On any given Sunday in the San Francisco Bay Area, cranks and players lean back in time to enjoy 1886 vintage “base ball.” Last week, this crank (baseball fan) watched the San Jose Dukes and San Francisco Sea Lions battle it out at Raynor Park in Sunnyvale, Calif. The players used equipment and wore uniforms true to the 1880s. They played by Spaulding’s rules of 1886. That’s the way it’s done in the Bay Area Vintage Base Ball league (BAVBB), where good sportsmanship rules, and everyone plays to have fun.
A San Jose Duke fields for second base. courtesy of Karen Gough
