| Website created and maintained by Wendel Dickason wendel@vbbtexas.org |
| Vintage Base Ball in Texas |
| Welcome to the home page for the newly formed Texas Vintage Base Ball League. Here, we'll define Vintage Base Ball, explain a bit of base ball history, showcase the various vintage base ball teams in Texas and maybe do some entertaining. Prior to the establishment of the state-wide league, this site was the home page of the Cedar Hill Cartwrights BBC, so there might be a few more references to that team in the text. However, the site us currently undergoing changes to reflect this larger scope. |
| "It's much more than a base ball game, It's a history lesson as well!" (From the team song, We're A Base Ball Club From Texas) |
| Local Vintage Base Ball News Updated July 24, 2008 |
| League Newsletter has been published The first official Texas Vintage Base Ball League newsletter has just been published and sent out to the club managers for distribution. You can see copies of it here. Wendel Dickason Commissioner, Texas Vintage Base Ball League & Editor of The Chadwick Chronicle _________________________________________________ I would like to thank everyone who showed up at Big League Dreams for the game against the Texas Oil Barons. It was a great event for a great cause. The Saw Dogs registered two tallies in both the first and second hands and went on to down the Oil Barons 5-1. The Saw Dogs will next take to the field on May 17th at 10:30 a.m. The game will take place at Montgomery College (Lonestar-Montgomery), and the opponent will be the Stonebridge Nine. For the Glory of the Game! Huzzah! Michael ________________________________________________ Well, it’s time. The 3rd annual Forts Trail Vintage Base Ball Tournament is this Saturday and I’m already getting excited. We’ve got a great day of education, fellowship, & competition planned and I think we’ll all have a great time. Below is the tournament itinerary. The tournament will be hosted by the Buffalo Gap Historic Village and will be played on our cozy “cigar box” field which will present some fielding challenges that I think enhance the game (i.e. the shed behind 2nd base). We encourage players to explore the Village when not playing. We’ll have trophies for the Championship team, Most Valuable Striker, Most Valuable Hurler, & the “Iron Hand” Award for Most Valuable Fielder. We’ll be providing lunch & dinner for all players and we’ll have water or powerade (or something) to ensure hydration. Concessions will be available if you wish to purchase additional “energy” (that’s what I like to call food, I store it up for later). Also, feel free to visit the Village’s book store for some fascinating Texas History books from the State House Press (and other publishers). Dinner should be concluded by 6 (although I don’t think anyone will object if we hang out until ~7). If you have any problems finding the Village please feel free to contact my cell (325-518-0656) or the Village (325-572-3365). Game 1 (~10:00 am): Farmers Branch Mustangs v. Buffalo Gap 407s Game 2 (~11:30 am): Boerne White Sox v. Buffalo Gap Chips Game 3 (~1:30 pm): Consolation Game Game 4 (~3:00 pm): Championship Game Presentation of Trophies (~4:30 pm) Dinner (~5:00 pm) Until Saturday, Striker to the Line! Joel G. Brant Assistant Professor of Biology McMurry University Box 368 McMurry Station Abilene, TX 79697 __________________________________________________ On Saturday, March 8th, the Montgomery College Saw Dogs played the Round Rock Nine, a club composed of members of the press pool and special guests of the Round Rock Express. The Express is the Triple-A farm club of the National League's Houston Astros and the game was played on their field, Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, and for a living history organization such as the Saw Dogs, getting to play on a Triple-A ball field is a close to 'going to the show' as almost anyone can imagine. More details here. _________________________________________________ The Montgomery College Saw Dogs defeated the re-formed 1888 Houston Babies in a match held on March 1, 2008. Following that game, the Saw Dogs traveled south fifteen miles to play the Orwall Nine. Read the write-ups here. __________________________________________ Farmers Branch Vintage Base Ball Program receives award: In October the vintage base ball program received the 2007 Innovative Programming Award from the DFW Metro Parks and Recreation Directors Association. In November, at the annual meeting of the Texas Recreation and Parks Society (TRAPS) for Region 2 & 3, the vintage base ball program received the Lone Star Programming award for Region 2. Additionally, the vintage base ball program has been nominated for the Lone Star Programming award at the state level of the Texas Recreation and Parks Society. Awards will be announced in March 2008. Thanks for all of your hard work!! Barbara ________________________________ The first annual Veterans' Cup Tournament was held in Boerne, Tx. on Nov. 10th and 11th, 2007. Click here for a full write-up of the weekend event. ___________________________________________________ MC Saw Dogs 5 Baytown Mighty Oaks 5 On Saturday October 27, the Montgomery College Saw Dogs traveled south to take on the Baytown Mighty Oaks. The lads from Baytown tallied an ace in each of the first four hands (innings) and took a 4-0 lead into the 5th. However, in the 5th hand the Saw Dogs broke out their favorite willows and managed to dent the pan five times, taking the lead 5-4. The Oaks tied the score in the bottom of 7th hand. The game went on for two more hands, when it was decided that the ballists would rather eat than play. Thus, at the end of nine hands the Blind Tom declared the match a draw. Several fine plays were made afield. One remembered by this writer was a fine snag by Eduardo “Bones” Melendres deep in left field. Also, it should be noted that Jimmy “the Playmaker” Taylor tended the garden well around the third sack. The Montgomery College Saw Dogs finished that 2007 season with a 9-2-1 record. If you are interested, or know somebody who might be interested in playing for the Saw Dogs during the 2008 season, please feel free to contact me. For the Glory of the Game! Huzzah! Michael “Molasses” Hickey ___________________________________________________ Baseball As America, the traveling exhibition of over five hundred items from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown has just finished its run at the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science at Fair Park. Vintage Base Ballist Wendel Dickason served as exhibit interpreter and guide most of the weekends it was here. I'll be posting a few pictures of the event very soon (now that I have a little more spare time!). ___________________________________________________ On Saturday, Oct. 27, The Farmers Branch Mustangs hosted their first annual tournament at the Farmers Branch Historical Park. Taking part in the matches were the Buffalo Gap Chips, the Estelle BBC (from Irving) and the Boerne White Sox. Several players from the Richmond Giants and the Saw Dogs also made the trip to North Texas. I will be adding the story and some pictures from that event very soon. ___________________________________________________ On Saturday, Oct. 20, Cedar Hill State Park hosted its annual Days of Old celebration. The event featured a demonstration of vintage base ball by four ballists from the Buffalo Gap Chips. The small Chips squad took on a pick-up team of adults and kids who wanted to try their hand at the old game. __________________________________________________ President's Cup Tournament Held at George Ranch Thunderstorms which had been forecast for Saturday, Sept. 1st failed to materialize and the annual state-wide tournament was held under clear to partly cloudy skies. The Buffalo Gap Chips were last minute cancellations, but this year saw the inclusion of two new teams in the Lone Star state, the Farmers Branch Mustangs and the Boerne White Sox, both of which gave an excellent account of themselves. Another team, the Revolvers was assembled from available players and interested spectators and also hit and fielded well. More details of the event will be added in the next few days as news is gathered from the various sources, but some photographs can be seen here. __________________________________________________ Bay Area Nine 1 MC Saw Dogs 9 On July 16th, the Saw Dogs boarded the Santa Fe Express and traveled to Clear Lake to meet the challenge of the Bay Area Nine. The game was played as part of the 2007 Continental League All-Star game. The Dogs played the field first and quickly disposed the Bar Area strikers 1-2-3. The Montgomery College boys tallied five quick aces in the first hand and never looked back. On the day, the swatters from up north toed the marble base nine times. Hurler "Joltin" Joe Garza dished out nothing but goose eggs, until the fifth hand, when Bay Area tallied their lone ace. On this day, the Saw Dogs welcomed two new ballists into their ranks: Jeff "Home-Run" Temple and Chuck "Pipes" West. This excellent evening of base ball would not have been possible without the help of Jason Sadeghbeigi and Mike Pede of the Bay Area Toros. Huzzah! Related articles and photos here __________________________________________________ Fox 4 News Anchor/Reporter Richard Ray attended the practice session of the Farmers Branch Mustangs on Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 and produced a short feature on local vintage base ball. The item aired on Sunday, May 20th at 9PM and can also be viewed here. ___________________________________________________ On March 31st, 2007 the Second Annual Texas Forts Trail Tournament was held at the Buffalo Gap Historical Village. Participating in the tournament were the Buffalo Gap Chips, the Montgomery College Saw Dogs, and the Buck and Breck Base Ball Club from Irving, Texas. In the end, the champion Buffalo Gap Chips retained the state-wide trophy, while the Irving club played extremely well in this, their first road trip. Noted columnist and author Carlton Stowers threw out the ceremonial first pitch. See pictures from the event, here. ___________________________________________________ On Saturday, April 28, the Chips played a picked nine assembled by sports director Pete Christy from KCDB, News Channel 11 from Lubbock, Tx. See the vintage article submitted by Bob Wettemann here. The event was covered by KCDB and the video can be seen here: http://www.kcbd. com/Global/category.asp? C=59652&nav=menu69_7_1 |
Texas Vintage Base Ball
in the news: March 25, 2007
in the news: March 25, 2007
| Website created and maintained by Wendel Dickason wendel@vbbtexas.org |
