Photos of Uncle Joe Cannon’s Base Ball Jamboree

unclejoepin

Saturday, my friend Brando and I went to the Uncle Joe Cannon’s Base Ball Jamboree at Danville Stadium.  We saw five hours of glorious (and maybe not so glorious) vintage base ball.  Either way, we had a blast!

It was Brando’s first time at a vintage base ball game.  It does take some getting used to some of the rules.  The most prevalent ones being:

  • the batter is out if the fielder catches the ball on one bounce runners cannot lead off, steal, slide, and the batter may be tagged if he overruns first base.
  • infielders (except for the rover) must play on their base till the pitch is thrown.
  • no walks and strikes are called only when the batter swings and misses.

The Jamboree Participants

The four teams participating in today’s event were (links go to the team’s respective web sites):

It was a round robin tournament where each tournament where each team would play the other once.  The tournament began on time at 11;00 with the host team Voles taking on the Salmon.

I’ve never been much good for remembering scores at vintage base ball events.  To me, that’s not the attraction of the game.  I suppose that’s a good thing when the Voles, the hosts and the team I follow, give up 17 runs in the first three innings of the first game against the mighty Chicago Salmon.  The Salmon had a knack for hitting line drives that just wouldn’t bounce up so the Voles fielders could catch them on the first bounce.  The game was thankfully called via the mercy rule.   To their credit, the Voles were playing with many of their squad gone.  More Voles showed up later for their games against the Juniors and the Unions.

Before we get to more photos, I would like to thank Brando for coming with me for the day.  It made the day that much more fun.  Also thanks to host team captain Jim Knoblauch who doubled as arbiter for much of the day.  It’s my guess that a lot of the planning for the day fell on him, too.  Great job!

Also, thanks to tally-keeper Ed “Hambone” Hamilton and alternate arbiter Robert Hous both who did a excellent job. Oh, and thanks to Jim’s wife Joyce who scored me a tournament pin (you see a scanned image of it at the top of this post).  The pins were handed out to the players but she was real nice and gave me one too.

And thanks to the players too!

Some more photos (you can see a whole bunch more at the Photo Gallery):

The two faces of Voles’ team captain Jim Knoblauch


Ballist…

…and later, arbiter.

A few grim faced gentleman who were members of the Chicago Salmon.  They were actually nice and were a heckuva ball team.  They won all three of their games.

The Chicago Salmon men were a great team and all but they don’t fool me.  This woman was the real boss. She would sit in their dugout and fan herself.  With her sharp tongue, she would yell encouragements to the Salmon players and sometimes tell the arbiter how she thought things should be run.

My buddy Brando striking a pose with the bat they use in vintage base ball.

130

A close up of the bat label (click to enlarge).

Hey, there’s Zealot friend (and Voles’ webmaster) Shawn “General” Lee as hurler for the Voles against the New Baden Juniors!

He also drove in a run with a two-base hit in that game.  When I gave him congrats on that after the game, self-deprecating Shawn pointed out that he was probably responsible for nine of New Baden’s eleven runs.  oops.  Nice hit anyway, Shawn!

The look of intensity on this Vole ballist as he runs to first base is amazing.

The Unions catch a New Baden runner in a pickle.

A Vole hurler was hit squarely on the chest by a hit ball during the New Baden contest.  Within a minute, he was up and tossin’ the onion once again.

178

New Baden players salute with the traditional “Huzzah” at the end of the game.

Once more, there are more photos at the Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery.  Tons of photos.

(8/25/08) As an added bonus, I’ve just added a (slightly jerky) video of the Vermilion Voles introducing themselves before their game with the New Baden Juniors.  You can see it here.

Mark your calendar: Uncle Joe’s Base Ball Jamboree, August 23

200px-JGCannon

If you’ve been waiting for the right weekend to go see a vintage base ball game in the east central Illinois area, next Saturday is the perfect time to go.  It’s time for the annual Uncle Joe’s Base Ball Jamboree.  I wasn’t able to make it last year and by god, if I have to walk to Danville, I’m going. 

Here’s the scoop:

What:  Uncle Joe’s Base Ball Jamboree, a tournament including some of best vintage base ball teams in the region. 

When:  August 23, 2008. The First game will begin at 11:00am.

Where:  The Jamboree will take place at Danville Stadium, home of the Danville Dans.  Map

What teams are playing?  Teams that are scheduled to participate include the Chicago Salmon, New Baden Juniors, St. Louis Unions and of course, hometown favorites the Vermilion Voles.

Who is Uncle Joe?  Joseph Gurney Cannon (photo above) was a Illinois-bred politician who at the height of his career served as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the early 20th century.  An excellent orator, he had an colorful career to say the least.  A little piece of trivia:  He was first person to be featured on the cover of Time magazine.  You can read more about him on Wikipedia.

Hope to see you there! 

Voles game tomorrow!

If you can’t make it next Saturday, the Vermilion Voles are playing tomorrow at their normal digs, Kennekuk Park at 1pm .  They are playing their popular rivals Rock Spring Ground Squirrels.  Don’t miss the battle of the rodents!!

Vermilion Voles schedule