Cranks!

As base ball grew in popularity in the latter part of the 19^th century, it could be at once a gentleman’s game and a competition that would draw the attention of the gamblers, the roughnecks, and other ne’er-do-wells.  Witness the role of the arbiter in the early game:  He only called hits fair or foul, not balls and strikes, nor outs.  He kept the game gentlemanly by fining players for coarse language or unsportsmanlike play, but otherwise had little impact on the outcome of the game. 

"Judge" Showmaker asks the female cranks for permission
for the players to roll up their sleeves and "show their elbows."

Nevertheless, the local fans (as fans will do) placed their fate on the backs of the local nine and would express their displeasure with any call or play that did not go their way.  Since most of them also likely had money riding on the outcome of the game, unruliness from the fans was quite common, especially in big games.  Thus they became known as ‘cranks’ for their cranky behavior towards anyone who was not for the hometown nine.  In the 1866 portrait below, notice the detail in the cranks in the foreground, engaged in gambling, drunkenness, pick-pocketing, fighting, and general cavorting:

Magee's portrait of "The Second Great Match Game For
The Championship' between the Philadelphia Athletics
and the Brooklyn Atlantics.

This past weekend we traveled across the mighty Mississippi to Moose Meadow, the home field of the Belleville Stags, where we would play a round robin mini-tournament against the Stags and the St. Louis Brown Stockings.  The Stags, despite being a young organization, have one of the best groups of cranks amongst the local teams.

The Belleville Stags and a portion of their 'cranks.'

We go to great lengths to engage the cranks in the game and explain the vintage game to them; the differences in rules from then to now, and how the game that they are watching is not only different than a “beer-league” softball game but is accurate to a time period in our nation’s history.

The aptly named "Chatterbox" Waller explains the intracacies
of the game to the Perfectos "cranks" at Lafayette Park.

Cranks tend to come in many different sizes…

And species…

Sometimes they mingle...

But they never waver in their passion for the game…

…and speaking of the game…we came into the tournament riding a 7-game win streak and a record of 16-2 since the beginning of June.  In addition, this weekend would be the first time all season that our entire cadre of scouts (outfielders) would actually be together.  So far this season, myself, Pitchfork, and Hawkeye, had not played a single game together as a unit.  I had played matches with both of them, and they had played matches together, but we had never…all three of us…been on the field at the same time until this weekend.  Because the rules of 1860 allowed for outs to be recorded if balls were caught on the first bounce, having three scouts who could track down balls quickly gave us the advantage of taking hits away from teams on a regular basis.  To finally have all three of us playing in the same match gave our hurler (pitcher) a wide margin for error.

Danger, Turnpike, Pitchfork, Dixie, Hawkeye, and Hammer.
This was the first game that Pitchfork, me, and Hawkeye had
played the scout (outfield) positions together all season.

And that was quite literally how it played out.  A bad hop in right field that glanced off of Hawkeye’s hand and got behind both of us, led to the only ace (run) that we would surrender in 14 innings of play.

Our one miscue all day, a bad hop off of Hawkeye's hand
which got past us both and led to the only run that would be
scored against us in two games.

We put enough runs together to win the first game over the host Stags by a margin of 6-1, and then shutout the Brown Stockings in our second game to earn a second win, 3-0. 

Our best hitter, Hammer, will plate two runs with
a double to left to give us the lead.

Hawkeye and Cyclone score on Hammer's double as I watch.

After driving in Hammer, I look on from second base as
Stoney gets ready to drive me in for an ace as well.  Four runs
in the second inning would be all the scoring we would need.

We have now won nine straight games and 18 of our last 20.  We have this weekend off and just one match remaining before we head to the “Ohio Cup,” a tournament of 30 vintage teams from around the Midwest that is the largest gathering of vintage base ball in the entire country.  This is the 23^rd year of the Ohio Cup but my first…and I am very much looking forward to the competition and comraderie!

Dixie