July 7 Northern Illinois Vintage Base Ball Tournament

voles nivbbt 043

Yesterday, I went to the Northern Illinois Vintage Base Ball Tournament in Wheaton, Illinois where they play baseball by the rules and customs of pre-Civil War era (it’s lots of fun if you have a local vintage base ball team in your era).

I did a write up on the tournament over at Baseball Lingo with photos and even a jerky YouTube video (use a tripod, Tom).

On a whim, I invited fellow APBA fan John Heneghan along since I knew he lives in the area.  He couldn’t make it but it turns out he used to play for the DuPage Plowboys, one of the tournament participants.  Alas, the Plowboys were too much for my local team, the Vermilion Voles and shut them out.

Despite the near 100-degree weather, it was a fun time (at least I didn’t have to wear the hot uniforms the players did).

Congrats to the organizers on a well-run tournament!

Thomas Nelshoppen

I am an IT consultant by day and an APBA media mogul by night. My passions are baseball (specifically Illini baseball), photography and of course, APBA. I have been fortunate to be part of the basic game Illowa APBA League since 1980 as well as a frequent participant of the Chicagoland APBA Tournament. I am slogging through a 1966 NL replay and hope to finish before I die.

2 Comments:

  1. Sounds Awesome! Would it be a problem to be able to participate in one of these sometime as a player?

    Thanks,

    Mike

    • yes, most teams I’m familiar with would love more participants. (The local team here could use some younger guys in my opinion ;-))

      Mike,I know you’re from Indiana and there are a couple teams in Indiana I’m aware of. The Deep River Grinders are based out of Hobart, IN, I believe.

      Lots of fun to watch and I’m sure to play if you have the time and energy.

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