.
\ The pseudo-band Spinal Tap has been reincarnated as the Folksmen, says Rolling Stone magazine, who play "the only known folk song about a train wreck in a coal mine."
by CNB